How safe is Market Garri?

A market woman displaying her Garri

Garri is a food product processed from cassava (Manihot esculenta). It is in fact one of the common food item in the Nigerian market and West Africa at large because it is next to salt in availability and affordability.

Some love to have it raw when mixed with sugar while others prefer it soaked in sugared water and taken with other items like, groundnut, kuli-kuli, coconut or palm kernel. Those that want it to look like a Mr. Biggs take-away add little of milk and Bournvita.

Ready to be Soaked Garri

For me, I prefer Garri made into a swallowable paste with hot water (Eba in Yoruba) and eaten with an ogbunge egusi soup (the kinda egusi soup that has animals and fishes causing heavy traffic). But to be honest with you, hand me a plate of Iyon (pounded yam) and Egusi soup and I would give you a kiss not minding if you have kissing disease or the dreaded Ebola virus- that’s how much I love the thing.

Eba and Egusi (melon) soup

Eba and groundnut soup

There’s no doubt that we all love Garri, even if you have not seen it before, but the way this food item is being handled in our markets makes me sometimes really wish I could afford a Garri factory in my kitchen.
If you think this is possible, please I need your help ASAP.

Disease agents are ubiquitous which means they are like MTN- everywhere you go. They are in the air we breathe, soil, water, on and in our body, phones, computer keyboards (worst still the public computers), the list is endless. So, we must do everything necessary to shield ourselves and our food, both raw and cooked from them.

Some bacteria and fungi which can contaminate market Garri and subject the consumers to sorry states are Pseudomonas, Klebsiella, Clostridium, Staphylococcus and, Aspergillus, Penicillium,  Rhizopus, Fusarium respectively. The good news is that they can be kept at bay if we do the right thing.

I went to the market the other time to buy this same product and after the young lady packaged the quantity I paid for into a black polythene bad, she and her church mind decided to add jara (Mmezi in Ibo) with her bare hands. I appreciated her kindness but then I couldn’t hide my feelings. When I was done talking to her she nodded her head and thanked me. She actually meant well but do you know what?

Salmonella are bacteria that live in the intestines of man and other animals and could be transmitted through unhygienic handling of food products by food handlers/vendors. Supposing the lady that sold the Garri to me had just rushed out from the loo to attend to me without washing her hands properly (and you know some people wash their Bugatti with water) and then used the same hand to add jara to my Garri. Your guess is as good as mine.

Gastroenteritis is not a friend

These infectious agents could cause typhoid, paratyphoid fever, irritation and inflammation of the stomach resulting in diarrhea, abdominal pains, vomiting and dehydration- an infection referred to as

gastroenteritis. Death could also result if adequate and prompt medical attention is not gotten.

Having known this what do we do? Do we stop buying Garri from open markets and patronize Koko Garri alone (Koko master must pay for this) or should we wave this information aside believing in the falsehood that “disease no dey kill African man.” Hell no!

The Koko Master displaying Koko Garri

Here’s the way forward; 

1. All displayed Garri for sale in markets should be properly covered with a hygienically sound transparent cellophane rolls to shield them from homeless microbes. 
2. Market unions should organized seminars and workshops to sensitize the market men and women on good personal hygiene. People can only offer what they have, you know. 
3. Good environmental sanitation should be given top-priority in any market. Stagnant waters should be removed; debris should be disposed properly especially in rainy season. Failure to do this is like begging for trouble with the huge capital T. 
4. Finally, anything you can’t cook, fry, roast or toast please don’t load your stomach with it. Even though some disease organisms can survive high temperatures, many of them die by the time you cook your food or pass it through fire. This is why it is not advisable to eat raw Garri or the one soaked in water. You will end up consuming all the james and johns- germs.

Wish you an explosive week. Love you massive!