World Food Safety Day 

The Criticality of Food Safety and Effective Practices

Food safety is required to maintain the good health of people across the globe. To create awareness about food safety and promote the well-being of consumers globally, the United Nations declared June 7th as “World Food Safety Day”. This blog tries to explain about the importance of “World Food Safety Day” and discusses the different methods to provide a safe and healthy food system for everyone.

The United Nations General Assembly, World Health Organisation (WHO) and Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) declared June 7th 2018 as “World Food Safety Day”. Every year June 7th will be dedicated to create awareness about the importance of food safety and protecting people from foodborne diseases through collaboration.

Significance of World Food Safety Day:

• Public Health Protection: Foodborne diseases are a major threat to public health across the globe. Reports from WHO give us the data that over 600 million people are affected and about 420,000 deaths are caused due to food-borne diseases across the world. The “World Food Safety Day” aims to reduce this by preventing food contamination by following safe practices, and also reducing the risk of foodborne diseases.
• Global Awareness: World Food Safety Day gives governments, organisations and people to participate in discussions and activities to have a better understanding of issues related to food safety. By organising various global awareness programmes efforts are made to encourage governments and organisations to work together and discuss best the practices through sharing knowledge and try to improve the food safety measures across the globe.
• Sustainable Development Goals: Food safety is directly linked to numerous United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including SDG 2 (Zero Hunger) and SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being). By observing “World Food Safety Day” it is aimed to achieve these goals by encouraging the distribution of safe and nutritious food to everyone. This helps in creating a healthy society and maintaining sustainable food systems.

Practising Food Safety:

• Protecting Consumers: Food safety protocols protect consumers from the risk of contaminated or manipulated food. By adopting hygienic practices and by implementing stringent safety measures, Governments and food manufacturers can ensure that the food we consume meets the highest quality as per the regulations.
• Preserving Global Trade: In an increasingly interconnected world, international trade of food products has become commonplace. Adhering to stringent food safety practices develops consumer confidence and facilitates smooth trade relations between countries. By encouraging fair competition, entry barriers for producers are reduced, and this also helps to maintain economic stability.
• Mitigating Environmental Impact: Food safety encompasses not only the safety of the final product but also the responsible use of resources and environmental sustainability throughout the entire food production chain. By following eco-friendly measures and reducing food wastage, we can also reduce the environmental impacts on our food systems.
• Ensuring Food Security: Food safety is a critical component in achieving food security. We can avoid the loss of essential nutrients due to contamination and reduce the economic burden of foodborne infections by making the food safe to consume. A safe food supply improves people's and societies' general well-being and productivity.

World Food Safety Day serves as an important reminder of the significance of keeping a safe and secure food system for everybody. We can prevent foodborne infections, maintain public health, and support sustainable development by increasing awareness, adapting best practices, and encouraging collaboration. As consumers, we must demand safe food, support responsible producers, and advocate for stringent food safety legislation. All of us can work together to make a healthy lifestyle and accessibility to safe food as a basic human right for everyone.