Expert panel takes audience questions in World Food Safety Day event hosted by FAO and the World Food Programme

The last of four live World Food Safety Day events, which took place on 7 June at FAO in Rome and online, saw the audience drive the conversation in an “Ask us anything about food safety” session. Hosted by FAO and the World Food Programme (WFP), the event featured five experts from FAO, WFP and the Codex Alimentarius Commission Secretariat, who shared anecdotes and experiences with the audience at FAO and viewers watching online. They answered questions that had been submitted by people from all over the world, including a five-year-old student at a school in Rome. Questions were sent in through emails, social media and on the day during the live event.

Suzanne Fenton, Communications Officer at WFP, moderated the event and put audience questions to the panel, which was made up of Vittorio Fattori and Jeffrey LeJeune, both Food Safety Officers at FAO, Daysi Mamanisuaquita, Regional Food Safety and Quality Officer for Latin America and the Caribbean at WFP, Deblina Sarkar, a Food Technologist at WFP, and Lingping Zhang, Food Standards Officer for the Codex Alimentarius Commission Secretariat.

Markus Lipp, Senior Food Safety Officer at FAO, and Virginia Siebenrok, Chief of the Food Safety and Quality Unit at WFP, offered welcoming and opening remarks respectively, on the day’s food safety theme of “Food standards save lives”. “Food safety is a topic that is difficult to discuss,” observed Lipp. “We’re all a food expert … we all have personalised memories and we all know we’re right!” Speaking of the humanitarian work that is carried out globally by WFP, Siebenrok said “We have to walk the line and make the decisions between food safety and food security in our work. We’re living proof that the combination of food safety and food security works.”

“Food safety people spoil the fun – how can we make food safety more accessible?” asked Lipp. “Just ask questions! They typically don’t bite; they may make you think!” Indeed, the subsequent discussion included a wide range of insightful information and personal accounts. The panel took questions about what it means to work in food safety, standard setting and food technology, how food standards keep food safe, and the future of food safety.

On the first round of questions, Mamanisuaquita said that for her, food safety is a “top priority” and Zhang agreed, saying “food safety is essential to Codex”. LeJeune offered a definition of food safety: “food safety,” he said, “means when people eat, there’s no harm”. All agreed that science is essential to food safety. In answer to whether you have to be “good at science”, they all agreed that, as Sarkar said, “you need to have an appetite for science”. LeJeune likened a career in food safety to a mystery novel: you try to find clues to a problem “and when you solve it, you make things better for everybody.”

Addressing questions on the second topic, Fattori started out by describing the lengthy process of how food standards are developed and Zhang described the range of commodities and issues that are covered by Codex standards. Mamanisuaquita and Sarker were able to explain why these standards are important in humanitarian work, especially, as was pointed out, because many recipients of WFP’s work do not have choices, and rely on WFP to ensure the food they supply is safe.

As to the future of food, Fattori talked about so-called “new” foods like insects and seaweeds, which are traditional foods in many parts of the world, and cell-based foods and foods produced through precision fermentation. The food we eat is changing, he said, and that is driven by climate change, for example. This requires a transformation of food systems that is sustainable. LeJeune said that he hopes in five years’ time, the food safety issues being discussed will include these “future” foods, but that experts mustn’t forget about the “persistent challenges that have not gone away”, like salmonellosis.

The event was concluded with closing remarks from Minh Nguyen, an intern currently working in the Codex Alimentarius Commission Secretariat. She talked of her background in Viet Nam and the reasons she is embarking on a career in food safety. She also spoke of what the audience can do to keep food safe. “We have heard inspiring ideas, examples, approaches and also challenges from the speakers from around the world in four events here today,” she said. “Whether it's actions we take ourselves like separating raw and cooked food when cooking or reading the label on your food or actions we take in the context of our work, like some of panel members just explained, we can all do something.”

Watch the recording of the event

Photos from the FAO-hosted World Food Safety Day events

Read more
FAO’s work on food safety and quality
WFP’s work on food safety and quality
The Codex Alimentarius website

 Photo © FAO