World Food Safety Day is celebrated to encourage global efforts to prevent, detect, and manage foodborne disease risks. It calls for contributing to achieving food security, human health, and sustainable development.
Official Date: June 7
The United Nations General Assembly has designated June 7th as an International Day to celebrate the many benefits of safe food.
Key Focus Areas
World Food Safety Day promotes 5 calls to action:
- Ensure food is safe: Governments must ensure safe and nutritious food for all.
- Grow safely: Agriculture and food producers need to adopt good practices.
- Keep food safe: Business operators must follow safety standards in food storage.
- Check that food is safe: Consumers need to learn about safe and healthy food.
- Team up for food safety: Let’s work together for safe food and good health.
Top Facts
- Foods that are not safe contain harmful bacteria, viruses, parasites, or chemical substances that cause more than 200 diseases, ranging from diarrhea to cancers.
- It is estimated that 600 million – almost 1 in 10 people in the world – fall ill after consuming contaminated food.
- Diarrheal diseases are the most common illnesses caused by consuming contaminated food, affecting over 550 million people and leading to 230,000 cases of deaths annually.