June 7 is World Food Safety Day. The United Nations has announced that it will call public attention to the health effects of polluted food and water. With the Fifth World Food Safety Day (7 June 2023), we all have an opportunity this year to remember the people who help us ensure the health of our food.
The Second World Food Safety Day (WFSD) will highlight and encourage initiatives aimed at preventing, identifying, and managing food threats, contributing to food protection , human health , economic sustainability, agriculture, market access, tourism, and sustainable growth.Safety of food has a vital role to play at all stages of the food chain – from cultivation to harvest, processing , storage, distribution to preparation and consumption – to ensure that food is healthy.
Contaminated food leads to Food-borne disease which is a gastrointestinal tract (GI) infection or inflammation caused by foods or beverages that contain harmful bacteria , parasites, viruses or chemicals. Symptoms of serious food-borne disease include vomiting , diarrhea, stomach pain, sore throat.
Theme of the 2023 World Food Safety Day
This year the theme of World Food Safety Day 2023 is – Food standards save lives
Food safety will be at the forefront on June 7th, 2023, as the world celebrates World Food Safety Day. Every year, 1 in 10 people around the world get sick from eating food that has been tainted, but thanks to food safety regulations, we can dine with peace of mind.
Having food quality and safety standards in place is important. Farmers and food manufacturers can benefit from their advice on safe food practices. They outline the safe upper limits for various additives, pollutants, pesticide residues, and veterinary medicine use.
In addition, regulations outline how much and how safely packaged food must be delivered. Consumers now have a better idea of whether or not the food they are purchasing is healthy because of the implementation of regulations on matters such as nutrition and allergen labeling.
We all have a role to play in food safety, whether we grow, process, transport, store, sell, buy, prepare, or serve food. We can all contribute to safer food for improved health if we work together.
Five point to call for Food Security is Everyone Business:
- Ensure it’s safe – Authorities need to make sure food for all is healthy and nutritious.
- Safe growing – Good practices are required for farmers and food producers.
- Keep it safe – Business owners need to ensure their food is healthy.
- Eat it clean: all consumers have a right to food that is safe, organic and nutritious.
- Health team – Food security is a joint responsibility.
Key Facts on Food Safety
- An estimated 600 million – almost one in ten people around the world – die each year after consuming tainted food and 420,000 die, contributing to the loss of 33 million years of healthy living (DALYs).
- Each year US$ 110 billion in production and medical expenditures was wasted in low- and intermediate-income countries as a result of inadequate food.
- Kids under 5 carry 40% of the risk of food-borne disease, with 125 000 deaths per year.
- Food protection, nutrition and food health are connected . Unsafe food produces a dangerous cycle of sickness and malnutrition, affecting babies, young children , the elderly and the poor in particular.
Food Safety Initiatives
- Provide the scientific basis for action in the food chain to reduce foodborne threats to health.
- Increase cross-sectoral international and regional cooperation, boost coordination and advocacy.
- Leadership and assistance in the establishment and enhancement of integrated, risk-based national food safety systems.