Political awareness and consumer education on food safety will help strengthen enforcement of food safety standards, improve hygienic practices, and prevent food-borne illnesses, said Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director, World Health Organisation, South-East Asia region.
The most pertinent of all the measures is creating awareness among people to ensure that their food is safe, Singh said at regional consultation on the Monday, organised by the World Health Organisation in collaboration with the Department of Community Medicine, M S Ramaiah Medical College, on the eve of World Health Day.World Health Day is observed on April 7 each year.
Speakers at the consultation called for promoting food safety, this year’s World Health Day theme.
P S Vastrad, Commissioner, Department of Health and Family Welfare, said use of chemical fertilisers adulterated food.
According to Dr Nata Menabde, WHO representative to India, food safety is an issue of growing public health concern. To achieve food safety, strong functional links must be built between the public health and other sectors to ensure effective cross-sectoral collaboration, she said. “In India, food safety has obvious and direct linkages with the Swachh Bharat initiative of the prime minister that promotes cleanliness and hygiene, which are the key factors influencing food safety, thereby reducing the socio-economic impact of food-borne illnesses,” she said.
WHO is reaching out to the public, especially the youth, through its social media campaign - #safefood - to increase awareness about food-borne illnesses and improve food safety, from farm to plate. To involve people and get the message spread through social media, WHO is asking viewers to post a photo of their plate on their Facebook account and write about how they ensured food safety. Participants are also asked to nominate five of their friends by tagging them and using #safefood.
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