Editor: On May 10, 2005, a young lady purchased a roti at a restaurant. She then decided that she did not want to eat her roti the traditional way but rather with a fork. As she used her fork to cut into the roti, she noticed that there was something foreign in her food, a German roach.

She immediately brought this to the attention of the person who served her and was told that it was an ant she had seen in the roti. When the customer demanded to see the person in charge, another woman appeared and said that the boss was out. She, in fact, was the person in charge. {{more}}

This woman further told the customer that it was ‘mind over matter’ issue and there was nothing she could do.

While extremely shocking, this story is important to bring to light the seriousness of keeping proper health standards where food is concerned.

Another incident was mentioned to me where another woman said she found two teeth in her vegetarian dish after she sent someone out to buy if for her. We can argue that after the food left the compound, anything could have happened where the food might have been contaminated.

Even though we argue that anything could have happened while the food was getting to its owner, enough stories have circulated to say firmly that the Health Ministry should take a look into this serious problem.

There is a rodent infestation in Kingstown. Bakeries, restaurants and other food businesses are mostly affected because of the waste they generate into the drains.

We need a good quality control centre that deals with the importance of healthy environment for food providers. We must implement a rigorous system where perpetrators and others who do not keep the standards are immediately closed after a warning or two.

The Ministry of Health and the Environment must implement laws and regulations that cover the health standards of all restaurants, vendors and food handlers. Let them know that the health of the people depends greatly on the service they provide.

Toni Johnson