In 2018, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) marked June 7 as World Food Safety Day. And in the year 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) passed a resolution that food safety would be a major concern globally and the day would also focus on food-borne diseases.
The World Food Safety Day concentrates on everyone, in every nook and corner of the world. According to the data of the UN, unsafe food kills nearly 420,000 people every year.
This year, the global food safety watchdogs are focusing on the risks associated with the harmful eating habits of different communities. This is because it is believed that the pandemic has spread among humans from the ‘wet market’ of China’s Wuhan.
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Foodborne diseases are invisible to the eyes and are infectious and toxic to the human body therefore, it is crucial to keep an eye on food safety. It is important that the food must stay safe during every stage of the food chain, that is, from production to harvesting to processing to storage to distribution to consumption (in very type – prepared or raw).
A key precaution is to protect the food from harmful bacteria, viruses, fungus, and other harmful substances.
THEME of World Food Safety Day 2021:
This year the theme of World Food Safety Day is “Safe food today for a healthy tomorrow.”
With this theme, the WHO highlights the fact that production and consumption of safe food have immediate and long-term benefits for people, the planet and the economy. The WHO stated, “Recognizing the systematic connections between the health of people, animals, plants and the environment and the economy will help us meet the needs of future.”
SIGNIFICANCE of World Food Safety Day:
The World Food Safety Day focuses on informing people about the proper food habits for a healthy lifestyle. The day also informs about the eating etiquette that must be followed in general like – washing hands with soap and water for at least 20 minutes before cooking meal, using clean water for cooking and drinking, food must be kept at proper and safe temperatures and many more.
On this, the WHO website read, “Food safety is shared responsibility between governments, producers and consumers. Everyone has a role to play from farm to table to ensure the food we consume is healthy and safe.”
QUOTES on Food Safety:
- "Food safety involves everybody in the food chain."- Mike Johanns
- "Civilization, as it is known today, could not have evolved, nor can it survive, without an adequate food supply." - Norman Borlaug
- "Get people back into the kitchen and combat the trend toward processed food and fast food."- Andrew Weil
- Let your food be your medicine, and your medicine be your food. – Hippocrates
- There are people in the world so hungry, that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread. – Mahatma Gandhi