World Food Safety Day

• 07 Jun 2022

For Prelims: World Food Safety Day, WHO, FAO, food security, SFSI, FSSAI, Ayushman Bharat, POSHAN Abhiyaan, Anemia Mukt Bharat, Swachh Bharat Mission

For Mains: Need to Ensure Food Safety and related Challenges, Government Policies & Interventions

Why in News?

Every Year, 7^th June is observed as World Food Safety Day.

What are the Key Highlights of World Food Safety Day?

• About:
  • The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) jointly facilitate the observance of World Food Safety Day, in collaboration with Member States and other relevant organizations.
  • It was first celebrated in 2019, to strengthen the commitment to scale up food safety made by the Addis Ababa Conference and the Geneva Forum in 2019 under the umbrella of “The Future of Food Safety”.
• Aim:
  • To draw attention and inspire action to help prevent, detect and manage foodborne risks, contributing to food security, human health, economic prosperity, agriculture, market access, tourism and sustainable development.
• 2022 Theme:
  • Safer Food, Better Health
• Need:
  • Foodborne illnesses:
    • With an estimated 600 million cases of foodborne illnesses annually, unsafe food is a threat to human health and economies, disproportionally affecting vulnerable and marginalized people, especially women and children, populations affected by conflict, and migrants.
  • Foodborne Disease Burden:
    • An estimated 420000 people around the world die every year after eating contaminated food and children under 5 years of age carry 40% of the foodborne disease burden, with 125 000 deaths every year.

What are the Related Initiatives?

• Global:
  • The Codex Alimentarius, or "Food Code" is a collection of standards, guidelines and codes of practice adopted by the Codex Alimentarius Commission.
  • The Codex Alimentarius Commission is a joint intergovernmental body of the Food and Agriculture Organization and World Health Organization.
    • Currently, it has 189 members and India is a member.
• India’s:
  • State Food Safety Index:
    • FSSAI has developed the State Food Safety Index (SFSI) to measure the performance of States on five parameters of food safety.
      • The parameters include Human Resources and Institutional Arrangements, Compliance, Food Testing- Infrastructure and Surveillance, Training and Capacity Building and Consumer Empowerment.
  • Eat Right India Movement:
    • It is an initiative of the Government of India and Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to transform the country’s food system in order to ensure safe, healthy and sustainable food for all Indians.
    • Eat Right India is aligned to the National Health Policy 2017 with its focus on preventive and promotive healthcare and flagship programmes like Ayushman Bharat, POSHAN Abhiyaan, Anemia Mukt Bharat and Swachh Bharat Mission.
  • Eat Right Awards:
    • FSSAI has instituted the ‘Eat Right Awards’ to recognize the contribution of food companies and individuals to empower citizens to choose safe and healthy food options, which would help improve their health and well-being.
  • Eat Right Mela:
    • Organised by FSSAI, it is an outreach activity for citizens to nudge them towards eating right. It is organised to make citizens aware of the health and nutrition benefits of different types of food.

UPSC Civil Services Examination, Previous Year Question

Q. Consider the following statements: (2018)

1. The Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 replaced the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954.
2. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is under the charge of Director General of Health Services in the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2 
(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Ans: (a)

Exp:

• Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is an autonomous body under the Ministry of Helath and Family Welfare, GoI. It has been established under Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 which consolidates various acts and orders that have hitherto handled food related issues in various Ministries and Departments.
• The Food Standards and Safety Act, 2006 replaced several Acts and Orders like the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954; Fruit Products Order, 1955; etc. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
• FSSAI is headed by a non-executive Chairperson, appointed by the Central Government, either holding or have held a position not below the rank of Secretary to the GoI. It is not under the charge of Director General of Health Services. Hence, statement 2 is not correct.
• FSSAI has been created for laying down science based standards for articles of food and to regulate their manufacture, storage, distribution, sale and import to ensure availability of safe and wholesome food for human consumption. Therefore, option (a) is the correct answer.

Source: HT