The World Health Organisation (WHO) stated on Friday that about 1.6 million people fell ill every day due to consuming unsafe food.
Children under the age of five accounted for 40 per cent of the statistics, Francesco Branca, head of nutrition and food safety at the WHO, said. He was speaking at a UN briefing in Geneva on World Food Safety Day.
Branca stated that with an “increasingly interconnected global food supply,” the risks posed by unsafe food could quickly turn from a local problem into an international emergency. Humanitarian crises in many parts of the world were leading to food insecurity and jeopardising food safety, he noted.
The WHO official called on governments to ensure a clear definition of food safety in their national health safety action plans.
The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) sees safe food as “fundamental” to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), according to a senior food safety officer Markus Lipp. He added that safe food was also a precondition for fulfilling FAO’s strategic plan to improve production, nutrition, the environment, and life.
When food is produced and traded in a safe and sustainable agrifood system, it contributes to a healthy life and improves sustainability by enabling market access and productivity, which drives economic development and poverty alleviation, especially in rural areas. In particular, improved food safety will safeguard public health and reduce child mortality.
