Compliance with cocoa quality management practices in Ghana; To what extent are cocoa farmers complying?

Despite the fact that adhering to cocoa quality management practices (QMPs) is crucial to satisfy consumer food safety standards and receive premium cocoa pricing, evidence of cocoa farmers' compliance with these recommended QMPs is scanty in Ghana. The purpose of this study was to assess the extent and antecedents of farmers' compliance with six QMPs including pest and disease, harvesting and pod storage, pod breaking and bean removal, fermentation, drying, and bagging and storage practices in Ghana. Data from 200 farmers was solicited and analyzed using a compliance index as well as a seemingly unrelated regression (SURE) model to account for cross-correlation effects among six recommended QMPs.

Internalisation of microbes in vegetables: microbial load of Ghanaian vegetables and the relationship with different water sources of irrigation.

The occurrence of pathogens in the internal parts of vegetables is usually associated with irrigation water or contaminated soil and could pose risk to consumers as the internalised pathogens are unaffected by external washing. This study was carried out to assess the rate of internalisation of microbes in common Ghanaian vegetables. Standard microbiological methods were employed in microbial enumeration of vegetables collected at the market and farm levels, as well as irrigation water and soil samples.

Application of the WHO keys of safer food to improve food handling practices of food vendors in a poor resource community in Ghana.

Data was collected from food vendors in a poor resource community in Ghana, which showed that the vendors constituted an important source of oro-faecal transmission. Following this, the WHO five keys of safer food were utilized in an evidence based training programme for the vendors to improve their food handling practices. Impact assessment of the food safety training showed that 67.