World Food Safety Day 2023

Food is probably the most substantial of the three basic needs of a human. Thus, protecting food at all costs becomes necessary. World Food Safety is the measure taken to strive toward food safety. The day is celebrated every year on 7 June. The United Nations established the day to raise awareness about the importance of food etiquette and food safety at all stages of the food chain.

Food is passed through a long chain of distribution and experts in the field manage the delivery of food at restaurants, stores, and warehouses. At the grass root level, the distribution of food begins at agricultural lands where the process starts with harvesting, processing, storing, and eventually distribution and preparation. Since the consumption of the is the result of a long chain process, it is important to prevent it from any kind of contamination. 

History of World Food Safety Day 

In July 2017, the 40th session of the FAO conference adopted the resolution that was in support of World Food Safety Day. The WHO (World Health Organization) also expressed its support for the resolution.

The UN General Assembly adopted resolution 73/250 on 20 December 2018  to proclaim World Food Safety Day. And as of 2019, they celebrated every year on 7 June.

The World Health Assembly passed a resolution WHA 73.5 on 3 August 2020 to recognize World Food Safety Day as an important milestone and a platform required to raise awareness at all levels about the importance of Food Safety. It also promoted and facilitated action to prevent food-borne diseases at local, regional, national, and global levels with the objective to strengthen global efforts for food safety to reduce the burden of foodborne disease.  

Also Read: United Nations Day

Theme and Significance of World Food Safety Day

The theme for World Food Safety Day 2023 is “Food Standards Save Lives”. There are approximately 600 million foodborne diseases recorded every year. Among such diseases,  food poisoning is the most common condition. Thus, the need for food safety has become more important now than ever. The concept of food safety means that the food is handled with utmost care in proper hygienic conditions before it is delivered to us.

Food safety is a key factor in determining our overall health as what we ingest and digest easily spreads to other parts of our body via the bloodstream. 

• This cause is important for all of us and is a global concern. And thus, requires support from organizations and people from all over the world to have a united front to prevent food contamination. 
• The day requires global awareness and actions to protect our food and set standards of maintaining proper hygiene for food storage and food distribution. 
• Consumption of healthy food is necessary as healthy food lead to a healthy life. The day calls for special attention to food safety measures and providing healthy food. 

Also Read: Food Technology Courses 

How is it Celebrated?

The following are the best ways to celebrate World Food Safety Day:

• The best way to celebrate this day is to ensure that everyone knows about the importance of food safety i.e. raise awareness about the issue. You can use your social media handles to spread the word about food safety. 
• You can also share your views on Twitter using the hashtag #WorldFoodSafetyDay and draw the attention of many other users toward the concern.
• The United Nations in collaboration with other concerned organizations like World Health Organization and FAO organize various events on this day to spread the word about food safety and discuss the measures centred on the same. You can visit the websites of the organizations to know more about the possible events. 
• You can also download promotional content on World Safety Day such as cards, posters, and gifs, and send them to people you know. This is a fun way to raise awareness about the issue

Also Read: MSc Food Technology

Interesting Facts About Food Safety 

The following are some interesting facts about Food Safety:

• Consumption of contaminated food can cause life-long health problems
• Some food bacteria are becoming resistant to treatment drugs
• There are millions of foodborne illnesses
• Unwashed Food can openers were discovered to be one of the leading causes of food poisoning as they have residual food on them 
• It takes bacteria four hours to start multiplying on melon
• Some pathogens that cause food poisoning can cause kidney failure, meningitis, or arthritis

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