World Food Safety Day marks the critical role that food safety plays in ensuring that everyone has safe, nutritious, and sufficient food. This annual celebration raises awareness about the importance of food safety and promote actions to prevent, detect, and manage foodborne risks.
Established in December 2018 following a joint proposal by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and World Health Organisation, the first observance took place on June 7, 2019. United Nations General Assembly stablished the day to necessitate of food safety in achieving sustainable development goals, especially those related to health and hunger.
Amid World Food Safety Day today, the Department of Public Health and Social Services reminds everyone to stay safe with food preparation and handling amid the new normal. This campaign, launched by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations and the World Health Organisation, is focused on informing the public about how much impact people can have on the protection of the food that they eat.
This year’s theme, “Food Safety: Readiness in Food Safety Crises:” Public Health, as a magazine, highlights the need for preparedness even for small-scale food safety crises. Public Health Division, which incorporates its Environmental Health arm, proffers the necessity for careful actions to prevent such mishaps.
In a press release, Public Health outlines simple yet effective actions individuals can take to uphold food safety standards:
1. Practice proper hygiene: The head and hands must be washed well using soap and water before directly coming into contact with food and after visiting the washroom. Wash the countertops and other surfaces where food will be prepared as frequently as possible, and wash the utensils properly.
2. Cook food thoroughly: This must mean that all meats, poultry, seafood, and eggs are cooked to a temperature that will eliminate pathogenic bacteria and other pathogens.
3. Store food properly: Bacteria grow rapidly in food indeed; a thermometer should be used to make sure the temperature is right before storing perishable foods. Always make sure that you cover your foods in air tight containers in order to help keep them fresh and also to help minimize contact between different foods with different smells.
4. Handle food safely: This is because there is a high tendency of getting cross-contaminated between the raw and cooked foods to avoid this, raw foods should be prepared with a different knife, chopping board, and spoon from the cooked foods. Avoid storing raw meat, poultry, and seafood across the foods that are fit for consumption.
5. Be mindful of expiration dates: Food items should be placed in their appropriate containers and checked for expiration dates to avoid causing food-borne illness; if found spoiled, they should be disposed of as soon as possible.
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