Introduction:

The first-ever World Food Safety Day was celebrated on June 7. It was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in December 2018 in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization. The theme for 2019 is ‘Food safety, everyone’s business’. An estimated 600 million cases of food-borne diseases occur annually around the world. This translates into one in 10 people falling ill after eating contaminated food.

Body:

Food borne intoxications or food poisoning is caused by ingestion

• Of toxicants found as toxins of certain plants or animals.
• Toxin formed by microbes while they multiply in the foods or after entering the intestines.
• Poisonous substances that may be intentionally or incidentally added to foods during production, processing, transportation or storage.

E.g.: Botulism, Shellfish poisoning, Staphylococcal poisoning, Salmonellosis, diarrhoea, Hepatitis-A etc.

State of food safety around the world:

• Food safety is an increasing threat to human health.
• According to WHO, Children under 5 years of age carry 40% of the food-borne disease burden with 1,25,000 deaths every year.
• Unsafe food also hampers development in many low- and middle-income economies, which lose around US$ 95 billion in productivity associated with disability, illness, and premature death of the workers.

Challenges to food safety:

• Adulteration: It remains the primary problem. It is widely prevalent in spices, grains, pulses, cereals, processed foods, readymade foods etc
• Storage of food grains at public and private warehouses is kept improperly. These warehouses are breeding grounds of rodents which infect the foods.
• Due to excessive use of Pesticides and Fertilizers in agriculture, inorganic compounds enter food chains through bio-magnification. It poses direct and immediate threats to health.
• Unhygienic storage and processing of bird flesh at poultry farms
• Unawareness of people regarding expired edible food items like mustard oil, beverages
• Lack of sanitation and water security

Impacts:

Food borne diseases are the most wide spread health problem in our country. In addition to health consequences, economic cost of food borne diseases such as lost of man days, cost of treatment, loss of affected food articles, etc can be huge.

Measures needed:

• Complying with global food standards.
• Establishing effective regulatory food control systems, including emergency preparedness and response.
• Providing access to clean water.
• Applying good agriculture practices (terrestrial, aquatic, livestock, horticulture).
• Strengthening the use of food safety management systems by food business operators
• Building capacities of consumers to make healthy food choices are some ways in which governments, international organisations, scientists, the private sector and civil society
• Food safety should be adequately incorporated in national disaster-management programmes and emergencies.
• Awareness for checking expiry date of processed and edible food items
• Social audit at public warehouses

Way forward:

Adopting the UN Guide to food safety:

• Governments must ensure safe and nutritious food for all.
• Agriculture and food producers need to adopt good practices.
• Business operators must make sure food is safe.
• All consumers have a right to safe, healthy and nutritious food.
• Food safety is a shared responsibility.

Conclusion:

Safe, nutritious and sufficient food is a key to promoting health and ending hunger, which are two of the main aims of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).