Ghana Baptist University College (GBUC ), a private university based in Kumasi last Wednesday conducted a day’s training workshop for ten selected catering institutions drawn from the Ashanti Region.
The aim of the workshop was to enhance the cooking skills of caterers as well as introduce them to the new way of cooking and keeping foods in hygienic conditions.
Speaking to the Ghanaian Observer Newspaper, President of GBUC, Reverend Dr Yaw Adu-Gyamfi said the University felt the need to draw from the experience of its partner, Mrs Joyce Wiles, who teaches hygiene at the Sheffield University to provide training for Ghanaian caterers.
This gesture, he explained formed part of the University’s social responsibility to its immediate community.
APPEAL:
The president appealed to the Ministry of Food and Agriculture to consciously conduct such training workshops for food vendors across the country.
According to him, many food sellers had less knowledge about hygiene and often cooked at places which made food consumption at road sides scary.
He noted many food vendors paid less attention to where they sold, adding that many sold food close to gutters.
This attitude, the president hinted compromised the consumption of food along the streets and road sides.
He, therefore appealed to the Ministry to draw from the experiences of hygiene inspectors and caterers such as Mrs Joyce Wiles, a home economics lecturer who conducts such training programs free of charge for participants.
TRAINER:
On her part, the trainer at the workshop, Mrs Joyce Wiles expressed delight at the opportunity to render service to Ghanaian caterers.
According to her, as a Methodist missionary and a retired tutor she felt the need to extend the knowledge she had acquired to others who may not have had the opportunity.
Food consumption, she noted was a serious matter and the earlier those who provided food services were trained to adapt to cooking foods in hygienic conditions the better for the Ghanaian society.
This being the second time of visiting Ghana, Mrs Wiles welcomed the opportunity by GBUC to provide training for caterers in the Ashanti Region and urged the Ghanaian authorities to consider providing food preparation education to food vendors across the country.
