Hepatitic handlers

The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Food Safety and Halal Food Authority has revealed a ghastly fact with regard to hygiene in Kohat. A high number of food handlers in outlets that recently applied for licensure were inflicted with contagious diseases, including hepatitis and skin disorders. Many also tested positive for allergies, which although not a hygiene issue, still needs to be regarded by owners of food outlets as potentially posing serious health risks for workers. The most flabbergasting condition reported is hepatitis and considering that some forms of the virus spread via the fecal-oral route, it would behoove food handlers, food business owners and the K-P Food Safety and Halal Food Authority to apply common sense to bar infected persons from pursuing careers in the food industry until they are cleared by medical professionals and have been disease-free for a stipulated amount of time.

A change in policy is required here. In the interest of protecting families who visit food outlets, as a popular pastime across the country with our limited and often expensive avenues for other entertainment, whimsical and poorly-designed rules can be harmful. A stronger policy needs to be implemented such as requiring all persons working in any aspect of the food business and on the site of a food outlet to regularly submit genuine doctors’ reports, especially at the time of hiring. Furthermore, clearly-defined parameters as to how long one must wait after becoming disease-free to join work again should be provided with medical follow-ups required.

Kohat seems to be undergoing minor transformations of cleanliness and pollution reduction, especially as Eidul Azha approaches. In the spirit of ‘Green and Clean’ Kohat, we hope the initiative is extended towards food health and safety as the implications of dietary health and consumption on genetics and quality of life are too significant to be taken lightly. As provincial governments seek to formalise programmes, focusing on the area of food safety across the country will profoundly lessen the burden in other areas, such as health.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 21^st, 2018.

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