Join the video campaign to promote a World Food Safety Day
The Codex community (and beyond) is invited to take part in a video campaign being launched today to express support for creating a UN day dedicated to food safety. The campaign, led by the Codex Secretariat, will largely take place on Twitter and is open to anyone interested in seeing the resolution approved at the 73rd UN General Assembly in New York, USA so that worldwide people can recognize the importance of safe food every year on 7 June.
“I encourage all Codex Members and Observers and anyone else who would like to participate in this campaign to bring world attention to the importance of food safety! We need food to live – safe food, and we have to care about keeping it safe”
- Tom Heilandt, Codex Secretary
Access to sufficient amounts of safe and nutritious food is essential to human health but it is also important to acknowledge the strong links between food and health, since the World Health Organization estimates that foodborne hazards are responsible for 600 million cases of foodborne diseases and 420,000 deaths globally every year. Having an international day would highlight the burden unsafe food places on health, communities and economies. It would provide an opportunity to underscore the fundamental role food safety has in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and strengthen international efforts to ensure that the food we eat is safe.
How the resolution came about
The Codex Alimentarius Commission welcomed the idea to establish a World Food Safety Day on a permanent basis as suggested by Awilo Ochieng Pernet, Chairperson of the Commission, in December 2015. The following year, the 39th Session supported the proposal made by Costa Rica to establish a World Food Safety Day. The proposal later received the support of FAO and WHO.
Costa Rica announced its intention to propose the resolution during the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development in July 2018 in New York, where Codex Alimentarius Chairperson Guilherme da Costa highlighted the importance of internationally harmonized food standards in ensuring food safety and facilitating trade. The event saw the participation of Member States, IGOs and NGOs as well as producers’ and consumers’ organizations, who spoke of collaboration along the food chain as the surest way to guarantee food safety.
Codex Members interested in supporting the draft resolution may contact the Permanent Mission of Costa Rica in New York.
Tips for the videos
Anyone wishing to partake in the campaign is welcome. Here are some suggestions for recording a video:
- Script: Explain why you think a World Food Safety Day is needed
- Prop: Use an apple in your video – either a real apple or an image of one. No apples nearby? You may replace the apple with a different type of fruit
- Duration: 40 seconds or less
- Format: No video equipment is necessary, you are welcome to use a cell phone to record a selfie-style message
- Send: When sharing on Twitter, be sure to tag @FAOWHOCodex and use hashtag #WorldFoodSafetyDay. Alternatively, you can send the video to [email protected]
At the heart of the Codex mandate are the core values of collaboration, inclusiveness, consensus building and transparency. Governmental and non-governmental, public and private organizations alike play a vital role in ensuring Codex texts are of the highest quality and based on sound science.
Codex would have little authority in the field of international standard setting if it did not welcome and acknowledge the valuable contributions made by observers. Expert technical bodies, industry and consumer associations
contribute to the standard-setting process in a spirit of openness, collaboration and transparency.
Intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) can apply for observer status in Codex in order to attend and put forward their views at every stage of the standard-setting process.
Current Codex Alimentarius Commission
Join the video campaign to promote a World Food Safety Day
The Codex community (and beyond) is invited to take part in a video campaign being launched today to express support for creating a UN day dedicated to food safety. The campaign, led by the Codex Secretariat, will largely take place on Twitter and is open to anyone interested in seeing the resolution approved at the 73rd UN General Assembly in New York, USA so that worldwide people can recognize the importance of safe food every year on 7 June.
“I encourage all Codex Members and Observers and anyone else who would like to participate in this campaign to bring world attention to the importance of food safety! We need food to live – safe food, and we have to care about keeping it safe”
- Tom Heilandt, Codex Secretary
Access to sufficient amounts of safe and nutritious food is essential to human health but it is also important to acknowledge the strong links between food and health, since the World Health Organization estimates that foodborne hazards are responsible for 600 million cases of foodborne diseases and 420,000 deaths globally every year. Having an international day would highlight the burden unsafe food places on health, communities and economies. It would provide an opportunity to underscore the fundamental role food safety has in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and strengthen international efforts to ensure that the food we eat is safe.
How the resolution came about
The Codex Alimentarius Commission welcomed the idea to establish a World Food Safety Day on a permanent basis as suggested by Awilo Ochieng Pernet, Chairperson of the Commission, in December 2015. The following year, the 39th Session supported the proposal made by Costa Rica to establish a World Food Safety Day. The proposal later received the support of FAO and WHO.
Costa Rica announced its intention to propose the resolution during the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development in July 2018 in New York, where Codex Alimentarius Chairperson Guilherme da Costa highlighted the importance of internationally harmonized food standards in ensuring food safety and facilitating trade. The event saw the participation of Member States, IGOs and NGOs as well as producers’ and consumers’ organizations, who spoke of collaboration along the food chain as the surest way to guarantee food safety.
Codex Members interested in supporting the draft resolution may contact the Permanent Mission of Costa Rica in New York.
Tips for the videos
Anyone wishing to partake in the campaign is welcome. Here are some suggestions for recording a video:
- Script: Explain why you think a World Food Safety Day is needed
- Prop: Use an apple in your video – either a real apple or an image of one. No apples nearby? You may replace the apple with a different type of fruit
- Duration: 40 seconds or less
- Format: No video equipment is necessary, you are welcome to use a cell phone to record a selfie-style message
- Send: When sharing on Twitter, be sure to tag @FAOWHOCodex and use hashtag #WorldFoodSafetyDay. Alternatively, you can send the video to [email protected]
Codex and Observer
around the world since ancient times.
We might not always know where it comes from,
but we expect it to be available, safe and of good quality.
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