New Delhi: World Food Safety Day (WSFD) is observed annually on 7 June to help prevent, detect and manage foodborne risks.
The objective of celebrating the day is to focus on food security and highlight different areas relating to human health, economic prosperity agriculture, market access, and tourism, and sustainable development, according to the World Health Organisation.
This year’s theme is Safe food today for a healthy tomorrow’. It discusses the fact that the production and consumption of safe food have immediate and long-term benefits.
The WHO writes: “Recognizing the systemic connections between the health of people, animals, plants, the environment, and the economy will help us meet the needs of the future,”
Introduced in 2018 by the United Nations General Assembly, World Food Safety Day is aimed at alleviation and eventually eradication of food-borne diseases across the world.
It’s a joint collaborative effort of WHO and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; along with other member states, and organizations to eliminate potential health hazards caused by food-borne diseases, globally.
“An estimated 420 000 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 125 000 deaths every year,” UN notes.
