Farmers’ responsibility as food handlers
Mr Michael J. Ssali
What you need to know:
- Most food infections are transmitted by food and water. It is the reason some diseases are referred to as food and water- borne diseases.
Farmers are the first food handlers since they produce the food crops, and keep them before taking them to the market. They have to protect them from damage and contamination so that the consumers don’t get exposed to ill health.
“When food is not safe, people cannot consume the nutrients they need to stay healthy to learn or to work,” reads a joint FAO and WHO statement made on June 7 to mark World Food Safety Day. “More than 600 million people fall ill and 420,000 die every year after eating contaminated food. These illnesses and these deaths are largely preventable if food safety is prioritised along the food chain from the producer to the consumer. Food safety is a collective responsibility. Everyone from producers to consumers needs to play their part. This is the only way we can be sure the food on your plate will be safe.”
When fruits like mangoes and pineapples are harvested, where are they placed when they are still on the farm? Are they placed near or at the spot where organic manure such as cow dung was put recently? Prudent farmers put harvested fruits in clean baskets or on clean mats or tarpaulin. Farmers must practice the highest degree of sanitation. This includes clean latrines complete with hand washing facilities.
Carrying food crops on trucks that have been used to transport organic manure or poisonous chemicals like herbicides and pesticides may cause ill health to the consumers of the crops. When bananas or watermelons are loaded on a truck and some people step on them or sit on them there is a risk of contamination unless their feet and clothes are disinfected.
Most food infections are transmitted by food and water. It is the reason some diseases are referred to as food and water- borne diseases. Health workers give examples of such diseases as typhoid, dysentery, and cholera. They are easily transmitted by eating contaminated fruits and placing food items where flies and runoff water pick disease-causing microorganisms.
Farmers must also carefully use agricultural chemicals. If they cannot avoid using pesticides and herbicides they should apply them strictly according to the manufacturers’ instructions.
A research report by National Association of Community and Occupational Health (UNACOH) in 2018 indicated that a total of eight different pesticides were found in tomatoes randomly selected from 18 districts of Uganda.
