ood safety is the concern that food stays safe at every stage, from production and harvest to processing, storage and distribution, all the way up to preparation and consumption. Access to sufficient amounts of safe food is key to sustaining life and promoting good health. Foodborne illnesses are usually infectious or toxic and often invisible to the plain eye. These are caused by bacteria, viruses, parasites or chemical substances entering the body through contaminated food or water.

With an estimated 600 million cases of foodborne illnesses annually, unsafe food is a major threat to human health and economies, disproportionally affecting vulnerable and marginalised people, especially women and children, populations affected by conflict and migrants.

An estimated 420,000 people around the world die every year after eating contaminated food. Children under 5 years of age carry 40 percent of the foodborne disease burden, with 125,000 deaths every year. Foodborne diseases affect one in 10 people worldwide yearly. Food standards help us ensure that what we eat is safe.

World Food Safety Day, celebrated on June 7 every year, aims to draw attention and inspire action to help prevent, detect and manage foodborne risks, contributing to food security, human health, economic prosperity, agriculture, market access, tourism and sustainable development.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations jointly facilitate the observance of World Food Safety Day in collaboration with member states and other organisations. The theme for the day this year was Food Standards Save Lives. It aimed at recognising the importance of food standards across the world in keeping consumers safe and in sustaining an equitable trade in food.

World Food Safety Day is observed to encourage everyone, from the producer to the consumer, to adopt and expect food safety standards along the food supply chain. This helps reduce foodborne illnesses, which are almost entirely preventable.

An increase in the world population and its relation to trade has given rise to many food safety problems, especially in underdeveloped countries. There is no doubt that food safety is a major challenge for low-income countries that are struggling to overcome food safety issues to enhance their economy and health sector.

Safe food handling at home and following WHO’s Five Keys to Safer Food is a safe way to have harm-free food. It includes keeping food items clean, separating raw and cooked items, cooking foodstuff thoroughly, keeping food at safe temperatures, using safe water and raw materials and staying informed about food safety measures.

In Pakistan, food safety and hygienic conditions have been ignored for a long time. Hence, the occurrence of bacteria, viruses and other microorganisms that can cause disease is common. Estimating foodborne diseases in Pakistan is tough, as monitoring or infection control programmes are only partially effective. We are facing a horrible situation regarding health and economic issues due to the contamination of foods. Diarrhoea and cholera among children and adults are common foodborne diseases in the country.

Food safety is a shared responsibility of the governments, producers and consumers. Everybody has a role to play from farm to table to ensure the food we consume is safe and will not harm our health.

Unhygienic processing practices and poor storage of milk, cereals, nuts and other foods cause fungal and bacterial contamination. Moreover, the increasing trend of adulteration in foods like milk has posed a serious challenge for the government during the recent years.

The rising population limits the economic potential of the individual and the state through a tendency among the traders and manufacturers to intentionally degrade food commodities offered for sale to make a profit at the cost of their quality and safety. The challenge of ensuring food safety is important, not only to protect the health of consumers but also to meet requirements for international trade. Many developing countries that export food internationally are increasingly aware of the need for sound food safety programmes that are in line with international standards.

The World Health Organisation says that the economy of under-developed countries is affected by food-borne illnesses by increasing the ratio of disease in that region. The reason for the situation is the lack of monitoring facilities and implementation of existing laws and legislations regarding food safety. There are several laws related to food safety in Pakistan, including The Pure Food Ordinance 1960, Pakistan Pure Food Laws 1963, Pakistan Hotels and Restaurant Act 1976 and The Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority (PSQCA) Act 1996.

The food safety laws in Pakistan also have standards for colouring components, preservative use while processing, flavouring compound, antioxidants, stabilisers, anticaking agents, non-nutritive components and metals. These laws also ban the selling, preparation, production, import and export of substandard food products. The above laws also have standards for the packaging of food products, and the precaution to be taken during storage and packaging.

Pakistan has an integrated legal framework and a set of laws dealing with various aspects of food safety. These laws, despite the fact that they were enacted a long time ago, have a tremendous capacity to achieve at least a minimum level of food safety. However, like many other laws, these too remain poorly enforced.

According to the Pure Food Ordinance 1960, it is the right of every citizen to analyse food samples. The law prohibits the production, preparation or storage for the purpose of sale of products that are unfit for consumption. It is the foremost responsibility of the citizens to look around them and inform the local authority.

Food safety is a shared responsibility of the governments, producers and consumers. Everybody has a role to play, from farm to table, to ensure that the food we consume is safe and will not harm our health. The World Food Safety Day, the WHO and the FAO pursue efforts to mainstream food safety in the public agenda and reduce the burden of foodborne diseases globally.

The writer is a playwright and freelance journalist. He can be reached at pashajaved1@gmail.com and his blogging site: soulandland.com