New Delhi|HL
World Food Safety Day is an annual celebration to draw attention and inspire action to help prevent, detect and manage foodborne risks.
World Food Safety Day is June 7. The United Nations has declared this day to draw global attention to the health consequences of contaminated food and water.
Theme
This year’s theme is “Safer Food, Better Health” The access of safe food is essential for the health and well-being of people, animals and the environment. Only when food is safe, we can benefit from its nutritional value and the mental and social benefits of sharing a safe meal.
We all have a role to play, from farm to table, in making sure the food we eat is safe and doesn’t harm our health. Safe food is essential to promoting consumer health and well-being and ending hunger, two of the 17 main UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
“Food safety is everyone’s business” is the slogan for World Food Safety Day and urges that we all play a role in maintaining food safety throughout the entire supply chain, from farm to table.
Importance Of Food Safety
Access to sufficient amounts of safe food is key to sustaining life and promoting good health. Foodborne illnesses are usually infectious or toxic in nature and often invisible to the plain eye, caused by bacteria, viruses, parasites or chemical substances entering the body through contaminated food or water.
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.
With an estimated 600 million cases of foodborne illnesses annually, unsafe food is a threat to human health and economies, disproportionally affecting vulnerable and marginalized people, especially women and children, populations affected by conflict, and migrants.
An estimated 4,20,000 people around the world die every year after eating contaminated food and children under 5 years of age carry 40% of the foodborne disease burden, with 1,25,000 deaths every year.
World Food Safety Day on 7 June aims to draw attention and inspire action to help prevent, detect and manage foodborne risks, contributing to 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) jointly facilitate the observance of World Food Safety Day, in collaboration with Member States and other relevant organizations.By making safe and healthy dietary choices, you help reduce the global burden of disease and support sustainable food systems.
