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.

Therefore, 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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 Nusrat Sikandar

June 7 is endorsed annually by the United Nations as ‘World Food Safety Day.’

No matter how far away, ensuring maximum food safety is crucial for a healthy life. This year, the day is being commemorated under the theme of “Safe Food – Good Health”. This day plays a significant role in emphasizing the importance and need for nutritious food for human health, which can protect human mental and physical health.

The purpose of endorsing this day is to help prevent, identify and manage food hazards while contributing to food security, human health, economic prosperity, agriculture, market access, tourism and sustainable development, to draw the attention of various stakeholders and to encourage action in this regard. This international day is an opportunity to strengthen our efforts to ensure that the food we eat, is safe.

Hunger and misery are wide-ranging issues in the world, and heart wrenching for every sensitive soul. It has been generally observed that in this life full of problems no one has time to take care of health like now! However, it is very important to know that after this hard work day and night, what we manage to eat in the shape of two meals a day to survive, is not harmful to our health, and is not contaminated with harmful viruses, toxins, bacteria, germs or chemicals, and the packaged artificial food such as dairy products are not used carelessly. Because these deficiencies are the main cause of most diseases.

Adequate access to safe food is key to good health and satisfying health. Foodborne illnesses are usually contagious or toxic in nature, most of which are invisible to the naked eye. These are caused by the entry of bacteria, viruses, parasites or chemicals into the body through food or water. Food safety plays an important role in ensuring that food is safe at every stage of the food chain (from production to processing, storage, distribution, preparation and usage).

According to annual statistics, with an estimated 600 million cases of foodborne illness and unsafe food pose a significant threat to human health and the world’s economies, which are disproportionately vulnerable and affect the underprivileged, especially women and children, conflict-affected populations and the homeless (IDPs); an estimated 420,000 people worldwide die each year from eating unhealthy food, and children under the age of 5 die from foodborne illnesses due to the loss of 125,000 lives each year, who bear 40% of the load.

Any negligence in the process of storing vegetables, fruits and other food from farms to reaching our tablecloths and being served on our plates has a negative impact on our health. That’s why, every year the United Nations, the ‘World Health Organization’ (WHO) and its affiliates (the Food and Agriculture Organization) observe this day to combat and defend against threats.

Now is the high time for each of us to play our part in food security. Nowadays, from cattle rearing to horticultural food production, new experiments are being made, which can be effective in this regard. At the institutional level, everyone, including food traders, growers, farmers and consumers, should work with government agencies to take steps to ensure the effective use of the food management system. We have to play our part together. At the same time, strengthening the process of food security through the joint efforts of governments and private food companies is a matter of urgency. The challenge of achieving the extraordinary goal of eradicating hunger (Zero Hunger Goal) by 2030 in the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is included as the main target i.e. its Goal # 2.

To achieve all of these targets, the government and civil society must ensure that special sessions are held in each institution to make food safety information, education and training possible. Special care should be taken to ensure proper and proportionate use of colors and antioxidant flavors used in our food and strict monitoring by the government to ensure that there is no adulteration in the food and the steps of food packaging etc. are made satisfactory.

In this regard, the World Health Organization (WHO) has also formulated 5 basic principles of food security (five keys to food hygiene), following which a proper diet should be followed. In addition to safety, food borne diseases can be prevented as much as possible. These include: (1) keeping pans clean (2) keeping raw and prepared food separate (3) cooking food well (4) keeping it at a safe temperature and (5) making clean water available for cooking, are the rules for a safe diet, following which maximum food safety can be ensured. At the same time, it is essential to include food safety in the mainstream of the public agenda and reduce the burden of foodborne illness globally.

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The author is a freelance Sindhi journalist, columnist and writer, writing since 2014. She is an ‘East-West Center Alumni Association’ (EWCAA) fellow journalist.

Translated by Yasir Qazi, a freelance radio and TV broadcast and print journalist, poet, prose-writer, researcher, columnist, blogger, translator, media Expert, and author of 12 books in Sindhi. He writes regularly for esteemed English, Urdu and Sindhi papers and websites.

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