United Nation has declared June 7 as World Food Safety Day in 2019.
This year second World Food Safety Day (WFSD) will be celebrated on 7th June 2020.
Main aim of World Food Safety Day is to draw global attention to the health consequences of contaminated food and water.
Food safety has a critical role in assuring that food stays safe at every stage of the food chain – from production to harvest, processing, storage, distribution, all the way to preparation and consumption.
Under the theme “Food safety, everyone’s business”,the campaign 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.
Currently, there is no evidence that the new coronavirus that causes COVID-19 can be transmitted through food. The virus is transmitted primarily by people, who are infected through coughing and sneezing droplets, which are then picked up by another person. The best way to avoid COVID-19 is through good hygiene practices, including in food production and consumption.
Ways to ensure food security:
- Personal Hygiene:
- Hand Washing — ensure effective hand washing techniques are followed at appropriate times
- Minimise hand contact with food — try to minimise direct hand contact with raw food by using appropriate utensils and safe use of disposable gloves
- Personal cleanliness — cover hair; do not sneeze or cough over food; cover cuts and sores, and do not wear jewellery
- Wear protective clothing — wear suitable clean protective clothing and handle appropriately to prevent cross-contamination
- Exclude ill staff — staff must report illnesses; exclude staff with vomiting or diarrhea
2. Cleaning Programmes:
The World Food Safety Day 2020 will be celebrated virtually due to the spread of COVID-19 disease. Establish cleaning and disinfection programmes to ensure the correct hygiene standards are met and reduce the risk of a food borne illness outbreak.
This includes proper cleaning and disinfecting food preparation areas as well as machinery and utensils used within the food processing cycle to eliminate the microorganisms that cause food poisoning.
Adopting correct cleaning processes will also reduce the risk of pests such as rodents, flies, and cockroaches in food preparation and processing areas by removing potential food sources and insect breeding sites.
3. Environmental Hygiene:
Food processing facilities rely on the use of potentially dangerous chemicals for sanitation and pest control. Therefore attention has to be applied to reduce the risk of accidental environmental contamination during the food processing cycle.
To ensure the chemicals stored and used on food processing premises do not contaminate the food products at any stage in production. Moreover adopt adequate food security process.
New non-toxic pest management solutions are being developed to help provide a more green solution to pest control issues within the food supply chain.
4. Waste Management:
Accumulation of food waste attract pests to areas where food waste is stored, thereby bringing about the possibility of pest infestations, posing a risk to food safety.
This can be prevented with the provision of :
- Appropriate containers;
- Suitable, secure waste storage areas
- Establishing adequate procedures for waste removal regularly.
5. Involving and encouraging Students and children about safe food habits
Children and students are change agents of the future. Taking this into account FSSAI India’s premiere food safety and licensing agency, has developed a ‘Do-it-yourself’ (DIY) toolkit for school children – a “Food Safety Magic Box”. The purpose of this toolkit is to detect food adulterants through simple tests at school. Another device based on the famous “Raman Spectroscopy” technique, which helps screen various types of adulterants in edible oil, will be launched on this occasion.