Mr. Essel is a product of Ghana Secondary Technical School (GSTS) – Takoradi and Moscow State University (Russia) where he graduated in 1997 with a Master’s Degree in Bioorganic Chemistry. He specialized in Protein Chemistry.

Mr. Essel joined the FDA in December, 2000 from the Accra Technical University (formerly Accra Polytechnic Institute) where he lectured in Biochemistry and Biology at the Science Laboratory Technology (SLT) Department after a successful National Service Programme at the Noguchi Memorial Medical Research Institute (NMMRI). His involvement in a project on Rotaviruses resulted in the current Rotavirus vaccination for neonates in Ghana.

He holds an Advance Certificate in the world acclaimed Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) food safety management system issued by the Royal Institute of Public Health (RIPH-UK). He is also a certified 3^rd Party Auditor accredited to the British Retail Consortium (BRC). He has over 20 years experience in food safety management and regulation. He is an astute trainer in food safety management and has led in the installation of HACCP systems in major companies in Ghana including Accra Brewery Limited, Kasapreko Limited, Ghana Oil Palm Development Corporation, Bel Beverages Industries and AGROPAL West Africa Limited. He also specializes in tailor-made training programmes designed to address specific food safety challenges in the food sector.

Mr. Essel has served on several committees including Ghana’s Codex Sub-Committee on Contaminants in Food, which he chaired for many years and also served as it’s head of delegation to meetings of the Codex Committee on Contaminants in Food (CCCF).

Mr. Essel is the Director of Industrial Support Services Directorate of the FDA and currently PhD Candidate at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA).