How has COVID-19 affected food safety? What food safety measures should be taken when ordering take out or delivery?  These were some of the questions that were addressed during a Twitter chat organized by the International Food Information Council (IFIC) with the participation of the Codex Secretariat on Thursday 11 June.   More than 50 participants attended the online conversation and shared their views on food safety and COVID-19 with over 2 million users, informing them of the good food safety practices that [...]

Ruth Richardson, Executive Director of the Global Alliance for the Future of Food and Francesco Branca, WHO Director of the Department of Nutrition and Food Safety take the opportunity of the World Food Safety Day to explain the urgent need for a radical change in our current food systems and the challenges to ensure a safe, resilient, sustainable and equitable future of food. They underline the need to take an integrated and inclusive approach to food, food safety, environment, trade, [...]

Science and Codex guidelines help food businesses By Leon Gorris, Secretary of the International Commission on Microbiological Specification for Foods (ICMSF) Ensuring food safety is a public health priority and an essential step to achieving food security. While we are celebrating World Food Safety Day on 7 June 2020, we remind ourselves that food safety is everyone’s business. We all play a role, e.g. food growers, processors, distributors, retailers and consumers. Around the globe about 7 Million people have been infected by the coronavirus disease: [...]

On 9 June 2020, there was a flurry of activity around #WFSDchat, the hashtag chosen to abbreviate World Food Safety Day for the online conversation organized by @FoodSystems,  About 185 users engaged in the chat, which consisted of 520 tweets with the hashtag, potentially reaching more than 4 million users. The chat centred on six questions that covered topics such as how current global challenges like climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic are affecting safety and what consumers can do to [...]

The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) celebrated the World Food Safety day under the theme Safe food in informal markets:  healthier people, wealthier lives, in recognition of the dual role of informal food markets in nourishing people and providing incomes.  Food safety is key part of ILRI research portofolio based on risk analysis.  Aligned with the FAO/WHO call for action to “team up for safety”, ILRI included in their campaign some messages from partners who support their research efforts towards [...]

To mark the second World Food Safety Day, World Food Programme (WFP) employees gathered on 4 June 2020 for an online discussion about “Ensuring food safety across the humanitarian pipeline”. Led by a panel of industry experts, the event tracked food safety activities and achievements, answering questions pertinent to WFP’s work, such as: Why is food safety important for one and all? What is the relevance of food safety in the context of humanitarian food aid? Why do we need standards? How are we supporting [...]

The six regional committees are the backbone of the international dimension of the Codex Alimentarius and an early warning system for global food safety issues. In this episode of the Codex podcast the regional coordinators discuss COVID, the importance of food safety standards and opportunities for new ways of working. Guests: Mohammad Hussein AliAbadi (Iran), Sunil Bakshi (India),  Nailya Karsybiekova (Kazakhstan), Kimutai Maritim (Kenya), Diego Varela (Chile)   UNFAO · COVID-19: the regional view on Codex and food safety   Read more Visit the COVID-19 thematic [...]

On 11 June, the Standards and Trade Development Facility (STDF) members held an online session to launch STDF’s 2019 Annual Report, in the context of World Food Safety Day 2020. The webinar presented the new Report, “Facing the future: shaping safe trade outcomes” to Working Group members who tuned in from STDF’s trade, health, agriculture and development expert network. Julie Emond from Canada, Working Group Chair, opened the webinar, which was led and moderated by Marlynne Hopper, Deputy Head of the [...]

By Codex Secretary Tom Heilandt On 30 May 2020 7.22pm German time I was glued to my new quarantine TV watching the launch of the Space X DEMO-2 mission. I felt almost the same awe and excitement as I had in front of a much smaller black and white TV in 1969 when Apollo 11 landed on the moon. I don’t remember what I was thinking in 1969 but now a lot of thoughts raced through my head: the first was selfish. [...]

In a webinar on 7 June, the International Veterinary Students’ Association (IVSA) and the International Association of Students in Agricultural and Related Sciences (IAAS) will host an online event to celebrate World Food Safety Day on 7 June 2020. Alice Green, an FAO food safety officer, will be giving a brief presentation on the role of agricultural experts in promoting food safety from farm to fork. Her talk will focus on the benefits of food safety – which include improved health, [...]