Case of the unwholesome fish processed into fishmeal

The Case of the unwholesome fish processed into fishmeal – My

Beef with FDB. By Dr Francis Kofi BIH





I have followed with keen interest ever since the story of unwholesome fish meant for

conversion into fish meal eventually ended up at Greenwhich Cold Store in Tema in August

2010. I also read from the spectator of 18.09.2010 how the Food and Drugs Board (FDB) seem

to have shot itself by approving the 2000 cartons of unwholesome fish to the owner of that cold

store (Greenwhich Cold store) one Alhaji Ishmail Bawa for processing into fish meal. What

surprised me most was the Daily Graphic story of 27/09/2010 which stated that Daireson

Company Ltd has been granted approval by the FDB to process the said 2000 cartons of

unwholesome fish into fish meal contrary to the letter from the FDB which indicated that the

consignment was released to Alhaji Ishmail Bawa. The Daily Graphic also carried a picture of a

big cooking pot with one Mr Vigil Edmund Prah-Ashun, Head of Drugs Unit of the FDB and Mr

Sammed Bawa a Director of Daireson Company Ltd; the “fish meal processing plant”.

As I followed the mystery being unravelled and the various media reportage on the said

unwholesome fish it became evidently clear to me that FDB, a state agency mandated to ensure

food and drugs safety and to protect the citizenry from the adverse effects of fake drugs and

food, was reneging on its duties. The definition of food as provided by the FDB is food for

human and animal feed.

I therefore find it unethical and reprehensible for the FBD to release the said unwholesome fish

meant for conversion into animal feed to Alhaji Ishmail Bawa, the owner of the Greenwhich

Cold store as confirmed by the FDB letter of September 1, 2010 signed by the acting Deputy

Chief Executive of the FDB, Mr J. Odame Darkwa. The actions of these officers of the FDB

lacked transparency, due diligence and adherence to food safety. In fact, to be blunt, it amounts

to deliberate acts likely to injure the health of the citizenry and must be investigated by the state

security and punished accordingly. The reasons being that the unwholesome fish may end up

directly in the market for human consumption or as fake fish meal because of the crude

method being used to process the unwholesome fish.

My stern castigation of the FDB is backed by the following observations:

1. Detention and release of the unwholesome fish:- According to the Daily Graphic

publication of 3rd August 2010 edition, entitled “poison for sale?” the consignment had been

diverted to the Greenwich cold store after CEPS had failed to conduct an armed escort of the

unwholesome fish to the operational area of Daireson Ltd. Further publications in other

media suggested that an investigative journalist trailed the consignment and notified FDB of

the diversion of the unwholesome fish into the said cold store. At this point if the FDB

really cared about the health and safety of the citizenry, then the Board would have

conducted its own investigation and either destroy the unwholesome fish or release it to an

appropriate processing plant to convert it into fish meal. Rather the Board decided to throw

ethics and food safety to the dogs by releasing the bad fish to the owner of the cold store

where the unwholesome fish was diverted, to process same into fish meal. Hon. Alhaji

Ishmail Bawa has no fish meal processing plant so where will the unwholesome fish be

heading to? Your guess is as good as mine!!

2. Processing of the Unwholesome fish into fish meal:- By definition Fish meal is a product

obtained by drying and grinding or otherwise treating fish or fish waste to which no other

matter has been added. This is a semi legal definition but for convenience fish meal can be

defined as a solid product obtained by removing most of the water and some or all of the oil

from fish or fish waste. Fish meal is generally sold as a powder, and is used mostly in

compound feed for poultry, pigs and farmed fish as a high protein supplement.

(www.fao.org/wairdocs). Almost all fish meal is made by cooking, pressing, drying and

grinding the fish or fish waste in machinery designed for the purpose. A fish meal plant

therefore requires steam cookers, Press, Driers and centrifuge to ensure that the fish meal is

properly prepared under hygienic conditions to avoid contamination.

According to media publications, the letter from the FDB releasing the unwholesome fish to

Alhaji Ishmail Bawa specifically stated the unwholesome fish should be processed at a fish

meal plant under the supervision of the Board. Ironically, when the time was due for the

consignment to be processed, the fish meal plant was reduced to a mere cooking pot as

depicted in the photograph of the Daily Graphic of 27th September 2010. In this 21st Century

Ghana, a cooking pot is synonymous to a fish meal plant? How can the Board ensure that the

unwholesome fish will not eventually end up in the market if the processing is through a

cooking pot and dried in the sun, under the vagaries of the weather? How long would such a

method take to process 2000 cartons of unwholesome fish and how would FDB track the

process to ensure that all the 2000 cartons are processed into fish meal? If the fish is dried in

the open then how can FDB guarantee that humans will not have direct access to it as food?

If the FDB with all its professionals really wanted to put public safety at the forefront, then

the whole consignment of unwholesome fish should have been escorted from the cold store

to a processing facility where it could be processed within few hours into fish meal. This act

of unprofessionalism on the part of the officers of the Board who approved the processing of

the unwholesome fish in this manner must be condemned in no uncertain terms. The Board

should know that what they have succeeded in doing by portraying that big cooking pot as

the processing facility is to cast a slur on their image as a vanguard of food safety in the

minds of right thinking Ghanaians.

3. Negative Health Effects of poorly prepared fish meal:- Bad or poorly prepared fish meal

happens to be a source of transmission of disease pathogens to poultry and humans.

Samonella infested fish meal could be transmitted to humans through poultry products such

as eggs. The recent Samonella outbreak in the USA that led to a recall of millions of eggs is

a clear example of what could happen if we fail to take the necessary caution. It is therefore

incumbent on the FDB to ensure that feed ingredients are hygienically prepared to forestall

such health hazards and safe our already struggling poultry industry. By releasing

unwholesome fish to be processed into animal feed in an unhygienic manner, FDB seems to

have thrown its professionalism to the dogs and reneged on its commitment to ensure food

safety. This crude processing method of cooking the fish in a pot and spreading it on the

ground adds more bacteria to the fish meal. The slow drying process will cause the fish to

decompose and unlikely to dry to the required moisture level; thus leaving the fish meal

product with high moisture content to become moldy in storage. Such a fish meal will be

poor in quality and has the potential to destroy the business of unwary farmers who will

patronise it by causing illness in their birds. Many poultry farmers have lost their business

and livelihood through poor feed (fish meal). When poor fish meal is used to prepare the

feed for the birds it affects the growth and production of the birds. It sometimes leads to the

mass death of the birds due to illness, poor growth, poor egg laying, small size eggs, and

payment of high cost of antibiotics for the birds. In most cases, where the birds are treated

with the antibiotics, their products (eggs and meat) must not be consumed within the

withdrawal period of the antibiotics but tell me which farmer in Ghana will throw such eggs

away? Residues of antibiotics in animal products are likely to be a health risk for humans

who consume such products. We are killing ourselves slowly but surely through these bad

practices. So who is the FDB protecting by ignoring all these potential hazards?

4. Environmental Concerns: - Residents in the area where the FDB is said to be supervising

the conversion of the 2,000 cartons of unwholesome fish into fish meal have been tormented

by putrid and nauseating odour emanating from the drying of fish waste in the community.

Some community members with assistance from the Ghana Environmental Watch and

Advocacy (GEWA), an environmental NGO, have sent the companies and individuals

processing fish meal in that area as well as those companies generating the waste to court

over the putrid and nauseating odour emanating from the drying of fish waste in their

community. The community having been ignored by environmental agencies and the Tema

Metropolitan Assembly (TMA); accessed GEWA’s Community Environmental

Empowerment Programe (CEEP) which seeks to assist communities in distress on

environmental issues. Ghana Environmental Watch and Advocacy (GEWA) has already

informed FDB about the unhygienic and unsafe environment that the companies are

operating and requested FDB to even withdraw the permit given to one Hapilla Enterprise to

operate such appalling fishmeal facility. Therefore for FDB to ignore the issue of a court

action on the operations of the fish meal facility at Bankuman, Tema Manhean and further

release over 2000 cartons of unwholesome fish to be processed into fish meal using the same

crude processing method is most regrettable. It is an indictment on FDB to ignore its own

regulations of ensuring that a manufacturing facility meets food as well as environmental

safety as published on the agencies website.

5. Grand Scheme to cover-up:- The FDB has tried very hard to allay the fears of the

populates with a picture of a big cooking pot as depicted in the Graphic of September 27,

2010 to signify compliance and assurance that the unwholesome fish was being processed

into fish meal. It is all media gimmicks! However, their action curiously has generated more

questions than answers. It has shown a grand scheme by officers of the Board to cover-up

their inaction and safe their image. It also portrays lack of professionalism in our food safety

institution and lack of will to stem up their authority to ensure total food safety and crack the

whip. Today, you (FDB) have succeeded in releasing 2,000 cartons of unwholesome fish to

an individual and an owner of a cold store who took delivery of such product under very

suspicious conditions and has no capacity process the unwholesome fish into fish meal. The

FDB has also not registered a fish meal processing facility for the said individual. The

unwholesome fish could be repackaged and sold directly in the market since the crude

method showed in the photograph of 27.09.2010 could easily lead to diversion, all in the

name of food safety by officialdom. In 2007, the Head of the China State Food and Drugs

Administration (Mr. Zheng Xiaoyu) was executed, after he was convicted of taking bribes

and dereliction of duty and sentenced to death by a trial court in Beijing. Remember your

actions and inactions have direct serious consequences on lives of humans and you will not

be exonerated from blame when you renege on your duties.

It seems most of our discussions in the media have focused on political issues and matters of

health and environment are relegated to the background. Records show our life expectancy

has been falling. This means we (Ghanaians) are dying too young. Let us safeguard food

safety and environment and we could live longer.



This article was authored by Francis Kofi Bih, President, Ghana Environmental

Watch & Advocacy (GEWA). fbih@gewaonline.org or visit www.gewaonline.org