Feeding Asia safely requires action now

By 2050 there will be about one billion extra mouths to feed in Asia, as its population grows. We might be able to produce enough food; but how much of it will be safe to eat?

As we approach World Food Day on Oct 16, now is a good time to take stock of this challenge. There is a rising number of people who are sickened and killed by bad food, and correspondingly high public health bills. Bacteria, viruses, parasites, and chemicals in food can cause over 200 diseases, including cancer.

The World Health Organization says that as many as 700,000 children die of diarrhea each year in the Southeast Asia region, many of them after eating unsafe food. Disturbingly, 40 percent of all people sickened by food-borne illnesses are children.