The 'poison' we consume and call meal

When rat dung is found in a burger, it instantly enjoys prompt media attention. Cockroach feeler in a pizza bite, dead ants in a whole meal, or if a drink is bought and consumed supposedly after the shelve life is passed. The food company that churned that especially unhealthy meal, in no time, becomes popular, for the wrong reasons.

I have watched on the internet, footages of chefs spiting into doughnuts before baking. A particular waitress even went as far as dipping her hands into her pubic, when no one was looking, rubbed it on a burger, and joyfully served it to innocent customers.

These and many more, are just one of the ‘poisons’ that we consume on a daily basis, and call meals. The hospitality business is one of the fastest growing, owing to the high profitability margin too. But then it is essential, that an effective check be put in place, just so citizens would not ingest quite unhygienic substances.

Though there are varying regulatory bodies, that oversee the activities of the hospitality sector, in Nigeria especially, the apex being NAFDAC.  (An acronym for National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control), so also SON (Standard Organization of Nigeria) and maybe others. A lot still needs to be done with ‘checks’ on those offering this service. Ironically though, anytime I come across videos of same ills, from countries I believed had every right thing in place, I begin to ponder on the fact that offering healthy hospitality services, has a lot more to do with one’s conscience, and not when one is being monitored like an infant.

 In as much as these regulatory bodies are doing a very great job by the way, in ensuring we consume healthy substances, attention needs to be drawn to hospitality providers at the rock bottom of the economy.

In furtherance to the above stated, owing to my mother’s influence, I seldom eat out. So anytime I find myself eating out, I instantly become an inspector, checkmating the meal to be sure it is not unhygienic.

I have had to permanently exclude some meals from my ‘to eat’ list, like fufu. Chewing sands from the shore, gives lesser discomfort, to chewing some fufu-morsels. Garri is the worse hit. Garri sellers, would display it in uncovered bowls, usually by the road side, where breeze blows dust, and other unimaginable bacteria into it. This is one of the meals we don’t really wash before consumption.

A funny experience I had was as a Youth Corp Member way back. I had visited a much talked about Amala joint in Gusau this particular day, just to have a feel, only to be greeted by very untidy backyard close to the toilet. The kitchen staffs all sweaty, yet customers were outside licking their fingers. And have you ever visited a bakery that makes use of the locally made oven still? You’ll develop a bread-phobia in a jiffy.

In all, a lot of things need to be geared up. From snap checks by health officials, to the level of hygiene of hospitality providers, then the prompt alertness of the consumers at large. Owing to the country’s health care services which is not always basic as acclaimed, not when it seemed totally unreachable by the poor too, paying proper attention to what we consume is not a bad idea. Be sure it is not a poison in disguise.

Picture source: Google