World Water Week

28/08/2015

Food safety, including water safety, is at the heart of Codex work to protect the health of consumers

Awilo Ochieng Pernet
Chairperson, Codex Alimentarius Commission

World Water Week in Stockholm is the annual focal point for the globe’s water issues. Its aim is to foster new thinking and develop solutions to the most pressing water-related challenges of today.

The relationship between Codex and water safety encompasses the adopted Codex commodity standards related to water as well as other standardised commodities. It concerns maximum levels for contaminants, the recommendations found in the General Principles for Food Hygiene (and the relevant Codes of Hygienic Practice) and those in the Codex General Standard for Contaminants and Toxins in Foods.

Yet, this relationship goes far beyond those references. Indeed, as part of the Codex definition for food, water is at the heart of Codex work on food safety and quality.

Diseases from contaminated water

According to the WHO, unsafe food including contaminated water, which contain harmful bacteria, viruses, parasites or chemical substances causes more than 200 diseases – ranging from diarrhoea to cancers. It is also estimated that foodborne and waterborne diseases kill an estimated 2 million people annually, the majority of whom are children.

Codex safety controls

The Codex General Principles of Food Hygiene which are recommended to Governments, industry (including individual primary food producers, manufacturers, processors, food service operators and retailers) as well as consumers, lay down fundamental principles and controls for ensuring the safety and suitability of food for consumption. The Codex General Principles of Food Hygiene also recommend a Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point approach as a means to enhance food safety. Since water is used in the production of foods, the General Principles of Food Hygiene explicitly recommend the use of potable water as specified in the latest edition of the WHO Guidelines for drinking-water quality.

Clean water essential for food production

Water is essential to life and to our nutrition and it rightly occupies a prominent place in the food pyramid. Water can be consumed (drunk) as such, but it is also crucial for the production of food in the primary food production stage at the farm level including in the fishing sector. In addition, water is an essential ingredient in the preparation of food at home, in the manufacturing and processing industry as well as in the restauration business and food service establishments regardless of their size, including street-food outlets (street-vended foods). Since water can be contaminated at various stages of the food chain, all those involved should exercise vigilance and take preventive and control measures in order to ensure food safety and consumer health protection.

Water and the UN Millennium Development Goals

Access to safe drinking water is part of the Millennium Development Goals, which were adopted in September 2000 by 189 countries, as well as the proposed Sustainable Development Goals which are currently being developed by the United Nations and which will be adopted during the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit (New York, 25th – 27th September 2015). It is thus of paramount importance to ensure the safety of the water meant for direct consumption as well as that which is used in the primary production, manufacturing and processing as well as in the preparation of food.

Effective water safety management is undoubtedly key to ensuring consumer health protection by preventing the occurrence of foodborne and waterborne diseases. Hence, the implementation of relevant Codex Guidelines, Codes of Practice and other relevant recommendations by all stakeholders is of paramount importance to achieve this objective.

The importance of food safety

The World Water Week gives us the opportunity to shed light on this essential and vital foodstuff on which our lives and livelihoods depend. It also gives me a most welcome opportunity to continue advocating for food safety and to call upon Codex Members to review their national food safety policies and regulatory frameworks in view of the most recent Codex Guidelines, Codes of Practice and recommendations.

The World Water Week is also an excellent occasion for me to renew my plea to Codex Members to ensure the effective implementation of their food safety management systems. Ensuring water and food safety is a global challenge. Nevertheless, I am convinced that the active engagement of all relevant stakeholders all along the food chain will enable us to achieve this important goal in order to ensure the protection of the health of the consumers and safeguard public health.

AOP

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