Food Division

The Division’s mandate as derived from Part 7 of the Public Health Act 2012, Act (851) is to protect public health by ensuring the availability of safe and quality food on the Ghanaian market. The key regulatory activities of the Division include product registration, vetting advertisement, coordination of research and nutrition-related activities, licensing of food service establishments, issuance of street food vendor permits, stakeholder engagement and collaborations, coordinating the implementation of the National Food Safety Policy, responding to food safety emergencies and implementing appropriate control measures, product quality monitoring and public education on food safety. These regulatory activities are executed by two directorates.

1. Food Safety and Consumer Education Directorate
2. Food Registration and Applied Nutrition Directorate

1. FOOD SAFETY AND CONSUMER EDUCATION DIRECTORATE-FSCED

The mandate of the Directorate is to ensure food safety along the food value chain and manage food safety incidents to protect public health. Empowering consumers through public awareness campaigns resulting in increased demand for safer foods is a major focus of the Directorate. Collaborating with internal and external stakeholders including key partners, institutions and actors along the food chain is instrumental in achieving a harmonized and coordinated approach to management of food safety issues. The Directorate has two Departments.

• Food Safety Coordination and Consumer Education Department (FSCCED)
• Food Service Establishments Department (FSED)

2. FOOD REGISTRATION AND APPLIED NUTRITION DIRECTORATE

The mandate of the Food Registration and Applied Nutrition Directorate (FRAND) is defined by the following sections of the Public Health Act 2012, Act 851: Section 82 (f): Coordination of the Technical Advisory Committee on Nutrition (TAC-NU) Section 97: Food Product Registration Section 98: Cancellation or Suspension of Registration Section 103: Advertisement of Food Section 107: (1) – (5): Mandatory Fortification of food Section 127c: Conduct Research and Training Section 147: (1) – (3) Regulations Section 148: (1) – (4) Guidelines and Codes of Practice. The Food Registration and Applied Nutrition Directorate achieves its mandate through two Departments, namely:

• Food Evaluation and Registration Department (FERD)
• Research and Nutrition Department (RND)