Unsafe and unhygienic food is linked to the deaths of an estimated 2 million people annually including a number of children. Food containing harmful bacteria, viruses, parasites or chemical substances is responsible for more than 200 diseases ranging from diarrhoea to cancers.
According to WHO, new threats to food safety are constantly emerging. Changes in food production, distribution and consumption, changes to the environment, new and emerging pathogens and antimicrobial resistance all pose challenges to national food safety systems. Increases in travel and trade enhance the likelihood that contamination can spread internationally. The topic for World Health Day 2015 is food safety
As our food supply becomes increasingly globalized, the need to strengthen food safety systems in and between all countries is becoming more and more evident. That is why the WHO is promoting efforts to improve food safety, from farm to plate (and everywhere in between) on World Health Day, April 7, 2015.
The WHO helps countries prevent, detect and respond to food borne disease outbreaks in line with the Codex Alimentarius, a collection of international food standards, guidelines and codes of practice covering all the main foods and processes. Together with the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the WHO alerts countries to food safety emergencies through an international information network.
