The first-ever World Food Safety Day was celebrated on June 7, 2019. It was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in December 2018. The theme of the year is “Food Safety, everyone’s business”. On this occasion, an event was launched in New York with a panel discussion.
Key Points:
i. It was celebrated by the World Health Organization (WHO) in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations.
ii. It highlighted that access to safe and nutritious food is the shared responsibility of governments, producers as well as individuals.
iii. The initiative is linked to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) namely:
- Goal 2: To end hunger, all forms of malnutrition, and double agricultural productivity.
- Goal 3: To prevent diseases and improve health and well being for all.
- Goal 12: To move towards sustainable practices of consumption and production.
- Goal 17: Strengthen global partnerships (including trade laws) to grow sustainably.
iv. In India,Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare(MoHWF)inaugurated the first-ever World Food Safety Day being celebrated by Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) in the presence of Shri Ashwini Kumar Choubey, Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Ms. Preeti Sudan, Secretary (HFW), Ms. Rita Teotia, Chairperson (FSSAI), Shri Pawan Agarwal, CEO (FSSAI) and Dr Venkatesh, DGHS. Dr. Harsh Vardhanurged the people of India to make ‘Eat Right’ movement a ‘Jan Andolan’ with ‘Jan Bhagidhari’.
v. He unveiled a statue of ‘Gandhiji on a Bicycle’ installed at the FSSAI complex.
vi. The 7 leading States/Union Territories Chandigarh, Goa, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu were felicitated based on the ranking for the year 2018-2019 for their impressive performance.
vii. FSSAI has developed the first State Food Safety Index (SFSI) to measure the performance of States on 5 parameters of food safety namely Human Resources and Institutional Arrangements, Compliance, Food Testing- Infrastructure and Surveillance, Training and Capacity Building and Consumer Empowerment.
viii. Golden Temple Street of Amritsar was recognized as a ‘Clean Street Food Hub’.
ix. Dr. Harsh Vardhan launched a new-age, hand-held battery-operated device ‘Raman 1.0’ whichperforms rapid detection (in less than 1 minute) of economically driven adulteration in edible oils, fats, and ghee.
x. Along with this, ‘Food Safety Magic Box’, an innovative solution to take food safety to schools was launched.
xi. FSSAI instituted the ‘Eat Right Awards’ to recognize the contribution of food companies and individuals to empower citizens to choose safe and healthy food options and a Web-resource online Library of FSSAIaccessed at www.fssai.gov.in/videolibrary was launched.
About World Health Organization:
♦Â Established: 7th April 1948
♦Â Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland
♦Â Director General: Dr.Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
About FSSAI:
♦Â Headquarters: New Delhi
♦Â Chairman: Rita Teotia