Food and Agriculture
Organization of the
United Nations
SECOND INTERNATIONAL
CONFERENCE ON NUTRITION (ICN2)
FOOD SAFETY SIDE EVENT
19 NOVEMBER 2014, 13:00-14:30
RED ROOM
FOOD SAFETY: A RIGHT OR A PRIVILEGE
UNDERSTANDING THE IMPORTANCE OF FOOD SAFETY
TO THE FOOD SECURITY AND NUTRITION AGENDA
Food security is commonly understood as the state when
all people at all times have physical, social and economic
access to sufficient, nutritious and safe food to meet
their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and
healthy life. Conceptually, food security is built upon four
pillars including food availability, access, utilization and
stability. Within this framework, food safety is often
wrongly assumed as a given. However, in places where
food supplies are insufficient, coping mechanisms to
address food insecurity are often primarily focused on
access to food without due considerations for safety. Even
in more food-secure countries, limited resources are
diverted to ensure the safety of exported food products at
the expense of food sold domestically. Individuals facing
food insecurity are vulnerable to chemical, biological and
other hazards in unsafe foods, which can pose serious,
acute and chronic health risks (ranging from diarrhoea to
cancer and even death).
Furthermore, food safety problems threaten the
nutritional status of particularly vulnerable sub-populations
such as older adults, pregnant women and children.
Foodborne illness resulting in chronic diarrhoea can
negatively impact on nutritional status by reducing nutrient
absorption and exacerbating nutrient deficiencies. Limited
access to safe and nutritionally adequate food often forms
a vicious cycle of worsening health and well-being. Beyond
the direct effects on health, unsafe food imposes significant
social and economic costs resulting from loss of income
and reduced market access.
Morbidity due to diarrhoea, dysentery and other enteric
diseases – arising from unsafe food, contaminated water
and poor sanitation – has not declined much over recent
decades. An estimated 2 million people per year die from
diarrhoeal diseases from contaminated food and water,
most of them children. In addition, many children in
developing countries are chronically exposed through
their diets to aflatoxins, which are not only carcinogenic
but may also contribute to stunting. It has been estimated
that aflatoxin may play a causative role in up to 30% of the
cases of liver cancer globally each year.
KEY MESSAGES
 Access to sufficient amounts of safe and
nutritious food is a basic human necessity,
required to sustain life and promote good
health.
 Food safety, nutrition and food security
are inextricably linked, yet the importance
of food safety in this relationship is often
overlooked.
 Improved food safety will contribute to
improved nutritional status and the
reduction and prevention of noncommunicable diseases, including cancer.
 An integrated approach is needed where
food safety and nutrition are systematically
introduced into mainstream food system
policies and interventions worldwide in
order to achieve health and development
goals.
 Unsafe food imposes significant social and
economic costs resulting from loss of
income and reduced market access.
 Recommended actions to address food
safety at national levels
prioritized and implemented.
should
be
Food and Agriculture
Organization of the
United Nations
SECOND INTERNATIONAL
CONFERENCE ON NUTRITION (ICN2)
FOOD SAFETY SIDE EVENT
19 NOVEMBER 2014, 13:00-14:30
F o o d sa f e ty i s a n e s se n ti a l c o m p o n e n t o f
su sta in a b le a g ric u l tu ra l a n d e c o n o m ic de v e lo p m e n t
a n d g lo b a l h e a l th . T h i s i s e sp e c ia l ly re le v a n t a s t h e
in t e rn a t io n a l c o m m u n i ty f o c u s se s o n th e M il le n n iu m
De v e lo p m e n t Go a l s a n d th e p o st 2 0 1 5 A g e n d a .
F o o d sa f e ty n e e d s to b e in t e g ra te d in to th e g lo b a l
f o o d se c u ri ty a n d n u tr i t io n a g e n da to re a c h th e se
Go a l s.
F o o d sa f e ty i s n o t a g iv e n . Gu a ra n t e e in g th e sa f e ty
a n d q u a l i ty o f f o o d su p p li e s sh o u ld b e c o n s i de r e d
a s im p o rt a n t a s e n su r in g a de q u a te d i st r ib u t io n o f
f o o d a m o n g a l l p e o p le to e l im in a te h u n g e r g lo b a l l y .
Go v e rn m e n t s sh o u l d p ro v id e a n e n a b li n g p o l ic y a n d
re g u la t o ry e n v i ro n m e n t , a n d e sta b l ish , im p le m e n t
a n d e n f o rc e e f f e c tiv e f o o d sa f e ty sy st e m s to e n su re
th a t f o o d p r o du c e r s a n d su p p lie r s a lo n g th e w h o le
f o o d c h a in o p e ra te re sp o n sib ly a n d su p p ly sa f e f o o d
to c o n su m e r s . T h e k e y e le m e n t s o f e f f e c t iv e f o o d
sa f e ty sy s te m s in c lu de m o n i to r in g th e sa f e ty o f
do m e s t ic a n d im p o r te d f o o d su p p l ie s , a n d b u i l di n g
c a p a c i ty to p re v e n t , de te c t a n d re sp o n d to
f o o db o rn e di se a s e o u tb r e a k s .
I n th e la st 7 0 y e a r s , 3 3 5 n e w in f e c t io u s di s e a s e s
h a v e b e e n i de n tif ie d in c lu d in g f o o db o rn e o n e s , o f
w h ic h o n e th i r d a re lin k e d to c h a n g e s in a g r ic u l tu re
a n d f o o d p ro du c t io n . T h e f o o d sa f e t y c o n t e x t i s
th e re f o re c o n tin u o u s ly e v o lv in g , w i th a n in c re a si n g
de m a n d f o r f o o d to s u p p o rt a g ro w in g g lo b a l
p o p u la t io n a lo n g s id e e f f o rt s to d e v e lo p su sta in a b le
f o o d p ro du c t io n p ra c t i c e s . O n e e m e rg in g f o o d
sa f e ty i s su e o f g lo b a l c o n c e rn i s a n t im ic ro b ia l
re si s ta n c e ( A M R ) . Wh il e a n t im ic ro b ia l dru g s a r e
e s se n ti a l f o r b o th h u m a n a n d a n im a l h e a l th a n d
w e lf a re , a n d c r i t ic a l to f o o d p ro du c e r s ’ l iv e lih o o ds ,
th e ir m i su s e h a s le d to g ro w in g a n t im ic ro b i a l
re si s ta n c e th re a t s to h u m a n s a n d a g ro - e c o lo g i c a l
e n v i ro n m e n t s. A d d re s sin g A M R th e re f o re re q u ir e s
a m u l t i se c to ra l “ O n e H e a l th ” a p p ro a c h , b u t
si g n if ic a n t c h a l le n g e s s ti l l re m a in in t ra n sla t i n g
in t e rn a t io n a l ly re c o g n iz e d s ta n da rd s a n d g u i de lin e s
in to a p p ro p ria te p o l ic i e s a n d a c tio n s a t a n a tio n a l
le v e l .
FOOD SAFETY AT FAO AND WHO
For more information, please contact:
Dr Kazuaki Miyagishima, Director,
Department of Food Safety and Zoonoses,
World Health Organization (WHO),
20 Avenue Appia, 1211 Geneva 27,
Switzerland
[email protected]
Dr Renata Clarke, Head
Food Safety and Quality Unit, Agriculture and Consumer
Protection Department
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
(FAO),
Viale delle Terme di Caracalla,
00153 Rome,
Italy
[email protected]
RED ROOM
RECOMMENDED ACTIONS
ON FOOD SAFETY
1. Develop, establish, enforce and strengthen, as
appropriate, food control systems, including
reviewing and modernizing national food safety
legislation and regulations to ensure that food
producers and suppliers throughout the food
chain operate responsibly
2. Actively take part in the work of the Codex
Alimentarius Commission on nutrition and food
safety, and implement, as appropriate,
internationally adopted standards at the national
level
3. Participate in and contribute to international
networks to exchange food safety information,
including for managing emergencies (i.e.
International Food Safety Authorities Network,
INFOSAN)
4. Raise awareness among relevant stakeholders
on the problems posed by AMR, and implement
appropriate multisectoral measures to address
AMR including prudent use of antimicrobials in
veterinary and human medicine
5. Develop and implement national guidelines on
prudent use of antimicrobials in food-producing
animals according to internationally recognized
standards adopted by competent international
organizations to reduce non-therapeutic use of
antimicrobials and to phase out the use of
antimicrobials as growth promoters in the
absence of risk analysis as describe in Codex
Code of Practice CAC/RCP61-2005
Carmen Joseph Savelli