Studies: Supermarket food not necessarily safer than informal outlet purchases

By Prosper Makene

Vendors sell foods at a food market in Dar es Salaam. (File photo)

Studies conducted in East and Southern African markets have revealed that due to a poorly patrolled chain of custody between producers and sellers, milk and meat sold in supermarkets may pose a greater health threat than that sold in traditional markets.

 

Many policymakers mistakenly believe that food-borne illnesses in developing regions will rapidly decline with the modernisation or ‘supermarketisation’ of food sales steadily supplanting informal markets. 

But the studies conducted by International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) show that Africa’s supermarket food is not necessarily safer than food bought from informal markets.

 

It also shows that informal markets are unlikely to disappear— and could even become stronger—in the coming decades.

 

Compiled in a new book released in Nairobi yesterday by ILRI and partners, with the title Food Safety and Informal Markets: Animal Products in Sub-Saharan Africa, it also probes the complicated world of traditional or ‘informal’ markets in livestock products. 

 

Studies show that informal markets provide essential sources of food and income for millions of poor, with milk and meat that is often safer than that sold in supermarkets.

 

The research shows that in most developing countries, more than 80 per cent of livestock product purchases are done through informal markets - and in places where there is no ‘formal’ alternative, like a western-style supermarket, close at hand. 

 

They further show that this situation is unlikely to change for decades to come and also, even where supermarkets are an option.

Misguided efforts to control the alarming burden of food-related illnesses in low-income countries risk intensifying malnutrition and poverty - while doing little to improve food safety, the book reveals. 

 

Blunt crack-downs on informal milk and meat sellers that are a critical source of food and income for millions of people are not the solution.

 

While the food sold in informal markets is often safe, in Africa and elsewhere in the developing world, the markets are suspected of spreading dangerous pathogens ranging from Salmonella and avian influenza and tuberculosis. But ILRI researchers warn that the push for greater food safety standards in these markets must be informed by an understanding of their vital role as a provider of food and income to several hundreds of millions of people who rank among the world’s poorest.

 

“Our work across eight countries found that we are right to be concerned about food safety in informal markets—from milk in Mali, to fish in Ghana, to chicken in Mozambique, to beef in Kenya—particularly for spreading gastrointestinal diseases that are a leading cause of sickness and death in developing countries”, said Delia Grace, programme leader for food safety and zoo noses at ILRI. 

 

Grace added: “But it also shows that we are wrong to think that we can just adopt solutions developed in wealthy countries that favour large commercial operations over small producers. That will just exacerbate hunger and further limit money earning options for the poor”

The researchers note that the poor consumers in developing countries who suffer the most from food-borne illness are often the same people who survive by selling meat and milk at the local wet market or street stall, or who depend on informal markets to supply affordable, nutritious food for their families.

 

“We need to understand how much disease is caused by unsafe milk and meat in low-income countries and also how much they contribute in terms of nutrition and income’, said Kristina Roesel, co-coordinator of the Safe Food, Fair Food Project at ILRI. 

 

Roesel noted: “We need to understand the complete picture so we can work to improve food safety without harming food and economic security, For example, in sub-Saharan Africa, one out of ten, and possibly more, cases of gastrointestinal or diarrheal diseases are caused by food-borne threats.”

 

It also said that milk, meat, fish and fresh vegetables are common carriers of disease-causing pathogens. But at the same time, these foods are essential for maintaining health and proper childhood development. 

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN