World Health Day 2015 to Focus on Food Safety

The World Health Organization (WHO) has announced plans to focus on food safety for World Health Day––April, 7, 2015. WHO has pinpointed this particular topic due to the increasing globalization of our food supply, which requires additional and improved systems both in and between all countries.

According to WHO, food safety is increasingly threatened by a number of factors––food production, distribution and consumption; changes to the environment; new and emerging pathogens and antimicrobial resistance. The spread of contamination is also made possible with increases in travel and trade.

In conjunction with their food safety campaign, WHO will also release estimates of how much foodborne diseases––the cause of 2 million deaths annually, mostly children––cost on a global scale. This will be the first time such numbers are published.

WHO's overarching goal is to provide various sectors within the food industry––farmers, health practitioners, farmers, government agencies––with the food safety knowledge they need in order to ensure safe food for all. In fact, WHO developed its own Five Keys to Safer Food for both vendors and consumers:

Key 1: Keep clean

Key 2: Separate raw and cooked food

Key 3: Cook food thoroughly

Key 4: Keep food at safe temperatures

Key 5: Use safe water and raw materials

Visit WHO.int for more information.

source: http://www.foodsafetymagazine.com