World Food Safety Day – 7 June 2020
This year World Food Safety Day celebrations started early – with INFOSAN members gathering for webinars on ‘safe food in markets’ in mid-May – and will run until at least mid-June when the Republic of Korea holds its 19th national celebration of food safety. With limitations on gatherings and travel in many countries due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many of the events that were to be held in person have been moved online. The event that WHO was to host with FAO in Geneva is an example.
In a live session on Facebook on Friday 5 June, Francesco Branca, WHO Director, Department of Nutrition and Food Safety, and Sarah Cahill, Codex Alimentarius Secretariat Senior Food Standards Officer, spoke about food safety, responding to questions from the audience. See the news section of the official World Food Safety Day site for more events.
“In these challenging times, the motto of the World Food Safety Day is more pertinent than ever: food safety is everybody’s business,” said Markus Lipp, Head of the FAO Food Safety and Quality Unit. “No matter what else is going on, every single person still needs safe food every day. We cannot let up in our vigilance to ensure that our food is safe.”
Promotional materials on the theme were made available on the site and Trello board, which featured social media cards, virtual event guides and more in the six official UN languages.
It’s time to celebrate the important work of everyone who strives to keep food safe.
Hashtags to follow the conversation: #WorldFoodSafetyDay and #FoodSafety