Overview: The World Food Safety Day is celebrated annually on 7 June to draw attention and mobilize action to prevent, detect and manage foodborne risks; thus contributing to food security, human health, economic prosperity, agriculture, access to the markets, tourism, and sustainable development.
Objectives:
Strengthen global efforts to reduce the risk of foodborne diseases and ensure safe food.
Facts:
- Access to sufficient amounts of safe and nutritious food is key to sustaining life and promoting good health.
- Unsafe food containing harmful bacteria, viruses, parasites or chemical substances, causes more than 200 diseases – ranging from diarrhea to cancers.
- An estimated 600 million – almost 1 in 10 people in the world – fall ill after eating contaminated food and 420,000 die every year, resulting in the loss of 33 million healthy life years.
- Diarrheal diseases are the most common illnesses resulting from the consumption of contaminated food, causing 550 million people to fall ill and 230,000 deaths every year.
- Food safety, nutrition and food security are inextricably linked; as unsafe food creates a vicious cycle of disease and malnutrition, particularly affecting infants, young children, elderly and the sick.
- 40% of the foodborne disease burden is among children under 5 years of age.
- Food-borne diseases impede socioeconomic development by straining health care systems.
Official date:
Globally: June 7th, 2022
Locally: Dhul-Qi‘dah 8th, 1443H.
Theme:
«Safer Food, Better Health»
References:
WHO