World Food Safety Day

On 20 December 2018 the United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution 73/250 proclaiming a World Food Safety Day. Starting in 2019, every 7 June will be a time to celebrate the myriad benefits of safe food.

What is Food Safety

Food safety is the absence -- or safe, acceptable levels -- of hazards in food that may harm the health of consumers. Food-borne hazards can be microbiological, chemical or physical in nature and are often invisible to the plain eye: bacteria, viruses or pesticide residues are some examples.

Food safety has a critical role in assuring that food stays safe at every stage of the food chain - from production to harvest, processing, storage, distribution, all the way to preparation and consumption.

Every day, on average, 1 600 000 people get sick due to unsafe food, contaminated with bacteria, viruses, parasites, or chemical substances. It affects all countries. 

Key facts

• One in ten people worldwide fall ill from contaminated food each year.
• The magnitude of the public health burden due to foodborne diseases is comparable to that of malaria or HIV AIDS
• Over 200 diseases are caused by eating food contaminated with bacteria, viruses, parasites or chemical substances such as heavy metals
• 40 percent of the foodborne disease burden is carried by children under 5
• Antimicrobial resistant microbes can be transmitted through the food chain, via direct contact between animals and humans or through the environment.
  Each year, an estimated 700 000 people die around the globe because of antimicrobial resistant infections.
• Children under 5 years of age carry 40% of the foodborne disease burden, with 125 000 deaths every year.
• Foodborne parasitic diseases can cause both acute and chronic health problems. The estimated number of illnesses from 11 main parasitic diseases
  is 48.4 million per year, 48 percent of which are transmitted through food.
• Children under the age of five are at a higher risk of malnutrition and mortality due to unsafe food and carry 40 percent of the foodborne disease
  burden. Unsafe food caused one in six deaths from diarrhoea, a major killer in this age group.
• Safe and nutritious foods benefit child growth and development by improving intellectual and physical potential, as well as increasing school performance and work productivity in adult life.
• If there are no contraindications, exclusive breastfeeding is the safest way to feed infants during the first six months of life.
• The production of safe food reduces food loss and waste and benefits the planet.
• Safe food benefits the economy by increasing productivity, allowing prosperous national food markets and stable food exports and trade. It reduces the
  strain on health care systems.
• The safety of food is affected by the health of animals, plants and the environment within which it is produced. Adopting a holistic One Health approach to food safety will deliver a better food safety system.
• 188 countries and one member organization (the European Union) have negotiated science-based recommendations in all areas related to food safety and quality, Codex Alimentarius standards, which ensure that food is safe and can be traded.
• Food safety contributes to the achievement of the SDGs and is a truly cross-cutting area.

2024 Theme: Food safety: prepare for the unexpected

World Food Safety Day on 7 June 2024 will draw attention to food safety incidents. This year’s theme underlines the importance of being prepared for food safety incidents, no matter how mild or severe they can be.

Food safety incidents are situations where there is a potential or confirmed health risk associated with food consumption. A food incident can happen, for example, due to accidents, inadequate controls, food fraud or natural events. While being ready to manage food safety incidents requires dedicated efforts from policymakers, food safety authorities, farmers and food business operators, consumers also can play an active role. 

So what can be done in order to be ready to address food safety incidents?

Governments can:

• Commit to developing or updating national food safety emergency response plans
• Strengthen national food control systems increase surveillance and coordination capacities
• Improve communication with food businesses and the general public

Food businesses can

• Improve food safety management plans
• Share “lessons learned” and work collaboratively with each other
• Improve the way they communicate with consumers

Consumers can

• Ensure they know how to report or respond to a food safety incident
• Ensure they understand the implications of the unexpected at home, and how to react

Food safety is everyone’s business

Food supply chains involve several people: producers, processors, transporters, distributors, retailers, cooks as well as consumers.
At every point in the chain, there are hazards that can cause contamination. Everyone involved at the various stages has a responsibility to keep food safe.

There are five calls to action on World Food Safety Day:

1. Ensure it’s safe - Governments must ensure safe and nutritious food for all
2. Grow it safe - Agriculture and food producers need to adopt good practices
3. Keep it safe - Business operators must make sure food is safe
4. Know what’s safe - Consumers need to learn about safe and healthy food
5. Team up for food safety – Let’s work together for safe food and good health!

When you eat, how do you know your food is safe?

You have probably washed your hands, cleaned your kitchenware and cooked your food to the right temperature, all good food safety practices. You have probably read food packaging labels to see what ingredients the product contains or how to cook it. And perhaps without realizing it, you have trusted everyone involved in growing, processing, packaging, distributing and preparing your food in the right way so that you can enjoy it without falling ill. Your food was safe and your trust justified because the people involved in making your food - whether close to your home or on the other side of the world - followed established food safety practices, which are transparently available in the form of standards. In other words, food standards form the bedrock of trust for all of us.

Food standards are a way of ensuring safety and quality.

They provide guidance on hygienic food handling for farmers and processors. They define the maximum levels of additives, contaminants, residues of pesticides and veterinary drugs that can safely be consumed by all. Furthermore, standards specify how the food should be measured, packaged and transported to keep it safe. Thanks to the application of standards on things like nutrition and allergen labelling, consumers can know whether the food will be good for them.

Most governments and organizations adopt and enforce food standards that are based on scientific risk assessments, covering hazards that are biological, chemical and physical in nature. The standards can be developed by individual governments or organizations, or by regional or intergovernmental standard-setting bodies. One such international food safety and quality standard-setting body is the Codex Alimentarius Commission, or Codex for short. Codex is the place where representatives of 188 Member Countries and 1 Member Organization (the European Union) work together to make sure food is safe.

Codex operates with a mandate to protect consumer health and ensure fair practices in the food trade. Technical committees work to develop texts for standards, guidelines and codes of practice in a transparent and inclusive manner. Underpinned by scientific advice from global expert groups led by FAO and WHO, the texts are developed with input from 243 observer organizations, including industry and consumer associations.; Used by governments and the food industry, Codex standards guide national food safety legislation and ensure best practices. The World Trade Organization also uses Codex standards as benchmarks. If your food comes from abroad, it has to meet these standards. Codex standards are at the heart of food safety. They have been for six decades. Each year the‘food code’grows – new standards are introduced and existing standards are updated when new data becomes available. In 2023, as Codex turns 60, we celebrate food standards for defining the path to safe food for everyone everywhere.

Food Safety and Sustainable Development Goals

Food safety is key to achieving several of the Sustainable Development Goals and World Food Safety Day brings it into the spotlight, to help prevent, detect and manage foodborne risks. Safe food contributes to economic prosperity, boosting agriculture, market access, tourism and sustainable development.

• Goal 2 — There is no food security without food safety. Ending hunger is about all people having access to safe, nutritious and sufficient food all year round.
• Goal 3 — Food safety has a direct impact on people’s health and nutritional intake. Foodborne diseases are preventable.
• Goal 12 — When countries strengthen their regulatory, scientific and technological capacities to ensure that food is safe and of the expected quality throughout the food chain, they move towards more sustainable patterns of food production and consumption.
• Goal 17 — A globalized world with annual food exports currently in excess of USD 1.6 trillion and complex food systems demands international cooperation across sectors to ensure food is safe. Food safety is a shared responsibility among governments, food industries, producers and consumers.

Source : UN

Related resources

1. FAO - Campaign materials
2. WHO - Campaign materials