This year’s WHO theme is Food Safety: Prepare for the Unexpected
World Food Safety Day on June 7, 2024 will draw attention to food safety incidents. This year’s theme underlines the importance of preparing for food safety incidents, no matter how mild or serious they may be.
Food safety incidents are situations where there is a potential or confirmed health risk associated with food consumption. For example, a food incident can happen as a result of accidents, inadequate controls, food fraud or natural events. While being ready to manage food safety incidents requires dedicated efforts from policy makers, food safety authorities, farmers and food business operators, consumers can also play an active role.
Access to enough safe and nutritious food is key to sustaining life and promoting good health. Unsafe foods that contain harmful bacteria, viruses, parasites or chemicals can cause more than 200 different diseases, ranging from diarrhea to cancer. Around the world, an estimated 600 million people – almost 1 in 10 people – become ill every year after eating contaminated food, resulting in 420,000 deaths and the loss of 33 million healthy life years (DALYs).
Food safety, nutrition and food security are closely linked. Unsafe food creates a vicious cycle of disease and malnutrition, which mainly affects infants, young children, the elderly and the sick. A secure food supply not only contributes to food and nutrition security, but also supports national economies, trade and tourism, driving sustainable development. The globalization of food trade, a growing world population, climate change and rapidly changing food systems have an impact on food safety. WHO aims to increase capacity to prevent, detect and respond to public health threats related to unsafe food at global and national levels.