Food safety is a shared responsibility between governments, producers, and consumers. Everybody has a role to play from farm to table to ensure the food we consume is safe and will not cause damages to our health. Through World Food Safety Day, WHO pursues its efforts to mainstream food safety on the public agenda and reduce the burden of foodborne diseases globally.
The World Food Safety Day is celebrated on 7 June
On June 7 Join WHO join FAO to mark world food safety Day .
The theme of World Food Safety Day is: Safe Food Now for a Healthy Tomorrow
Food safety saves lives. It is not only a crucial component to food security, but it also plays a vital role in reducing foodborne disease. Every year, 600 million people fall sick as a result of around 200 different types of foodborne illness. The burden of such illness falls most heavily on the poor and on the young. In addition, foodborne illness is responsible for 420 000 preventable deaths every year.
World Food Safety Day is an important way of:
- making people aware of food safety issues
- demonstrating how to prevent illness through food safety
- discussing collaborative approaches to improved food safety across sectors
- promoting solutions and ways of being more food safe
Safe food now for a healthy tomorrow
World Food Safety Day (WFSD) celebrated on 7 June 2021 aims to draw attention and inspire action to help prevent, detect and manage foodborne risks, contributing to food security, human health, economic prosperity, agriculture, market access, tourism and sustainable development.
This year’s theme, ‘Safe food today for a healthy tomorrow’, stresses that production and consumption of safe food have immediate and long-term benefits for people, the planet, and the economy. Recognizing the systemic connections between the health of people, animals, plants, the environment, and the economy will help us meet the needs of the future.
Recognizing the global burden of foodborne diseases, which affect individuals of all ages, in particular children under-5 and persons living in low-income countries, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed in 2018 that every 7 June would be World Food Safety Day. In 2020, the World Health Assembly further passed a resolution to strengthen global efforts for food safety to reduce the burden of foodborne disease. WHO and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) jointly facilitate the observance of World Food Safety Day, in collaboration with Member States and other relevant organizations.
Food safety is a shared responsibility between governments, producers and consumers. Everyone has a role to play from farm to table to ensure the food we consume is safe and healthy. Through the World Food Safety Day, WHO works to mainstream food safety in the public agenda and reduce the burden of foodborne diseases globally. Food safety is everyone’s business.
Calls to action
1 – Ensure it’s safe – Government must ensure safe and nutritious food for all
2 – Grow it safe – Agriculture and food producers need to adopt good practices
3 – Keep it safe – Business operators must make sure food is safe
4 – Know what’s safe – Consumers need to learn about safe and healthy food
5 – Team up for food safety – Work together for safe food and good health
