The Queen Mother of the Bohye International Fruit Market at Madina, Beatrice Sowah, has raised concerns over what she describes as the failure of the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) to adequately educate market women on the dangers associated with the use of unapproved chemicals on food.
According to her, several market women have resorted to using chemicals to ripen fruits and preserve food without fully understanding the potential health risks involved.
Speaking on Adom FM’s Dwaso Nsem morning show, Madam Sowah said she had repeatedly contacted the FDA to organise an education programme for women at the market but was instead asked to submit a formal letter before officials would visit.
“When you call the FDA and ask them to come and educate the women in the market, they tell you to go and write a letter before they come,” she said.
She said the requirement was unfair, particularly because the women needed urgent education on the safe handling of food and chemicals.
“I am organising the women and asking you to come and educate them, but you tell me to write a letter. We have called them several times. It is very worrying,” she added.
Madam Sowah expressed concern that some traders use chemicals to treat fruits without knowing their potential effects on human health.
She said some women even taste the substances they mix with water before applying them to fruits because they are unaware of the dangers.
“Some women will just mix the medicine and taste it. Because they don’t know, they are endangering their lives,” she stated.
Her comments come after the FDA cautioned the public and traders against using unapproved chemicals to force-ripen plantains and other fruits.
Madam Sowah said the concerns go beyond fruits, alleging that similar practices are being used in the handling of other food products sold in markets.
“It is not only fruits. Even hard fish that they sell in the market, there are concerns,” she said.
She further alleged that some traders use chemicals to make deteriorated fish appear fresh again, a practice she said poses serious health risks to consumers.
According to her, such allegations make it even more important for the FDA to intensify public education among market women rather than wait for formal requests.
“The FDA people are not doing their job. If I see all these things and tell the FDA to come and educate our market women on the dangers, then you ask me, a woman who didn’t go to school to any level, to write a letter?” she questioned.
Madam Sowah called for closer collaboration between the FDA and market leaders to ensure that traders receive regular education on food safety, the proper use of approved products and the dangers associated with harmful chemicals.
She stressed that educating traders would help protect both the women who handle the products and the consumers who ultimately buy them.
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