THE Solomon Women in Business Association (SIWIBA) in partnership with the Honiara City Council (HCC) Food Unit, have previously wrapped up a three days training on Food Safety and Hygiene.
The main objective of the workshop is to share and exchange constructive ideas with women vendors [those who specialised in sell cooked food] on how to prepare safe and hygienic foods for healthy human consumption within the food outlets in the City boundary of Honiara.
The training workshop was held at the SIWIBA conference room in Honiara.
Speaking during the closing program, the Honiara Chief Health Inspector George Titiulu told women participants that food safety is an assurance that you are telling the consumers as a trained food vendor that the products that are being displayed are hygienically prepared.
“According to the food safety regulations – local food vendors must be trained to meet the legal requirements stipulated under the country’s Food Safety and Hygiene regulations. Therefore, SIWIBA women are so fortunate to have gone through this training and now that they have completed and received their certificates, they now have a great chance to carry out their food markets within the City,” Mr Titiulu said.
Honiara City is currently popular with women food vendors that provide inexpensive and tasty roadside food for public consumption. Obviously, eating food in the public is a new local way of life. From fruits to cooked food takeaways, the local food vendors from City and outskirt communities of Honiara normally sold food from their roadside and street pavement stalls.
According to World Health Organisation (WHO) Food hygiene is the conditions and measures necessary to ensure the safety of food from production to consumption. It refers to the conditions and practices that preserve the quality of food to prevent contamination and food-borne illnesses.
“Food can become contaminated at any point during slaughtering or harvesting, processing, storage, distribution, transportation and preparation. Lack of adequate food hygiene can lead to foodborne diseases and death of the consumer.
“Food hygiene is the conditions and measures necessary to ensure the safety of food from production to consumption. Food can become contaminated at any point during slaughtering or harvesting, processing, storage, distribution, transportation and preparation.
“Safe steps in food handling, cooking, and storage are essential to prevent foodborne illness. You can’t see, smell, or taste harmful bacteria that may cause illness. It is essential to ensure that the food you, your family and the public eats is safe. Poor hygiene procedures in your home can put you at risk. Harmful germs that cause food poisoning can spread very easily, so you need to make sure that you do everything you can to prevent this.
The Honiara City Council (HCC) Food Unit wants to educate local food vendors about the importance of safe food handling and how to reduce the risks associated with foodborne illness.
