The Government Analyst-Food and Drug Department (GA-FDD) yesterday urged persons selling ready-to-eat food to ensure that it is served at the right temperatures to avoid customers falling prey to food poisoning.
A press release issued by the Department yesterday said that this can be achieved by using warmers and chillers.
The Department’s advisory comes just days before persons head out to Mashramani celebrations, which attracts a large number of roadside vendors selling a variety of items, including food.
According to the release, the Department has observed that some caterers and vendors when delivering and/or selling ready to eat foods consistently “allow food to be kept in the danger zone (room temperature or temperature between 100C – 60 0C) for in excess of two hours.” This practice, according to the release, allows for the rapid growth and multiplication of pathogenic (bad) bacteria that may result in food poisoning or food intoxication by bacteria or their toxins when used by consumers. Unsuspecting consumers, it was stated, are then presented with food-borne disease symptoms, such as diarrhoea, acute gastroenteritis (AGE), vomiting and stomach cramps in some cases.