225,000 dies every year in Asia-Pacific region due to foodborne illnesses – FAO
By AJ Siytangco
Published Jun 7, 2019 04:51 pm
By Roy Mabasa
About 225,000 people in the Asia-Pacific region - including the Philippines – die every year due to foodborne illnesses, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) warned on Friday.
(REUTERS / MANILA BULLETIN)
Speaking on the occasion marking the first World Food Safety Day, FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Asia and the Pacific Kundhavi Kadiresan said deaths and illnesses associated with consuming unsafe food in so many cases were “needless and could have been prevented.”
“Worldwide, each year, unsafe food or water kills more people than HIV, AIDS, malaria and measles combined, and it’s now time that everyone takes this issue more seriously,” Kadiresan said in a statement.
Globally, the FAO noted that some 600 million cases of foodborne illnesses occur annually and 420,000 people, including 30 percent of them children below the age of five, die each year as a result of these illnesses. In the Asia-Pacific region, more than 275 million people fall ill due to foodborne causes each year.
In the Philippines, there were 209 reported foodborne disease outbreaks (FBDOs) for the period 2005 – Jun 2018, according to a recent study conducted by the Department of Food Science and Nutrition of the University of the Philippines.
The FAO attributed foodborne illnesses such as food contamination in the Asia-Pacific region to the following: poor hygiene; mishandling; exposure to the elements such as of street food and fresh produce that is left out for hours in open air markets and in hot climates; undercooking of food and lack of proper refrigeration.
It suggested that improving hygiene practices in the food and agricultural sectors would help reduce the emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistance along the food chain and in the environment.
Also, investment in consumer food safety education has the potential to reduce foodborne disease and return savings of up to ten-fold for each dollar invested.
Citing World Bank estimates, the FAO said that globally, each year unsafe food causes losses of USD 95 billion in low-and-middle-income countries, in economic terms.
“Food safety needs to be incorporated at every stage across the food chain and there is tremendous scope to incorporate good practices and standards in all sectors of food and agriculture. Our member countries are increasingly asking us to give more guidance on improving national food control systems and food safety tools to be applied to both their domestic and international markets,” Kadiresan said.
As it launches first World Food Safety Day, the FAO urged government authorities from various countries to ensure a transparent regulatory framework and its fair enforcement.
On the other hand, the private sector’s responsibility is to implement food safety measures and management systems that ensure safe food for all.
“It is the duty of consumers to be vigilant and increase their awareness about good practices at home and at the workplace including schools,” the FAO stated.
The World Food Safety Day is aimed to raise awareness that the consequences of unsafe food consumption on human health are “extremely serious” where everyone can play a significant role to prevent them from happening.
“World Food Safety Day is also an opportunity to better understand how to help prevent, detect and manage foodborne risks. Participants and guests were shown examples of improvements to food handling and how to achieve greater awareness of everyone along the value chain, from the farm and the fishing boat, to the market and finally the consumer,” the FAO said.
(REUTERS / MANILA BULLETIN)
Speaking on the occasion marking the first World Food Safety Day, FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Asia and the Pacific Kundhavi Kadiresan said deaths and illnesses associated with consuming unsafe food in so many cases were “needless and could have been prevented.”
“Worldwide, each year, unsafe food or water kills more people than HIV, AIDS, malaria and measles combined, and it’s now time that everyone takes this issue more seriously,” Kadiresan said in a statement.
Globally, the FAO noted that some 600 million cases of foodborne illnesses occur annually and 420,000 people, including 30 percent of them children below the age of five, die each year as a result of these illnesses. In the Asia-Pacific region, more than 275 million people fall ill due to foodborne causes each year.
In the Philippines, there were 209 reported foodborne disease outbreaks (FBDOs) for the period 2005 – Jun 2018, according to a recent study conducted by the Department of Food Science and Nutrition of the University of the Philippines.
The FAO attributed foodborne illnesses such as food contamination in the Asia-Pacific region to the following: poor hygiene; mishandling; exposure to the elements such as of street food and fresh produce that is left out for hours in open air markets and in hot climates; undercooking of food and lack of proper refrigeration.
It suggested that improving hygiene practices in the food and agricultural sectors would help reduce the emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistance along the food chain and in the environment.
Also, investment in consumer food safety education has the potential to reduce foodborne disease and return savings of up to ten-fold for each dollar invested.
Citing World Bank estimates, the FAO said that globally, each year unsafe food causes losses of USD 95 billion in low-and-middle-income countries, in economic terms.
“Food safety needs to be incorporated at every stage across the food chain and there is tremendous scope to incorporate good practices and standards in all sectors of food and agriculture. Our member countries are increasingly asking us to give more guidance on improving national food control systems and food safety tools to be applied to both their domestic and international markets,” Kadiresan said.
As it launches first World Food Safety Day, the FAO urged government authorities from various countries to ensure a transparent regulatory framework and its fair enforcement.
On the other hand, the private sector’s responsibility is to implement food safety measures and management systems that ensure safe food for all.
“It is the duty of consumers to be vigilant and increase their awareness about good practices at home and at the workplace including schools,” the FAO stated.
The World Food Safety Day is aimed to raise awareness that the consequences of unsafe food consumption on human health are “extremely serious” where everyone can play a significant role to prevent them from happening.
“World Food Safety Day is also an opportunity to better understand how to help prevent, detect and manage foodborne risks. Participants and guests were shown examples of improvements to food handling and how to achieve greater awareness of everyone along the value chain, from the farm and the fishing boat, to the market and finally the consumer,” the FAO said.