Janet Ogundepo As Nigeria prepares to celebrate World Food Safety Day 2024 on Friday, June 7, the President of the Consumer Advocacy for Food Safety and Nutrition Initiative, Prof Olugbenga Ogunmoyela, on Monday, asserted that food safety has become a critical concern that transcends national and international borders, making it “everyone’s business.” He further stated that the poor food safety, hygiene and traceability in Nigeria, along with the high levels of hidden hunger and food insecurity, were a significant threat to the population’s well-being. The World Food Safety Day is jointly facilitated by the World Health Organisation and the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations day to create awareness and inspire action to help prevent, detect and manage foodborne risks, thereby contributing to food security, human health and prosperity.
This year’s FAO/WHO theme is ‘Food Safety: Prepare for the Unexpected’. The UN notes that unsafe food is a threat to human health and economies, stating that about 420,000 people worldwide die annually due to contaminated food. The WHO also reports that about 600 million cases of foodborne illnesses occur annually and 40 per cent of children under the age of five, carry the foodborne disease burden and 125,000 of them die every year.
Foodborne illnesses are infectious diseases caused by bacteria, viruses or chemical substances that get into the body through contaminated food or water. According to Nigeria’s N.
