A life necessity, a social event, an act of love, a way of expressing ourselves: food is all of these things, as well as an important source of employment and the heartbeat of every economy.

But the food chain – growing, harvesting, processing, packaging, transporting, distributing, trading, purchasing, preparing, consuming, and eventually disposing of what we consume – is a fragile sequence in which every point is fraught with risk.

These pages address the work of FAO and its partners in ensuring food is safe. Our intention is to develop, deploy and communicate the latest science; support good governance; facilitate food safety emergency prevention and response; and keep a close watch on both future opportunities and the risks that may accompany them.

Food is the essence of life. And food safety is everyone’s business.