Hand washing day: Stakeholders task food vendors on consumer safety
By David Ayodele, Bauchi
The Bauchi State government has warned food vendors to comply with regulatory policy that requires them to subject themselves to medical check up twice in a year or face sanction.
The Director of Enforcement and Compliance of the Bauchi State Environmental Protection Agency (BASEPA) Alhaji Mohammed Usman issued this warning in Misau during the training of 50 food vendors organised by WaterAid Nigeria with funding from DP World to mark the 2025 Global Hand Washing Day celebration.
Presenting a paper on environmental hygiene around food vending areas, the director advised the vendors to learn to handle waste generated during business hours with utmost care, identify and control pests around business premises as well as guarantee the health and safety of their staff and consumers.
Alhaji Mohammed also instructed vendors to comply with basic hygiene habits that required them to keep nails clean and short, wear clean clothing and headgear, avoid smoking around their business premises in order to safeguard consumers from contracting health related diseases associated with poor hygiene behaviour.
Speaking on the issue of clean water handling and storage, Malam Haruna Suleiman of the same agency indicated that respiratory infection rates can be cut down by 25 percent, while diarrhoea can also be reduced by 50 percent if regular hand washing with soap before cooking and eating as well as after defecation are strictly observed by vendors and their workers.
Earlier, the Programme Manager of the implementing NGO – WODASS, Magaji Barde, who also represented WaterAid, said the participants including food, water, fruits and meat vendors of both sexes were carefully selected from villages and towns with a view to ensuring that the message is stepped down to all the nooks and crannies of the communities in Misau Emirate especially on market days.
In a message to the occasion, the emir of Misau, Alhaji Suleiman Ahmed represented by sarkin Sumawa, Alhaji Mohammed Sarkina Shehu, observed that 80% of consumers health safety lies in the hands of food vendors, arguing that if the participants could strictly observe best hygiene practices in their business activities, common illnesses like cholera and typhoid can be eliminated.
TheNiche reports that some of the participants advised BASEPA and other regulatory agencies to enforce available sanctions to deter unrepentant and defiant food vendors from engaging in Unhealthy practices as this would serve as deterrent.
