World Food Safety Day 2021 Date, Theme and Significance: Know More About the Day Observed by WHO & Food and Agriculture Organization To Draw Attention Towards Foodborne Risks

World Food Safety Day 2021 Date, Theme and Significance (Photo Credits: Flickr and File image)

June 7 will be celebrated as World Food Safety Day (WFSD). This is going to be the second year celebrating the day as the observance only stated last year in 2019. The observance is a brainchild of WHO in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization. The idea of this day is to raise awareness about the prevention, detection and management of “foodborne risks, contributing to food security, human health, economic prosperity, agriculture, market access, tourism and sustainable development,” according to WHO. Protein-Rich Diet For Weight Loss: What Quantity of This Macronutrient Should an Average Person Consume Daily to Meet Recommended Dietary Allowance?

Foodborne illnesses make for a huge health burden globally. About 600 million people fall sick due to contaminated food and it accounts for almost 1 in 10 people in the world! Statistics have it that about 420 000 die every year due to the complicated illnesses causing the loss of 33 million healthy life years (DALYs).

Theme

The theme for World Food Safety Day (WFSD) 2021 is “Food safety, everyone’s business”. The idea is to spread awareness that every effort counts. The idea is to promote global food safety awareness and why it is everyone’s business to work towards food safety. WHO and FAO urge countries and decision-makers, the private sector, civil society, UN organizations and the general public to take action.

Significance

WHO says that this year “WFSD reinforces the call to strengthen commitment to scale up food safety made by the Addis Ababa Conference and the Geneva Forum in 2019 under the umbrella of ‘The Future of Food Safety’.” WHO, in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) will be facilitating Member States efforts to celebrate the World Food Safety Day 2021. Food forms the basis of our survival and it is important that everyone has access to clean food and water. WHO explains how food safety hence becomes the “shared responsibility between governments, producers and consumers.”

They further say that everybody has a vital role to play to ensure food safety. Right from farm to table, it is important that the food we consume is safe and will not cause damages to our health. Through the World Food Safety Day, WHO “pursues its efforts to mainstream food safety in the public agenda and reduce the burden of foodborne diseases globally.”