FAO/WHO World Food Safety Day High-Level event explores the impacts and importance of food standards

This year’s joint FAO and WHO World Food Safety Day event took place today with a programme dedicated to the year’s theme, “Food standards save lives”. The hybrid event was hosted at FAO in Rome and was available online where over 2 000 people registered. Two panel discussions and a one-on-one conversation covered different aspects of how food standards save lives.

Welcome remarks were delivered by FAO’s Director-General, Dr QU Dongyu, who underlined the importance of food safety both to FAO’s mission to end hunger and to the organization’s strategic framework, which aims at sustainable food systems transformation. He reiterated the World Food Safety Day message that food standards underpin these efforts: “FAO recognizes the crucial role of food standards to ensure food safety, to help protect human health, and to facilitate fair practices in food trade, especially as food trade continues to grow” he said. “Food can only be safe if every person involved in its production, distribution and preparation ensures its safety.”

Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of WHO, delivered a video message in which he highlighted the role of Codex in developing food standards, and the role of governments and the private sector in implementing and maintaining those standards. He also highlighted some key statistics in relation to foodborne illness: “Every day, an estimated 1.6 million people around the world become sick from eating unsafe food, many of them small children. Over 200 diseases, from diarrhoea to cancers, are caused by eating food contaminated with bacteria, viruses, parasites or chemicals.” He concluded with a call to action “Together, let’s make food safe today and every day,” he said.

Moderated by FAO’s Deputy Director-General, Maria Helena Semedo, a panel of high-level guests from Albania, Costa Rica and the United States of America, discussed the ways in which Codex standards have made a difference in their respective countries. His Excellency, Enio Civici, the Deputy Minister of Agriculture of Albania, His Excellency Francisco Gamboa Soto, Minister of the Economy, Industry and Commerce of Costa Rica and His Excellency José Emilio Esteban, Undersecretary for Food Safety for the Department of Agriculture of the United States of America each spoke about the impacts of Codex standards on food safety and livelihoods.

Minister Soto explained that in Costa Rica, the government is working hard to promote standards as effectively as possible to improve the quality of food for consumers. “The norms of the Codex Alimentarius are a cornerstone for us”, he said, and listed the numerous ways in which food standards are used in Costa Rica, from educating inspectors, to ensuring correct labelling of food and properly informing consumers.

Labelling standards were highlighted by Undersecretary Esteban as one of three ways in which Codex standards make a difference in the United States of America. He also said that the National Residue Program in the country draws on Codex texts on residues of veterinary drugs, and Codex standards help exporters ensure their food is compliant for the international food trade. “I admire the work that happens in Codex,” he added.

Deputy Minister Civici detailed how Albania has been a Member of Codex since 1992 and has, since then, been able to harmonize its national standards to Codex on a raft of commodities and issues including fish, residues and ethics. The answer to how food is kept safe in Albania is Codex Alimentarius, he said. “FAO, WHO and Codex are our great partners for protecting consumers,” he concluded.

Sarah Cahill, Senior Food Standards Officer in the Codex Alimentarius Commission Secretariat then handed the floor to Dr Francesco Branca, Director of the Department of Nutrition and Food Safety at WHO. He discussed how food standards are promoting health and saving lives in Brazil with Brazil’s Coordinator at the International Affairs Office of the Brazilian Health Regulatory Agency (ANVISA), Dr Laila Sofia Mouawad.

Dr Mouawad described how ANVISA engages all stakeholders in the food chain, adopts standards through a legislative approach that considers international texts for national standards, and ensures compliance through monitoring and inspection programmes. A national risk communication network has also been established, to ensure dialogue with the Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Justice, local authorities and official laboratories in what Dr Branca described as a “good systems approach.”

Continuing the focus on systems, a second panel discussion, on the role of science in food standards and food systems transformation, was led by FAO’s Director of the Food Systems and Food Safety Division, Dr Corinna Hawkes, with expert contributions from: Dr Caroline Smith DeWaal, Deputy Director of EatSafe, Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN); Dr Moez Sanaa, Unit Head of Standards and Scientific Advice on Food and Nutrition in the Department of Nutrition and Food Safety at WHO; Dr Ihab Habib, Associate Professor of Epidemiology, Food Safety and Veterinary Public Health from the Department of Veterinary Medicine at the College of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine in the United Arab Emirates; and Dr Catherine Bessy, Senior Food Safety Officer at FAO.

Dr DeWaal focused on the importance of food standards not only to the international trade in food, but also for domestic consumers around the world. “Domestic consumers need to benefit equally from food standards,” she said. As someone who works to improve food safety in traditional markets around thew world, she also commented on the “the importance for developing countries to actively participate in standard setting.”

Dr Sanaa mentioned the work of the Codex Trust Fund in supporting countries to participate more effectively in Codex. He described the role of the FAO/WHO Scientific Advice Programme in standards setting and underlined the importance of ensuring the separation between risk management, where, for example, Members Countries of the Codex Alimentarius Commission adopt standards, and risk assessment, where global experts provide the independent and robust scientific advice needed to develop standards for all in a transparent process.

Dr Ihab Habib talked about a science-based systems approach to food production and the work he does “to investigate pathogens at the interface between human, animal and environment”. He said that science is playing an increasingly important role within the One Health framework and, conversely, that One Health increasingly informs the development of Codex standards.

Dr Catherine Bessy then went on to explain the importance of national food control systems and how the FAO/WHO Food Control System Assessment Tool can help countries “shape their food control systems in a harmonized manner” to protect the health of consumers and ensure fair practices in the food trade. “The tool,” she said, “mirrors in content and approach the principles of Codex guidelines. It means you are walking the talk” on food control.

Closing remarks were given by WHO’s Assistant Director-General for Universal Health Coverage / Healthier Populations, Dr Ailan Li, who said that food standards can provide safer food for everyone everywhere and that it is “essential for all of us to anticipate future challenges and take action today.” “Moving forward, policymakers must prioritize food safety through control systems,’ she said. “We call for a world where everyone everywhere has access to safe and nutritious food.”

Watch the event recording here

Photo © FAO