Root cause of food contamination at Marwako unknown – FDA

• Posted on June 14, 2022
• by Nana Kwesi Coomson
• Comment

The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) has said the process to establish the root cause of the recent food contamination at Marwako Restaurant at the East Legon branch has been “unfortunately hampered by the unapproved and unilateral decision of the management of Marwako to destroy some of the food items whilst the investigation was in progress.”

In a statement issued by the Chief Executive of the FDA on Monday (June 13, 2022), the FDA said “catering services at the facilities remain suspended and that the public would be updated on any subsequent developments.”

It said it 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.

In the statement, which was meant to update the public on the ongoing investigations into the suspected food poisoning incident at the East Legon branch of Marwako Fast Food Limited, the FDA said “analyses of samples of food, some juice drinks, and swaps taken from the environment at the East Legon branch of Marwako Fast Food Limited indicate that there was heavy microbial load (pathogens) which may be linked to the food borne disease reported.”

“Samples collected from the Abelenkpe and La branches were also found to be heavily contaminated.”

“The levels of sanitation and hygiene in the food preparation areas in all three facilities were poor.”

“It was also established that there were poor storage practices.”
“The temperatures of deep freezers and refrigerators were far above the acceptable ranges.”
“The handling practices of ingredients used in cooking, cooked and ready-to-eat food items were also very poor,” it added.

The FDA in May 2022 closed down the East Legon branch of Marwako Fast Foods following allegations of suspected food poisoning.
The move was to help the FDA to investigate complaints from customers.

Some customers who patronised the place complained of getting food poisoning after eating food from the East Legon branch of the restaurant.

After the complaints, Marwako explained that it countered 53 customers and decided to absorb their medical bills while the restaurant cooperates with the FDA to investigate the issue.

Below is a copy of the FDA statement

The Food and Drugs Authority wishes to update the public on the ongoing investigations into the suspected food poisoning incident at the East Legon branch of Marwako Fast Food Limited.

Analyses of samples of food, some juice drinks, and swaps taken from the environment at the East Legon branch of Mawarko Fast Food Limited indicate that there was heavy microbial load (pathogens) which may be linked to the food borne disease reported.

Samples collected from the Abelenkpe and La branches were also found to be heavily contaminated.

The levels of sanitation and hygiene in the food preparation areas in all three facilities were poor.

It was also established that there were poor storage practices.

The temperatures of deep freezers and refrigerators were far above the acceptable ranges.

The handling practices of ingredients used in cooking, cooked and ready-to-eat food items were also very poor.

The process to establish the root cause of the contamination has been unfortunately hampered by the unapproved and unilateral decision of the management of Marwako to destroy some of the food items whilst the investigation was in progress.

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.

We wish to assure the public that we will continue to closely monitor all activities at Marwako Fast Foods Limited to ensure compliance to the FDA’s directives and applicable regulatory requirements.

Catering services at the facilities remain suspended.

The public would be updated on any subsequent developments.

Chief Executive Officer
Food and Drugs Authority, Ghana