The fifth World Food Safety Day will be celebrated on 7 June 2023 to draw attention and inspire action to help prevent, detect and manage foodborne risks, contributing to food security, human health, economic prosperity, agricultural production, market access, tourism and sustainable development. This publication is a guide for all those who want to get involved.Available in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.

In 2020, the 43rd session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission approved the new work entitled “Development of Guidelines for the Safe Use and Reuse of Water in Food Production” proposed by the 51st session of the Codex Committee on Food Hygiene. To support this work, the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Meeting on Microbiological Risk Assessment (JEMRA) was asked to provide scientific advice regarding safe use and reuse of water in the dairy sector. JEMRA convened an online meeting from 14 June to 2 July 2021 to provide clear and practical guidance on risk-based approaches to assess and manage fit-for-purpose water sourcing, use and reuse in the dairy sector. This report describes the output of this meeting to support the decision-making when...

Sprouts have different food safety concerns from other fresh fruits and vegetables because the conditions under which sprouts are produced (time, temperature, humidity, pH and nutrients) are ideal for foodborne pathogen growth. Outbreak investigations have demonstrated that foodborne pathogens found on sprouts most likely originate from the seed, but the contamination could also be attributed to the production environment. This report covers prevention and control measures specific to the primary production and handling of seed for sprouting, the production of sprouts and hygienic practices applicable to retail and food services. Recommendations for proper record keeping and the establishment of product traceability programmes that facilitate the identification and investigation of contaminated seed and sprouts in the event of an illness outbreak or...

This Chemical and Technical Assessment summarizes data and information that was submitted to JECFA for the safety assessment of lipase enzyme preparation from Thermomyces lanuginosis and Fusarium oxysporum expressed Aspergillus oryzae (lipase enzyme preparation). This document also discusses published information relevant to the safety of the A. oryzae production organism, the production strain, details related to the manufacturing, specifications, use, and use levels of lipase enzyme preparation in food. This document uses the expression “lipase” to refer to the modified enzyme and its amino acid sequence, and the expression “lipase enzyme preparation” to refer to the product formulated for commercial use.

This Chemical and Technical Assessment summarizes data and information on spirulina extract submitted to the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA or Committee). Review of spirulina extract as a food colour was requested by the Forty-ninth Codex Committee on Food Additives (CCFA). Spirulina extract was reviewed at the Eighty-sixth and Ninety-fifth JECFA meetings.

Knowledge of thresholds constitutes a critical requirement to assessing the risk from allergens, as they are a characteristic of the hazard that allergens present to the food-allergic population.     FAO and WHO reconvened the Ad hoc Joint FAO/WHO Expert Consultation on Risk Assessment of Food Allergens for a second meeting to provide scientific advice on review and establish threshold levels in foods for the priority allergens.     The expert committee concurred that the benchmark dose/probabilistic hazard assessment approach aligned most closely with the requests of the Codex Committees. After extensive discussion, the expert committee reached a consensus on reference doses (RfD) for priority allergenic foods, meeting the criterion for HBGV that they should reflect a range of exposure without appreciable health risk.

World Food Safety Day aims to draw attention and inspire action to help prevent, detect and manage foodborne risks, contributing to food security, human health, economic prosperity, agriculture, market access, tourism and sustainable development. This report gives a taste of the initiatives held for World Food Safety Day 2022 and shows how far-reaching this international observance has become. More than 450 initiatives took place in 106 countries including conferences, webinars, training sessions, workshops, quizzes, videos and more. Food safety advocates raised awareness and inspired action online and in person. The day also saw comprehensive coverage by media outlets across the world.   Learn more about this year’s celebrations on the World Food Safety Day website, or find out about food safety more generally...