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Fifty-three people are now confirmed to have been affected by the Yellow Sisi waakye suspected poisoning incident at Oyibi in Greater Accra.
A joint investigation by the Ghana Health Service (GHS) and the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) has revealed that the 53 people experienced symptoms of foodborne disease after consuming waakye from a food vendor called Yellow Sisi located at Bush Canteen, a suburb of Oyibi.
The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) in a statement dated Jan 27, 2023 and released Friday night following the report by Graphic Online said it received notification through its Food Safety Alert System on Sunday, January 22, 2023 about the suspected foodborne disease outbreak.
It said it was reported to have occurred at Oyibi, within the Adenta Municipality, in the Greater Accra Region.
In line with the Food Safety Emergency Response Plan, a joint investigation with the Ghana Health Service (GHS) started immediately, the FDA said.
Poor food handling practices
When the Daily Graphic followed up at the Valley View Hospital for confirmation, hospital officials did confirm the incident, indicating that a number of patients were rushed to the hospital in bad condition but “as of today, all the patients have been discharged,” an official said.
The Valley View Hospital officials could not provide enough information as to the number of people who might have been affected but only indicated that the data from the hospital had been forwarded to the Kpone Katamanso District Hospital where further investigation was ongoing to ascertain the cause of the problem.
Officials at the district hospital confirmed the story but said they were conducting further tests on patients to find out whether it was indeed a case of food poisoning or something else.
“As at now, some other people are still visiting the hospital and, therefore, until all the necessary laboratory tests are complete, we cannot give specific data on the number of people who have been affected or whether it was indeed a case of food poisoning,” Dr Esther Danquah from the district hospital told Graphic Online’s Mary Anane Amponsah.
Victims’ narration
One of the victims who gave his name as Justice Ankomah said he started experiencing stomach ache and then diarrhoea later in the day, but did not consider it as a “big deal” and took some medication to treat himself.
However, he pointed out that three other residents who operated shops around the joint and also patronised the waakye, as they often did, fell very sick and ended up being admitted to the hospital and had not been able to return to open their shops for business since last Friday.
The wife of one of the deceased that the Daily Graphic met and who only gave her husband’s name as Kennedy, disclosed that her husband died last Monday at the St John’s Hospital at Amrahia, when he was rushed there after complaining of stomach ache and diarrhoea.
“He started complaining that Friday that he was not feeling well, but we thought it was a normal thing. It was later when it became severe that we rushed him to the hospital but he did not survive,” the widow disclosed.
She said later on they heard the news that many other people had been affected and were at different hospitals within the community.
Some relatives of Kennedy were spotted at the Oyibi Police Station following up on the issue.
They, however, refused to talk to the Daily Graphic about the incident as they said the police were investigating.
At the Oyibi Police Station, although there was confirmation that a case of food poisoning had been reported there, the police declined to brief the Daily Graphic team but rather, directed the them to seek further information from the police headquarters.
Below is the full statement by the FDA
FDA CONDUCTS INVESTIGATIONS INTO FOOD-BORNE DISEASE OUTBREAK IN OYIBI, ACCRA
The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) received notification through its Food Safety Alert System on Sunday, 22nd January 2023, on a suspected foodborne disease outbreak which was reported to have occurred at Oyibi, within the Adenta Municipality, in the Greater Accra Region.
In line with the Food Safety Emergency Response Plan, a joint investigation with the Ghana Health Service (GHS) started immediately. Investigations revealed that a total of fifty-three (53) people experienced symptoms of foodborne disease after consuming waakye or plain rice and tomato stew from a food vendor called Yellow Sisi located at Bush Canteen, a suburb of Oyibi.
So far one (1) person has been reported dead, but the exact cause of death is yet to be confirmed. Environmental assessment of the food preparation site located at Malejor and the three vending sites at Bush Canteen, Prison Joint and Sharp Curve Joint revealed poor food handling practices which could have resulted in the contamination of the food, leading to the foodborne disease outbreak.
The FDA has suspended the operations of Yellow Sisi until measures have been put in place to ensure that their activities are brought into compliance to prevent future occurrences.
The FDA launched its Street Food Vending Scheme in November 2021, in conjunction with the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies.
The Scheme, which was developed under the FAO Healthy Street Food Incentive Project, aims at issuing compliant vendors with a Street Food Vending Permit. Consumers must therefore insist on seeing these permits in their favourite eateries before patronizing their services. We strongly urge street food vendors to apply for the Permit.
