World Food Safety Day (WFSD) is organised by the United Nations. The World Health Organisation in Association with the Food and Agriculture Organisation hosts this event. The world is celebrating it for the second time with the theme Food Safety : Everyone’s Business .
Food Safety is a very vast topic which includes farmers, suppliers, processing units, sellers and even government agencies. To draw attention and inspire action to help prevent, detect and manage food borne risks, contributing to food security, human health, economic prosperity, agriculture, market access, tourism and sustainable development is the idea for this year.
The following are some of the Call to Action for this year as given by the WHO
- Ensure it’s safe – The governments must ensure safe and nutritious food for all its citizens.
- Grow it safe – Agriculture and food producers need to adopt good practices. To ensure better quality and quantity of food in production.
- Keep it safe – Business operators must make sure food is safe. Its the duty of the eatery to make sure that the food they are serving doesn’t harm anyone.
- Eat it safe – All consumers have a right to safe, healthy and nutritious food. This should be implemented irrespective of country, background, religion etc.
- Team up for safety – Food Safety is a shared responsibility. No single person or agency can handle it alone. Hence all stakeholders must work towards this common goal.
COVID 19 and Food Safety
The ongoing COVID19 pandemic has forced everyone across the globe to take precautionary measures. One of the main steps being taken by governments, private organisations and even individuals is eating clean. Proper washing and disinfection of any food ingredient or packing material has become a common norm.
With organisations like WHO giving aids to countries with lower income, these steps are preventing a lot of other food borne illnesses. Also medicals and social teams are working across the globe to educate and spread awareness of healthy eathing.
Another very important effect of the global pandemic is the habit of washing hands properly every hour or so. This has decreased the chance of food related infections to a very low level
World Food Safety Day and India
Government of India has recently released a SOP for eateries. This comes after a decision of the government to gradually open restaurants and hotels to partial capacity in Unlock 1. The SOP mentions a list of measures to be taken to prevent the further spread of this disease.
You can also read the Five Keys for Safer Food , Five Keys for Safer Aquaculture Products , Five Keys of Growing Safer Fruits and Vegetables and the Key Messages from WHO and FAO .
(Feature image source: foodqualityandsafety.com)
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