Since ancient times, securing a source of food has always been an urgent basic human need.
Upon the significant population increase, the diversity, and increase in sources of pollution, humans now have a more difficult task, not only to secure food but to secure food that is free of these pollutants.
In recent years, the world has witnessed a growing interest in this matter, as safe food is key to sustaining life, promoting good health, and boosting immunity against many diseases.
The concept of food safety goes beyond the safety of the human body to include direct repercussions on the surrounding environment, which is also highly affected by pollutants.
Food safety and security are also fundamental for industrial development and increasing trade, as recent estimates indicate that the impact of unsafe food costs low and middle-income economies about 95 USD billion in lost productivity each year. [1]
Proceeding from the WHO pursuit to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals in providing food security requirements for people, every year, World Food Safety Day is celebrated on 7 June, aiming to draw attention to the importance of detecting and managing foodborne risks, contributing to preserving human health, and achieving economic prosperity and market access. [1]
In 2020, the World Health Assembly adopted a resolution on strengthening efforts on food safety to reduce the burden of foodborne diseases. The WHO and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations are jointly facilitating the observance of World Food Safety Day, in collaboration with the Member States and other relevant organizations. [2]
Contaminated food varies in type and impacts the environment and human health. Foodborne diseases are usually infectious or toxic in nature and often invisible to the plain eye.
They are caused by bacteria, viruses, parasites, or chemical substances, entering the human body through contaminated food or water and causing more than 200 diseases; that range from diarrhea, and poisoning, to long-term diseases such as cancer. [2]
Also read: World Environment Day.
According to global statistics, the groups most affected by this phenomenon are the vulnerable and marginalized people, especially women, children, migrants, conflict-affected and low-income populations. Every year, 600 million people worldwide get foodborne diseases which result in 420,000 deaths. Children under the age of five carry 40% of the foodborne disease, with 125,000 annual deaths. [1]
Food safety is a shared responsibility between governments, producers, and consumers, and the calls for action include:
Food safety means that food remains safe at every stage of the food chain- from production to harvest, processing, storage, and distribution all the way to preparation and consumption. [1]
That is why maintaining food safety is a shared responsibility, like our health, the health of future generations and the safety of our environment are closely linked to the extent of our awareness and intention to curb the phenomenon.
Global efforts have contributed to increasing social awareness of the danger of food contamination, and we, at Uplifting Syrian Women Initiative, aim to enhance and spread this awareness within the Syrian society in an effort to achieve the objectives of our initiative towards raising awareness of the importance of sustainability, through the social media outreach, thereby making knowledge available for all.
♀️ Uplifting Syrian Women Initiative aims at sustainable peace building in Syria through targeting women and providing them with free online courses, workshops, discussion sessions and trainings, with a view to achieving the goals of Gender Equality, Quality Education and Decent Work and Economic Growth, which all fall into the interest of society as a whole and serve the purpose of rebuilding it.
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