Ghana Medical Association demands comprehensive ban on single-use food packaging plastics for public health

GHANA – The Ghana Medical Association has called on the government to ban single-use plastics alongside the existing styrofoam ban, citing unsafe food packaging as a major cause of foodborne diseases and rising healthcare costs.

GMA President Professor Ernest Yorke made the call at the association’s 26th annual public lecture in Koforidua, stating that the continued use of styrofoam and single-use plastics for food packaging has been one of the major causes of unsafe food in the country, with attendant risks of diseases and a rising health budget. 

The government is already phasing out styrofoam products through the Environmental Protection Agency, and the GMA argues that expanding the ban to include all single-use plastics would represent an important environmental and public health intervention.

Food Safety Chain Vulnerabilities and Public Health Risks

Professor Yorke explained that numerous factors render food unsafe for consumption, encompassing every stage of the food chain from production, harvesting, transportation, processing, storage to final preparation, sale and consumption. 

Contamination may occur long before food reaches the consumer, with poor agricultural practices, unsafe irrigation water, indiscriminate use of chemicals, inadequate storage, interrupted cold chains, poor hygiene during transportation, and unsafe food handling increasing the risk of microbial and chemical contamination. 

The recent floods in Accra and other parts of the country demonstrate that environmental health and food safety have become inseparable, since flood waters frequently contaminate drinking water sources, food preparation areas, markets and food storage facilities.

Sustainable Alternatives and Consumer Responsibility

Professor Yorke stated that if implemented effectively together with affordable and sustainable alternatives, the expanded ban would improve waste collection, recycling, public education and stronger enforcement of environmental regulations, with the potential to reduce plastic pollution and contribute to cleaner urban environments. 

Consumers also have an important role to play, and should take good decisions regarding where food is purchased, stored and prepared, how long to keep cooked food at room temperature, and even how to dispose of packaged foods. 

Public Health Nutritionist Professor Amos Laar noted that Ghana’s nutrition transition had made old boundaries unstable, with food insecurity and micronutrient deficiencies now coexisting with obesity, hypertension, diabetes and other non-communicable diseases, and that consumer protection must include protection from products, practices and policies that normalise excessive intake of health-harming ultra-processed foods.

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