Weak Enforcement Isn’t a Justification for Inaction
Some argue that because Ghana already struggles to enforce existing environmental and sanitation laws, adding new regulations on plastic food packaging would be pointless. This is a dangerously flawed argument. Weak enforcement is not a reason to give up – it is a reason to strengthen systems.
By that logic, we wouldn’t need any traffic laws because some drivers ignore red lights. Or we wouldn’t punish illegal mining because a few galamsey operators slip through the cracks. No public system is perfect, but failure to enforce should lead to reform, not retreat.
In fact, Ghana already has a foundation to build on. Environmental health officers, local assembly by-laws, and community task forces are in place and can be empowered to monitor and enforce safe food handling practices. The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) also have mandates that could be expanded to regulate packaging used for hot consumables.
What’s needed is a targeted, collaborative approach: train and resource market-based health inspectors; introduce low-cost certification schemes for vendors who comply; and engage metropolitan, municipal, and district assemblies (MMDAs) to include food packaging in their sanitation and public health inspections. Additionally, digital platforms can be used to report unsafe practices anonymously, and awards can be given to markets or vendors who lead in safe, eco-conscious food sales.
Ghana’s regulatory capacity will only improve if it is tested, funded, and supported. To do nothing because enforcement is hard is to accept a silent epidemic in the name of bureaucratic comfort.
Cultural Norms Can and Must Evolve
One of the more emotional arguments against regulating plastic packaging is that it’s “part of our way of life.” Indeed, for decades, buying waakye, koko, or gobe in black rubber bags has been a common practice of urban and peri-urban Ghanaian life but culture is not static. What is cultural can be changed especially when it endangers lives.
Consider that at one time, open defecation was normal in many communities; so was child marriage. Smoking indoors, excessive cane punishment in schools, and drink-driving were also widely accepted. Yet, each of these practices have been challenged and redefined through education, legislation, and advocacy. Why? Because people recognised that public health and dignity must evolve with evidence.
The idea that plastic use is too embedded in our culture to change underestimates the Ghanaian people. We are resourceful, adaptive, and capable of positive transformation. It’s not about discarding culture – it’s about refining it in light of irrefutable evidence.
We can begin to reframe safe food packaging as a form of respect for life, for the body, and for the environment. Community leaders, faith leaders, teachers, and artists all have a role in this cultural shift. If we could make “say no to HIV/AIDS” a national call, we can do the same for “say no to hot food in rubber.” After all, true cultural pride is not about resisting change at all costs. It’s about protecting what makes us whole and that includes our health.
Evidence Guides Policy, Not Convenience
Some skeptics have dismissed the EPA Director’s claim that drinking hot porridge from a plastic bag is equivalent to smoking 36 cigarettes, calling it an exaggeration or a scare tactic. But let’s not get lost in the metaphor. The science is clear and deeply unsettling.
Multiple peer-reviewed studies have confirmed that heating plastics, especially thin, low-grade types like polyethylene, leads to the leaching of toxic substances such as Bisphenol A (BPA), phthalates, and styrene. These chemicals are classified as endocrine disruptors, meaning they interfere with hormone function, and many are carcinogenic or linked to reproductive damage. Children, pregnant women, and the elderly are particularly vulnerable to these effects.
International bodies such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) have raised repeated alarms about plastic use in food contact materials especially under heat. These are not fringe voices; they are the global gold standard in public health guidance.
Even if the comparison to cigarette smoking was made to drive urgency, it serves a critical purpose: to jolt the public into awareness of an invisible but deadly exposure and it should be taken seriously.
The real danger lies not in exaggeration, but in minimisation. Policymakers must resist the temptation to delay action just because the truth is uncomfortable or unpopular. When science speaks clearly, leadership must follow boldly.
Conclusion: Choosing Health Over Harm
Ghana has reached a moment of truth. We can continue to trade our health for convenience, wrap our meals in poison, and call it culture or we can act decisively to protect ourselves and future generations. The science is overwhelming, the risks are real and the longer we delay, the more lives we place in danger quietly, invisibly, daily.
This is not a call to punish the poor or demonise the everyday food vendor. It is a call to stand with them, to support a just transition toward safer practices, and to hold government accountable for creating the enabling environment that makes such a transition possible. Regulation, when combined with education, support, and innovation, is not oppressive – it is protective.
We have the knowledge, we have the cultural wisdom and with political will and public engagement, we can make Ghana a leader in health-conscious food packaging across Africa. Let us not serve our people warm meals laced with silent killers. Let us serve them dignity, safety, and a future free from avoidable suffering. Our health is not disposable. Our nation cannot package its future in poisonous plastic.
The writer is a lecturer at the Business School of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration, GIMPA.
