The First World Food Safety Day is Here: Why Is This Celebrated?

World Food Safety Day 2019: Nations must work together to ensure food safety and security is a priority, urges the UN and WHO.

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Today, on 7 June 2019, the world celebrates its first world food safety day, with the theme ‘ Food Safety, everyone's business.’

In 2018 December, the UN General Assembly decided to dedicate a day to highlight the importance of food security and all it entails – from agriculture and sustainable development to managing food borne risks and the impact on overall human health.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) have teamed up to encourage member states to mark this day in the coming years.

Food Safety is a Global Right

The key to developing good health lies in nutritious food, and a lack of proper nutrition and foodborne diseases can impact entire populations and slow down socioeconomic growth. According to the WHO, there are an estimated 600 million annual cases of foodborne diseases, with 125 000 deaths every year.

Thus, initiating an annual World Food Safety Day would bring attention to the severity of this issue and “mainstream food safety in the public agenda,” says the WHO.

It’s a Call to Action to Everyone to Actualise a ‘World Without Hunger’

Additionally, the day aims to call in all stakeholders from farmers and processors to marketers and consumers to ensure a “world without hunger,” said Bukar Tijani, FAO assistant director-general.

Behind several UN sustainable Development Goals lies the issue of food secutiry, and every member state needs to focus on food to meet the goals.