Global Food Safety Day celebrated annually to promote awareness

World Food Safety Day, observed annually on June 7, was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 2018 to highlight and motivate efforts to prevent, detect, and respond to public health threats linked with unsafe food.

Facilitated jointly by WHO and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), World Food Safety Day aims to bolster food security, safeguard consumer health, promote economic prosperity, support agriculture, facilitate market access, foster tourism, and encourage sustainable development.

This year’s theme, ‘Food safety: prepare for the unexpected,’ underscores the range of food safety incidents, from minor occurrences to major crises, including power outages, food poisoning incidents, product recalls, outbreaks, and natural disasters.

Food safety risks transcend borders, making it crucial to address them in our interconnected global food supply chain. Unsafe food consumption leads to around 1.6 million illnesses worldwide daily, with 40% affecting children under 5, who are already vulnerable to malnutrition and mortality.

Re-reported from the article originally published in World Health organization.