DR Fitzroy Henry, director of the Caribbean Food and Nutrition Institute (CFNI), warned yesterday that the Caribbean was at risk of ruining its tourism sector if food-handling practices do not improve.

“The hospitality industry is 30 per cent of our GDP and it is going to be decimated if we do not pay attention to food safety,” said Henry, speaking at yesterday’s launch of a two-month food-safety education and awareness campaign.

“The transition we are seeking from seaside to community tourism through our festivals. could be stymied.”

The campaign, spearheaded by the CFNI in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, is the culmination of a three-year Organisation of American States (OAS)-funded project in which surveys were conducted in four Caribbean countries, namely Jamaica, Belize, Barbados and St Vincent.

The US$60-million project, Henry announced, will underwrite the two-month campaign, run from March 1 to April 30, and incorporating a public education programme through parish fairs, a media blitz, video, drama presentation, workshops for street vendors, town meetings, sidewalk chats, and an essay and poster competition for schools.

The programme will focus on the parishes of Kingston and St Andrew, chosen for proximity to resource personnel; St Catherine, where some groundwork has already been done by the health ministry; and St Ann, where street vending that targets tourists is a primary activity.

The survey of Consumer Awareness and Food Safety Practices, conducted in 2002, indicated that aggressive intervention was needed in homes where there is an average of 10,000 incidents of diarrhoea infection every month, caused by poor hygiene.

Highlighting the most vulnerable group of infants and children, Henry said although the mortality rate has decreased significantly, the increased incidence of infections among infants and children was caused by poor hygiene.

Henry said that of the 750,000 households in Jamaica, the average 10,000 that experience incidents of diarrhoea was far too high.

The campaign aims to increase awareness of the risks and to improve knowledge of symptoms so that the agencies can take immediate and effective action to reduce these incidents.

In a comparative analysis of food-handling practices, the CFNI director said that in the United States, 75 million people get ill from airborne diseases and 5,000 of those die each year, compared to 14 per cent in Jamaica.

But, said Henry: “This is no cause for celebration as Jamaica is far less in population ratio, so it is more devastating.”

Citing other data, Henry pointed out that one-half of households in Jamaica kept open garbage cans in their kitchens – a source for pests; 40 per cent had rats and cockroaches visible in the home; 30 per cent had domestic animals wandering around in their kitchen; and eight per cent had at least one bout of food-borne illness in the last six months.

The campaign will have a second launch in the parish of St Ann on March 9.