The Food and Drugs Authority says efforts by its personnel to establish the root cause of contamination in the Marwako food poisoning incident were hampered by the management of the eatery.
Management of Marwako reportedly destroyed some of the food items meant for further lab tests whilst the investigation was in progress, a statement issued by the FDA on Monday said.
FDA’s Investigations
It said analyses of samples of food, some juice drinks, and swabs taken from the environment at the East Legon branch of Mawarko Fast Food Limited indicated that there was heavy microbial load (pathogens) which may be linked to the food-borne disease reported.
“Samples collected from the Abelenkpe and La branches were also found to be heavily contaminated.
“The levels of sanitation and hygiene in the food preparation areas in all three facilities were poor.
“It was also established that there were poor storage practices. The temperatures of deep freezers and refrigerators were far above the acceptable ranges. The handling practices of ingredients used in cooking, cooked and ready-to-eat food items were also very poor.”
Nonetheless, the FDA maintained that the appropriate regulatory sanctions have been applied while it keeps tabs on the implementation of the corrective and preventive actions (CAPA) by the management of Marwako Fast Foods to address all the non-conformances identified to prevent any reoccurrence.
Meanwhile, catering services at the facilities remain suspended.
“The public would be updated on any subsequent developments,” the statement concluded.
Background
The Food and Drugs Authority(FDA) closed down the East Legon branch of Marwako, a fast food eatery in Accra in May following complaints of suspected food poisoning.
“We have closed down the restaurant and together with other relevant agencies, started investigations. We wish to assure the public that the issue would be thoroughly investigated and appropriate actions taken.
“Additionally, FDA is ensuring the strict implementation of it protocols to prevent any further harm to the public,” a statement by the FDA said.
The fast food service had been accused by several customers on Twitter who complained of getting food poisoning after eating there a month ago.
Many were hospitalised while the public called for the Food and Drugs Authority to take action against the company.
There were threats by some affected customers to file a class-action suit against the fast food service following the incident.
Meanwhile, Marwako fast foods on the back of the development said it is investigating the cause of the food poisoning at the East Legon branch.
“We’re still investigating to be able to know the cause of this. This is the first time over the 20 years that Marwako has worked, that I think that it’s really unfortunate and we want to apologize to our loyal and committed customers; there are those of them who ate and were not affected, those who were affected we want to apologize sincerely and then we hope this is a clarion call that is going to help the company to be able to position itself to make sure that the right things are done,” Mohammed Amin Lamptey is PRO for Marwako said in an interview with GHOne TV.
Source: Ghana/Kasapafmonline.com/102.5 Fm
