Marwako Fast Food Limited has mounted a spirited defence of its food preparation standards, claiming it is one of the best in the country.
This followed the preliminary report of the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) on last month’s food poisoning incident recorded at the East Legon branch of the eatery.
The Authority said some samples of food, juice drinks and swaps taken from the environment of the East Legon branch indicated that “there was microbial load (pathogens) which may be linked to the food borne disease reported”.
It further observed that the levels of sanitation and hygiene in food preparation areas of all of Marwako’s three branches were poor.
The report also indicated that the handling practices of ingredients used in cooking, cooked and ready-to-eat food items were also “very poor”.
Sanctions have been meted out to Marwako, as a result.
But the restaurant appears to contest the report.
It stated in a reply to a post by 3news.com that it upholds one of the highest standards in kitchen management.
“We have one of the cleanest and highest standard kitchens in Ghana.”
Background
Some 53 customers who had patronised the East Legon branch of the restaurant on the weekend of May 7-8 had to be hospitalised for food poisoning.
This forced the FDA to shut down not only that branch but also three others – at Spintex Road, Abelenkpe and La.
Investigations by officials of FDA have been ongoing since the shutdown with visits to the branches.
In its latest report, the FDA worried that some of the food items were destroyed by management of the company during the investigations.
“The FDA has applied the appropriate regulatory sanctions and is also monitoring 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.”
By Emmanuel Kwame Amoh|3news.com|Ghana