New Delhi (NVI): The World Food Safety Day is being observed today amid the Covid-19 pandemic when food security has become an utmost concern across the globe, with the third world countries including those in Africa the most vulnerable during the current situation.
This WFSD is being celebrated 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, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Word Food Safety Day is observed on June 7, and this is the second celebration, the first was in 2019. This year, the day calls for strengthening commitment to scale up food safety made by the Addis Ababa Conference and the Geneva Forum in 2019 under the umbrella of “The Future of Food Safety”, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said in a statement today.
“WHO, in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is pleased to facilitate Member States efforts to celebrate the World Food Safety Day,” the global health body said.
The theme for this year’s WFSD is “Food safety, everyone’s business”, under which the action-oriented campaign will promote global food safety awareness and call upon countries and decision-makers, the private sector, civil society, UN organizations and the general public to take action.
Food safety is a shared responsibility between governments, producers and consumers, WHO said, adding that everybody has a role to play from farm to table to ensure the food we consume is safe and will not cause damages to our health.
“Through the World Food Safety Day, WHO pursues its efforts to mainstream food safety in the public agenda and reduce the burden of foodborne diseases globally,” it said.
WHO calls for action with the following recommendations:
- Ensure it’s safe – Government must ensure safe and nutritious food for all
- Grow it safe – Agriculture and food producers need to adopt good practices
- Keep it safe – Business operators must make sure food is safe
- Eat it safe: All consumers have a right to safe, healthy and nutritious food
- Team up for safety – Food Safety is a shared responsibility
