@FAOGhana/David Youngs

FAO provides practical learning to veterinary meat inspectors on ante and post-mortem examinations at slaughter facilities to improve food safety

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has organized a workshop to familiarize meat inspectors in the detection and reporting of zoonotic diseases in slaughtering facilities to stop the spread of foodborne diseases to meat consumers. The three-day workshop, which was from 21 to 23 April 2021.

Meat inspection procedures are guided jointly by FAO and the World Health Organization (WHO) through International Food Standards (Codex Alimentarius). This meat inspection programme has two main objectives, namely to make sure that, before animals are slaughtered (ante-mortem examination), abnormal ones are dealt with separately from healthy, physiologically normal ones; and to ensure that meat from animals is free from disease, is wholesome (post-mortem examination) and carries no risk to human health.

However, many countries in Africa do not adhere to the Food and Agriculture Organization’s meat inspection guidelines and do not have enough meat inspection officers. In Ghana, key players in the meat value chain industry have created a more enabling environment, which seeks to ensure sustainable quality meat processing standards for food and nutrition safety. In December 2018, FAO organized a multistakeholder consultation which provided a stepping stone for dialogue on improving the meat inspection system in Ghana, on how to improve the technical capacity of meat inspectors, butchers and meat cutters and also to deepen effective partnership of all actors and stakeholders.

Following this consultation, the Veterinary Services Directorate (VSD) recently made amendments to the Meat Inspection Regulations, which have been passed by the Parliament of Ghana as Meat Inspection Regulations, 2020 (L.I. 2405). To better understand the implementation of this new regulation, this workshop was held at the Conference room of the Eastern Regional Coordinating Council with the participation of 30 actors, including veterinary 

meat inspectors from the 16 regions of Ghana, the Ghana Police Service, Environmental Health of the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies, the Food and Drugs Authority, and Women in the Poultry Value Chain.

FAO’s contribution to safe processing and marketing of meat and meat products

Speaking at the training opening, Garba Ahmed, Country Team Leader of the FAO’s Emergency Center for the Transboundary Animal Diseases (ECTAD) in Ghana, explained that “the training was to build capacity of veterinary meat inspectors in the country to effectively ensure wholesome meat is passed out for public consumption. He further added that “this is the third year since 2017, when FAO ECTAD in Ghana is supporting the VSD to conduct training of veterinary meat inspectors in the country”.

The Deputy Director of the VSD at the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Dr. Owusu Darlington, also added“The training is very educative and an eye opener. A lot of things that were overlooked have been made relevant in the training. Meat inspection, in a way, is also quality assurance and a place where we can get a lot of data for disease surveillance and reporting. This is a public health tool whereby we try to make sure the food we convey to the market is not contaminated and is wholesome”. He also added “The training emphasizes the food safety aspect of farm- to- fork. Practical demonstrations shows a whole lot of gaps when we visited a local slaughter house. One gap that was identified was the need for inter-sectorial collaboration at all level of meat inspection”

Ghana’s veterinary and meat inspection system

An effective food safety management system requires clear inspection policy and procedures that are applied by inspectors who are well trained not only to apply these procedures but also to act as quality assurance advisors and extension officers to the food industry. Food inspectors in Africa suffer generally from (i) a low professional status which is not commensurate with their responsibilities, (ii) a lack of logistical support to carry out the inspections (transport, inspection equipment, etc.) and (iii) the cumulative tasks often requested from them (price control, inspection of non-food consumer items, weights and measures, environmental hygiene, etc.). National food inspection services are often located in the capitals and major cities, with little if any control exercised in small towns and rural areas. FAO, through its Emergency Center for Transboundary Animal Diseases (ECTAD), assists the country in implementing  meat inspection policies through a series of training activities in collaboration with the national authorities for meat inspectors, butchers and meat cutters, and live bird market professionals to provide basic knowledge of the national meat control system including the roles and responsibilities.

Food safety and security plays a crucial role in the eradication of malnutrition. Such collaboration by involving all stakeholders in the development of policy guidelines for a strengthened meat inspection system brings efficiency not just to the sector but also beyond. In order to benefit from potential food export earnings and to protect themselves against sub-standard imported foods, FAO supports the upgrade of the inspection systems, in both quality and quantity, to meet national needs.

At the end of the training a communique was issued, including the roles and responsibilities of each of the stakeholders involved in the meat inspection system in Ghana. The stakeholders are the Veterinary Services Directorate, Ghana Police Service, Food and Drugs Authority, Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies, which need to coordinate their activities for effective meat inspection system in the country.