World Food Safety Day 2022: Theme, History and Significance

WORLD FOOD SAFETY DAY 2022: In a bid to detect, manage, and avert foodborne risks and improve human health, World Food Safety Day is observed annually on June 7. The day is marked to raise awareness of the health hazards associated with unsafe food, and to highlight the significance of hygiene in daily life.

Food safety is essential for ensuring proper human health, economic prosperity, sustainable development, and growth in agriculture and tourism as well. It helps in keeping diseases and infectious illnesses, which are caused by unhygienic food, at bay. The day is celebrated to draw attention to such issues and mobilise people and authorities to take adequate steps to ensure food safety.

World Food Safety Day: Theme

The theme for World Food Safety Day 2022 is ‘Safer food, better health’. The theme was announced by the World Health Organization (WHO) and underlines the fact that safer food is the key to better human health.

World Food Safety Day: History

World Food Safety Day was marked by the United Nations General Assembly on December 20, 2018, to celebrate the benefits of safe food. The WHO and Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations jointly facilitate the observance of the day.

World Food Safety Day: Significance

According to the UN, around 600 million cases of foodborne illnesses are reported every year which makes unsafe food one of the most concerning threats for human health. Diseases arising from unhygienic food affect the most vulnerable people and marginalised sections of society, especially children, women, and victims of conflicts.

These illnesses are caused by parasites, viruses, and bacteria present in contaminated food and water that are often not visible to the plain eye. Food safety becomes important to ensure that food stays safe and hygienic at every stage of the food chain. From harvesting and processing to storage and distribution, food must remain safe before it reaches the consumer.

The World Food Safety Day comes as an opportunity to strive more and strengthen efforts to ensure that people eat safe which is clean and safe.

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