The World Food Safety Day 2026 campaign has launched with details of this year’s theme:  “From burden to solutions – safe food everywhere”. Led by the World Health Organization (WHO), this year’s campaign is dedicated to highlighting the burden of foodborne diseases and the science-based solutions that can prevent them.

Central to the 2026 theme is the upcoming release of updated WHO estimates of the foodborne disease burden, which will be published in June in a key findings report accompanied by an interactive dashboard and updated Global Health Observatory pages with national estimates by hazard, providing global, regional, and first-ever national estimates of foodborne illness, death, and public health burden expressed as disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) from 2000 to 2021. The report is based on data collected globally and in relation to a range of foodborne hazards and outcomes by hazard, which will help countries identify where policy priorities might best be placed.

The theme speaks also to solutions to the burden of foodborne illnesses. The new WHO estimates will help make a case for political commitment and targeted multisectoral responses in line with the magnitude of the public health burden. The implementation of Codex Alimentarius texts–and other effective risk mitigation measures such as strong national food control systems and safe food handling practices–can play a consequential role in the bid to tackling foodborne disease.

“When implemented, Codex standards help to protect consumer health, and I believe the release of the WHO foodborne disease estimates data this year will serve as a reminder that use of standards  can have a significant impact on the burden of foodborne diseases,” says Sarah Cahill, Codex Secretary.

Luz de Regil, Director of WHO Department of Nutrition and Food Safety, agreed: “The publication of the report will provide countries with some vital information needed to effectively tackle foodborne illness and prioritize interventions,” she says. “ This is the culmination of five years of effort and draws on the most comprehensive data collection undertaken to date, identifying approximately 25 000 datapoints from thousands of studies that were systematically gathered, computed and analysed.”

As the World Food Safety Day slogan reminds us every year, “Food safety is everyone’s business”, and this year’s campaign encourages everyone in the food chain, from producers to consumers, to use the evidence we have, including the data from the upcoming WHO report, on where foodborne illness and death occurs and what are the key drivers – and to then apply solutions.

“We must never stop using what we know to help prevent foodborne illness in the first place,” comments Markus Lipp, Senior Food Safety officer at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). “This includes remembering as consumers to apply the five keys to safer foods, and as food business operators and policymakers, to implement Codex standards, guidelines and codes of practice.”

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World Food Safety Day 2026 communication toolkit