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SAFER FOOD, BETTER HEALTH

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SAFER FOOD, BETTER HEALTH
Image Courtesy: UNICEF

Unsafe food particularly affects the most vulnerable groups: pregnant women, children under five, elderly and people with compromised immune systems.

Parkash Meghwar, M.Phil.

Department of Food Science & Technology, University of Karachi

Each year, one in ten people fall ill from eating unsafe food. Unsafe food particularly affects the most vulnerable groups: pregnant women, children under five, elderly and people with compromised immune systems. Consumers can make a difference by preventing foodborne diseases, keeping informed and promoting food safety. By making safe and healthy dietary choices and practicing safe food handling at home, you help reduce the global burden of disease and support sustainable food systems. WHO’s Five Keys to Safer Food were created by a group of international scientists to empower all consumers worldwide with a simple and applicable set of actions to prevent foodborne diseases: keep clean, separate raw and cooked, cook thoroughly, keep food at safe temperatures and use safe water and raw materials. Most foodborne diseases are preventable with proper food handling. You and your family can make a difference!

An estimated 2.5 billion people eat street food worldwide every day. It provides a source of inexpensive, convenient and in some cases nutritious meals, attractive and varied foods for tourists and a source of income for a vast number of people, particularly women. They are perceived to be a major public health risk due to unsafe food handling. Lack of knowledge among street food vendors about the causes of foodborne diseases is a major public health risk factor.

Food safety, nutrition and food security are closely linked. Unsafe food creates a vicious cycle of disease and malnutrition, particularly affecting infants, young children, elderly and the sick. The globalization of food trade, a growing world population, climate change and rapidly changing food systems have an impact on the safety of food. WHO aims to enhance at a global and country-level the capacity to prevent, detect and respond to public health threats associated with unsafe food.

World Food Safety Day - 2022 (5Therefore, World Health Organization has set a theme of World Food Safety Day 2022 as, “Safer food, better health”. It will draw attention and mobilize action to prevent, detect and manage foodborne risks and improve human health. 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 can cause more than 200 different diseases – ranging from diarrhea to cancers. Around the world, an estimated 600 million – almost 1 in 10 people – fall ill after eating contaminated food each year, resulting in 420 000 deaths and the loss of 33 million healthy life years.

Interventions at all government levels are required to ensure that the standard of safety for such foods is the best attainable in the local situation. Such implementations of food safety can bring change among vendors. They will improve food preparation practices, premises areas, product quality results satisfaction of consumers and good selling. It is suggested that use potable water for drinking, cooking, and making ice. Don’t reuse water for washing utensils, or hands. Avoid cross contamination, ensure storage environment as well. On World Food Safety Day, seminars and posters at public places should be organized to increase knowledge of food safety education.

Governments should make food safety a public health priority, as they play a pivotal role in developing policies and regulatory frameworks and establishing and implementing effective food safety systems.

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