The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) has suspended ‘Yellow Sisi’, a local food joint over food poisoning of some fifty-three persons and death of one.
According to the Authority, it 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.
The FDA indicated that in line with the Food Safety Emergency Response Plan, a joint investigation with the Ghana Health Service (GHS) commenced immediately.
Per investigations, it stated in a release that a total of fifty-three persons 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.
“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 occurrence.”
Food and Drugs Authority
Following the death of a person, the FDA stated that the exact cause of death is yet to be confirmed. It explained that 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.
Victims referred to Valley View Hospital
Per reports, the victims including the waakye seller, popularly known as Yellow Sisi, and some of her family members were rushed to the Valley View Hospital, Oyibi Hospital, Dodowa Hospital and other facilities when they complained of severe stomachache after they had eaten the food last week Friday, January 20, 2023. Subsequently, it was alleged that a pregnant woman and a lotto vendor died.
The Yellow Sisi Waakye joint is considered to be one of the popular food joints at Oyibi Bush Canteen.
On a visit to the area, it was observed that the joint was quiet, and the kiosk locked. Some shops close to the food joint were also closed as it is believed that the shop owners who also patronized the food that day and suffered the side effects, were also said to be receiving treatment in hospital.
Hospital officials at the Valley View Hospital confirmed the incident, indicating that a number of patients were rushed to the hospital in bad condition but “all the patients have been discharged”.
The Valley View Hospital officials then, could not provide enough information as to the number of people who might have been affected. The officials at the hospital 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.
One of the victims who gave his name as Justice Ankomah explained that he started experiencing stomachache and then diarrhea 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 patronized 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 the deceased revealed that the husband died last Monday at the St John’s Hospital at Amrahia, when he was rushed there after complaining of stomachache and diarrhea.
