Food Safety - The Need Of The Hour

Access to sufficient amount of safe and nutritious food is key to sustaining life and promoting good health. Unsafe food containing harmful viruses, parasites or chemicals cause more than 200 diseasesranging from diarrhoea to cancers. Unsafe food is linked to the deaths of an estimated 2 million people annually, including many children. Changes in food production, distribution, consumption , change in environmental pathogens and antimicrobial resistance –all pose challenges to national food safety systems. Food borne diseases impede socio-economic development by straining health care systems and harming national economies, tourism and trade. Food supply chains now cross multinational borders. As our food supply becomes more globalized, the need to strengthen food safety systems in and between all countries is becoming more and more evident. Everyone can contribute to make food safe.