The Ghana Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (GAND) has launched its National Nutrition Month 2026 campaign, warning that Ghana faces what it calls a converging food safety crisis, driven by environmental contamination, unsafe food practices and the rapid rise of ultra-processed foods.
The month-long campaign, running through July 2026 under the theme “Food Safety: Everyone’s Responsibility,” aims to mobilise government agencies, food producers, retailers, healthcare professionals and consumers around shared responsibility for food safety across the entire food system. “Every Ghanaian deserves to eat food that is safe. This July, GAND is taking that message everywhere, to our markets, our schools, our workplaces, our churches and our homes. Food safety is not someone else’s job. It belongs to all of us,” said Prince Baidoo, the President of GAND.
The Academy warned that foodborne illness remains a major public health challenge in Ghana, with diarrhoeal diseases linked to unsafe food and water continuing to rank among leading causes of death. It cited World Health Organization estimates that nearly 600 million people fall ill globally each year after eating contaminated food, resulting in about 420,000 deaths, and World Bank figures showing unsafe food costs low and middle-income countries an estimated USD 95.2 billion in lost productivity annually, a burden GAND said underscores the need for stronger prevention and regulation.
In Ghana, the Academy said contamination risks are being intensified by environmental pollution linked to illegal small-scale mining, commonly known as galamsey. It warned that heavy metals including mercury, arsenic, lead and cadmium have been detected in water bodies used for irrigation and fishing across several mining-affected areas, including the Pra, Offin, Ankobra and Birim rivers. “These are the same water sources used to irrigate the farms and market gardens that feed Ghana’s population,” the statement said, adding that such contaminants “cannot be removed by washing, cooking or conventional food processing.”
GAND also raised concern over the rapid proliferation of ultra-processed foods high in sugar, salt and unhealthy fats, which it said are increasingly contributing to non-communicable disease in the country. The Ghana Health Service reports that non-communicable diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular disease now account for more than 43 percent of deaths in Ghana, a trend GAND linked in part to changing dietary patterns. “When a child in Ghana develops hypertension at fourteen or a market trader is diagnosed with type 2 diabetes she did not know was coming, we must ask what food environment made that possible. The surge of ultra-processed products in our markets is a food safety issue,” noted the Academy.
As part of the campaign, GAND is calling for stricter enforcement of food labelling regulations and the introduction of mandatory front-of-pack warning labels to help consumers identify foods high in salt, sugar and unhealthy fats. It is also urging farmers, food processors, retailers and regulators to strengthen hygiene standards, improve traceability across the food supply chain and adopt clearer nutritional disclosure practices.
The Academy said food safety must be understood in both microbial and nutritional terms, arguing that access to safe food also means access to food that supports long-term health. Throughout July, the campaign will run media engagements across multiple languages, digital advocacy on social media and community outreach targeting markets, schools, workplaces and faith-based organisations. GAND has called on government institutions, including the Food and Drugs Authority, the Ghana Standards Authority and the Ministry of Health, to intensify enforcement of food safety laws and develop a national strategy to reduce sugar, salt and fat in processed foods, stressing that everyone has a role to play in ensuring safe food systems in Ghana.
