World Food Safety Day 2021: What you need to know about food handling and Covid-19

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World Food Safety Day is celebrated on June 7 around the world since 2018. The theme for this year, ‘Safe food today for a healthy tomorrow', looks at how production and consumption of safe food has immediate and long-term benefits for people, the planet, and the economy.

It was three years ago that the United Nations general assembly had announced the day and its significance - to draw attention and inspire action to help prevent, detect, and manage food-borne risks. Jointly observed by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the event also focuses on food security and health through agriculture, market access, tourism, and sustainable development.

Here are facts worth knowing about food safety in India and the world:

Covid-19 and food safety
Since the Covid-19 outbreak, people have had several concerns about food safety. However, in August 2020, WHO busted all myths by stating that, as of now, there is no evidence of the coronavirus spreading through food like fresh fruits and vegetables. Instead, consumption of fresh food should be encouraged as a part of a healthy diet, it said.

Earlier in 2019, FAO, had said that the virus is transmitted primarily through droplets released by people who are infected while they are coughing or sneezing. The Covid-19 virus can neither grow nor survive on food because it requires a living host in order to multiply. Even though it is said that the virus can survive on surfaces, there is no evidence of how long it can survive on food and what amount would make a person sick.

The possibility of being infected is not only less in fresh food but also through frozen or processed food, as the UN agency stated that for a food-borne transmission to happen, a person needs to consume enough infectious virus for the infection to take place. Since there is no evidence currently of how much of the virus can result in infection, it is highly unlikely for it to happen. There is also no possibility of food packaging leading to an infection by the virus.

However, it is better to follow basic food hygiene habits to make sure one's food is safe to eat. The agency advises that people should wash their hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds and dry thoroughly before handling or preparing food and before eating it.

While there is currently no evidence of the disease spreading through the consumption of food, the WHO also recommends cooking meat, poultry and eggs at 70 degrees Celsius for safe consumption of food.

Global burden of food-borne disease
The inter-governmental organisation also stresses on the need to recognise the global burden of food-borne diseases. It does affect people of all ages but children under five years and persons in low-income countries are most vulnerable, which makes it all the more important to focus on food safety.

Food safety is not only the responsibility of the people, the UN agency says it need to be shared equally between all three stakeholders - governments, producers, and consumers.

Food safety in India
On June 7, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, while highlighting steps taken for food security and nutrition in India, said the government had launched the POSHAN Abhiyaan in 2018 to make India malnutrition free and had spent about Rs 15,000 crore in 2020-21 on child nutrition schemes.

However, when it comes to maintaining food safety standards in India, one out of four food samples in India do not conform to the standards prescribed by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), according to FSSAI's own data. Unequal distribution of sufficient Food Safety Officers (FSOs), insufficient testing and absence of procedures, accreditations and databases of food businesses, continue to be a problem for food safety in the country.

Connection between food and the environment
As a part of this year's theme, WHO believes it is important to first recognise the systemic connections between the different elements involved in the food chain. This includes the health of people, animal, plants along with the environment and economy, which will help meet future needs.

(with inputs from PTI)

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