FAO convened a Technical Meeting on Gut Microbiome in Food Safety Chemical Risk Assessment from December 12 to 14, 2023. A group of experts representing various regions and disciplines, ranging from toxicologists to specialists in microbial ecology engaged in chemical risk assessments and microbiome research programs, convened to discuss key aspects in the field. The discussions centered around assessing the suitability, gaps, and requirements of microbiome-related data for chemical risk assessments, alongside exploring microbiome-host interactions and their biological significance. During the meeting, the experts identified the conditions and developments that need to take place in order...

It is crucial to understand and become familiar with the Codex General Principles of Food Hygiene and how the principles contained therein are integrated into legislation or influence national, regional, public, and private standards. However, engaging with formal texts...

Farhati Mohamed Rachid a joué un rôle déterminant dans la coordination du projet de la FAO « Renforcement des capacités et de la gouvernance en matière de contrôle alimentaire, phytosanitaire » aux Comores, qui a été le premier des 12 pays à mener une évaluation du système de contrôle alimentaire. L'évaluation s'est achevée avec succès il y a quelques mois et un plan d'action stratégique a été approuvé par le gouvernement. Nous avons interviewé Mme Rachid pour connaître son point de vue sur le projet et son impact aux Comores. Vous pouvez lire l’interview en anglais et...

A recent FAO mission in Egypt concluded last week, marking an important step in a project aimed at strengthening food safety and plant health capacities and governance across 12 African Union countries. The three-week mission involved comprehensive field visits to diverse sites, including national and regional authorities, ports, border points, food laboratories, warehouses, and various establishments along the food supply chain. As Saber Mansour, FAO Food Safety Officer, noted, "Field visits, meetings, and discussions with all stakeholders along the food chain in Egypt allowed us to better understand how the system is designed and operated, ensuring that...

  The webinarFood safety implications from the use of environmental inhibitors in agrifood systems, hosted by FAO, took place on 9 May 2024. The event aimed to stimulate discussion on the food safety aspects that need to be considered and addressed when using environmental inhibitors in agrifood systems. Attendees representing public and private sectors, academia, international organizations and NGOs from across the world joined the webinar. In her opening remarks, Corinna Hawkes, Director of the Agrifood Systems and Food Safety Division at FAO highlighted that a systems approach is needed to address the trade-offs...

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) hosted a workshop in June 2024 aimed at strengthening food safety assessment practices and tools. The event included a technical review workshop complemented by an intensive training session. Food control systems are key in advancing a country’s public health and economic development and the first step in guaranteeing their effectiveness is conducting comprehensive assessments using up-to-date tools and guidelines to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the system and plan accordingly. In 2019, FAO and the World Health Organization (WHO) developed the Food Control System Assessment...

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) convened workshops on ranking food safety risks in Mongolia (17 and 18 June), the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam (20 and 21 June), the United Republic of Tanzania (24 and 25 June), and the Republic of Uganda (27 and 28 June). The workshops are the first part of a series of capacity building activities for risk analysis in these four countries under the One Health for Food Safety (1H4FS) project, which is supported by the Republic of Korea. National and regional regulators from multiple food sectors and different...

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) will host a comprehensive technical review workshop coupled with an intensive training session to strengthen food safety assessment practices and tools. As a cornerstone of the organization's agenda, the workshop – scheduled to take place in Rome during the week of June 17 – aims to ensure the continuous improvement and sustainability of FAO's food safety assessment programme. Food control systems are key in advancing a country’s public health and economic development. As economies expand and new food safety challenges, like food fraud, antimicrobial resistances (AMR),...

The risk of acquiring avian influenza A (H5N1) infection from food remains negligible, especially when food safety practices like pasteurization and adequate cooking are applied.   This is the conclusion of The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), as recently reported in a Preliminary rapid risk assessment of foodborne avian influenza A (H5N1) virus. Hazards and risks are not the same thing.  A hazard is something with the potential to cause harm.  In contrast, risk is the likelihood, or chance, and extent that harm may occur. Although very rare, avian influenza A (H5N1) virus, like...

World Food Safety Day has arrived, this year under the theme “food safety: prepare for the unexpected”! World Food Safety Day is facilitated by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO). For this year’s campaign, which coincides with the 20th anniversary of the FAO/WHO International Food Safety Authorities Network (INOFSAN), governments, food businesses and consumers are being encouraged to make sure they know how to keep their food safe even when the unexpected happens. Events have been organized by food safety authorities, governments, universities, food safety professionals and many more the world...