Stricter food safety, better nutrition for all

The ongoing two-day International Trade and Food Safety Conference in Geneva, Switzerland, which ends on Wednesday, is a continuation of the debates to discuss the future of food safety, which started in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, last February, at an event co-organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, World Health Organization, World Trade Organization and the African Union.

Food safety is associated, rightly, with the risk of food-borne diseases caused by unwanted bacteria such as E.coli or listeria, or fungal pathogens such as aflatoxin. The main such hazards are responsible for about 600 million people falling ill each year and 420,000 deaths around the world, with the populations of Africa and Southeast Asia being the worst affected.

However, the time is ripe to expand our understanding of what is at stake. Food safety cannot be only about preventing people from getting food poisoning or falling sick due to food-borne illnesses. It should also be about tackling the full spectrum of diet-related health risks.