Written By: Tavishi Dogra | Updated : June 7, 2022 9:03 PM IST
World Food Safety Day 2022
World Food Safety Day (WFSD) is celebrated on 7 June annually. It emphasizes 'drawing attention and mobilizing action to prevent, detect and manage foodborne risks and improve human health', thus contributing to human health, food security, agriculture, sustainable development tourism, etc. The theme for World Food Safety Day 2022 is 'Safer food, better health,' announced WHO. Alisha Faleiro, Executive Pastry Chef - Academy of Pastry and Culinary Arts, Gurgaon shares how this movement highlights the need for a holistic approach toward food for better health by adopting a sustainable approach to preventing food-borne diseases.
Worldwide an estimated 600 million, or almost 1 in 10 people - fall ill after eating contaminated food per year, resulting in 4,20,000 deaths and the loss of 33 million healthy life years (DALYs). This indicates that intake of a sufficient amount of safe and nutritious food is the key to sustaining life and promoting good health. Food that is unfit for consumption carries harmful bacteria, viruses, parasites or chemical substances, which can cause different diseases- ranging from diarrhoea to cancer.
There is a close link between food safety, nutrition and food security. A vicious circle of disease and malnutrition is created by unsafe food, particularly affecting infants, young children, the elderly and the sick. Food safety is influenced mainly by the globalization of the food system, the growing global population, climate change, and rapidly changing food systems. The most common illness caused due to unclean practice of food is food poisoning, which can further lead to gastroenteritis. When large groups of people are around, gastroenteritis can spread quickly and cause mass illness. This can be passed on to those who contact infected people, making it a serious health issue.
Poor food hygiene practices are harmful to health. For example, undercooking food results in bacteria remaining on food, leaving food out for too long allows bacteria to multiply, failure of food regulation leads to storing food incorrectly, etc. Hence, the places where food is being cooked or kept should be clean to curtail the spread of illnesses.
Food safety can be managed by keeping a few things in mind, like staff training, correct handling of storage and transport of raw materials, ensuring environmental hygiene along with personal hygiene, maintenance, cleaning waste management, pest control, machinery and production line design, as well as facility location and designs. Following these simple practices can reduce the chances of illnesses and help manage food safety.
Consumers also have the right only to accept the food while purchasing that seems safe for consumption. They can speak up their opinion about the food control procedures, standards and activities that governments and industries use to ascertain. Both consumers and the government play a significant role in ensuring food safety and quality. The ultimate responsibility for investing the physical and managerial resources that are necessary for implementing lies with the food industry players, well-informed consumers and the initiatives launched by the government.
