The critical systemic connections between the health of people, animals, plants, the environment and the economy have never been more clearly enunciated to mankind as with the onset of Covid-19, at the end of 2019.
Now, more than ever, we need to recognise and understand the global burden of foodborne diseases, which affect individuals of all ages, in particular children under-5 and persons living in low-income countries, and seniors with compromised immunity and afflictions.
World Food Safety Day (WFSD) celebrated on 7 June 2021 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.
This year’s theme, ‘Safe food today for a healthy tomorrow’, stresses that production and consumption of safe food has immediate and long-term benefits for people, the planet and the economy.
Food safety is a shared responsibility between governments, producers and consumers.
Whether at home or commercial food outlets there exists a compelling need to make sure the food we consume is as fresh and clean as possible.
Everyone has a role to play from farm to table to ensure the food we consume is safe and healthy.
Calls to Action:
1 – Ensure it’s safe – Government 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 – Work together for safe food and good health
6 – Label safe – Food in packaging should be labelled with integrity so that consumers are not hoodwinked into false claims
7 – Teach safe methods of handling food to domestic help and people who may not be in the know, as they can use these pointers to spread the case for food safety within their families and friends.
These steps would require diligence of all home makers who are responsible for their family’s daily nutritional requirements; it would necessitate the ethics of complying with food safety protocols for all commercial food establishments; more accountability from food vendors.
How can you propogate World Food Safety Day?
- Follow the calls to action (as mentioned above)
- Pledge to do your bit for a safer food environment
- Unsafe food can cause over 200 diseases – many of which are extremely harmful.
Do you know the keys to #SafeFood?
- Keep clean ( yourself, food and surrounding environment)
- Separate raw & cooked food
- Cook thoroughly
- Keep food at safe temperatures
- Use safe water & safe raw materials
#WorldFoodSafetyDay is next week!
Unsafe food can cause over 200 diseases – many of which are extremely harmful.
Do you know the 5️⃣ keys to #SafeFood?
?Keep clean
?Separate raw & cooked food
?Cook thoroughly
?Keep food at safe ?
?Use safe water & safe raw materials pic.twitter.com/1Y0ETJXR9e— World Health Organization (WHO) Western Pacific (@WHOWPRO) June 5, 2021
