The theme for this year is “Food Safety”, a theme of high relevance to all people on the planet, and multiple stakeholders, including government, civil society and the private sector.
Food safety is an area of public health which protects consumers from the risks of food poisoning and foodborne diseases, acute or chronic.
Unsafe food can lead to a range of health problems such as diarrhoeal disease, viral disease; reproductive and developmental problems and cancers. Food safety is thus a prerequisite for food security.
New threats to food safety are constantly emerging. Changes in food production, distribution and consumption; changes to the environment; new and emerging bacteria and toxins and antimicrobial resistance all increase the risk that food becomes contaminated. Increases in travel and trade enhance the likelihood that contamination can spread.
The World Health Organisation helps and encourages countries to prevent, detect and respond to foodborne disease outbreaks in line with the Codex Alimentarius, a collection of international food standards, guidelines and codes of practice covering all the main foods.
World Health Day 2015 is an opportunity to alert governments, manufacturers, retailers and the public to the importance of food safety and the part each can play in ensuring that the food on peoples’ plates is safe to eat.
