Commercial and institutional caterings food hygiene practice and the 1992 Food and Drugs Act of Ghana, Sections 1, 6 and 7

•Most commercial and institutional caterings in Ghana have qualified staff as supervisors.•Raw material handling and supplier control procedures are needed to ensure wholesome food.•Enforced food hygiene training that commensurate with activities of staff is required.•An introduction to the Food Law is recommended in food hygiene training programmes.

The compliance of a cross section of commercial and institutional caterings in Ghana to the PNDC Law 305B Sections 1, 6 and 7 was studied with the use of purposively sampled food workers in the two set ups. Both commercial and institutional caterings had considerable number of hygiene trained personnel in supervisory position in compliance with section 6 of the Food Law. Sections 1 and 7 on the sale of unwholesome food through lack of available control measures on handling non conforming raw materials and the preparation of food under unsanitary conditions respectively needed much improvement in both set ups. It was recommended that an introduction to the Food Law in Ghana should be added to enforced food hygiene training for food handlers that commensurate with their activities.