Improving food safety is crucial for several important reasons. Access to safe and healthy food is essential for sustaining life and promoting good health. Foodborne illnesses caused by bacteria, viruses, parasites, or chemical substances in contaminated food or water pose a significant threat to human health. These illnesses can have severe and long-lasting effects and can even be life-threatening.
Ensuring food safety throughout the entire food chain is critical. From production to harvest, processing, storage, and distribution up to preparation and consumption, it is important that measures are in place to prevent contamination and ensure the safety of the food we consume. With an estimated 600 million cases of foodborne illnesses annually, unsafe food not only poses a threat to human health but also has a significant impact on economies. Vulnerable and marginalized populations, such as women, children, those affected by conflict, and migrants, are disproportionately affected by unsafe food. This is evidenced by the fact that an estimated 420,000 people around the world die every year after eating contaminated food, with children under 5 years of age accounting for 40% of the foodborne disease burden.
World Food Safety Day, observed on 7th June, aims to raise awareness and inspire action to prevent, detect, and manage foodborne risks. This contributes to various aspects such as food security, human health, economic prosperity, agriculture, market access, tourism, and sustainable development. The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) collaborate to facilitate the observance of World Food Safety Day. This international day serves as an opportunity to reinforce efforts to ensure that the food we consume is safe, integrate food safety into the public agenda, and reduce the global burden of foodborne diseases.
It’s important to recognize that food safety is a shared responsibility. Whether you are involved in growing, processing, transporting, storing, distributing, selling, preparing, serving, or consuming food, everyone has a role to play in keeping food safe. The campaign under the slogan “Food safety, everyone’s business” aims to promote global food safety awareness and calls upon countries and decision-makers, the private sector, civil society, UN organizations, and the general public to take action.
Governments, international organizations, scientists, the private sector, and civil society each play a part in ensuring food safety. This includes complying with global food standards, establishing effective regulatory food control systems, providing access to clean water, applying good agricultural practices, strengthening food safety management systems, and building the capacities of consumers to make healthy food choices.
Therefore, food safety is a shared responsibility between governments, producers, and consumers. Efforts to mainstream food safety and reduce the burden of foodborne diseases are pursued through initiatives like World Food Safety Day. Unsafe food can lead to more than 200 diseases and has a significant economic impact, costing low- and middle-income economies around US$ 95 billion in lost productivity each year. Therefore, promoting good hygiene practices and ensuring food safety from farm to table are essential for safeguarding public health and well-being.
World Food Safety Day was established by the United Nations General Assembly in December 2018, following a joint proposal by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO). The inaugural observance took place on June 7, 2019, and the day was created to emphasize the necessity of food safety in achieving sustainable development goals, especially those related to health, hunger, and sustainable agriculture.
Significance of World Food Safety Day:
Food safety is a critical component of public health and global food security. Unsafe food containing harmful bacteria, viruses, parasites, or chemical substances can lead to more than 200 diseases, ranging from diarrheal diseases to cancers. According to the WHO, an estimated 600 million people fall ill after consuming contaminated food each year, resulting in 420,000 deaths. Foodborne illnesses disproportionately affect vulnerable populations, including children, pregnant women, the elderly, and those with underlying health conditions.
The observance of World Food Safety Day serves several purposes:
1. Promoting Awareness: It educates people about the importance of food safety and highlights ways to ensure the safety of the food they consume.
2. Encouraging Action: It urges governments, businesses, and consumers to take actions that make food safer, from adopting good practices in agriculture and manufacturing to proper food handling at home.
3. Strengthening Collaboration: It fosters international cooperation and collaboration to enhance food safety systems and practices worldwide.
The theme for World Food Safety Day 2024:
Each year, World Food Safety Day is celebrated with a specific theme that guides global activities and campaigns. Themes such as “Food Safety, Everyone’s Business” emphasize the shared responsibility among governments, producers, and consumers to ensure food safety.
The theme for this year is “Food Safety: Prepare for the Unexpected.” According to the WHO, “this year’s theme underlines the importance of being prepared for food safety incidents, no matter how mild or severe they can be.”
Activities on World Food Safety Day:
Various activities take place globally, including educational campaigns, workshops, and seminars aimed at promoting food safety practices at all levels of the food supply chain. Governments, international organizations, and civil society groups work together to amplify the message of food safety and implement measures to reduce foodborne risks.
World Food Safety Day aims to raise awareness and inspire action to prevent, detect, and manage foodborne risks. It emphasizes the importance of food safety and promotes global awareness of the issues associated with unsafe food. The observance also encourages collaboration among governments, businesses, and consumers to enhance food safety systems and practices worldwide.
This international day serves as an opportunity to reinforce efforts to ensure that the food we consume is safe, integrate food safety into the public agenda, and reduce the global burden of foodborne diseases. It also highlights the critical role of food safety in achieving sustainable development goals, particularly those related to health, hunger, and sustainable agriculture.
In addition, World Food Safety Day seeks to educate people about the importance of food safety and highlight ways to ensure the safety of the food they consume. It urges governments, businesses, and consumers to take actions that make food safer, from adopting good practices in agriculture and manufacturing to proper food handling at home.
Ultimately, the objective of World Food Safety Day is to strengthen collaboration and foster international cooperation to enhance food safety systems and practices on a global scale.
