Shawdesh Desk:

The World Food Safety Day is being observed in the country on Monday as elsewhere in the globe with an aim to draw attention and inspire action to help prevent, detect and manage food borne risks and contributing to food security.

This year’s theme, ‘Safe food today for a healthy tomorrow’, stresses that production and consumption of safe food has immediate and long-term benefits for people, the planet and the economy, according to WHO.

Recognizing the systemic connections between the health of people, animals, plants, the environment and the economy will help us meet the needs of the future.

Recognizing the global burden of foodborne diseases, which affect individuals of all ages, in particular children under-5 and persons living in low-income countries, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed in 2018 that every 7 June would be World Food Safety Day.

In 2020, the World Health Assembly further passed a resolution to strengthen global efforts for food safety to reduce the burden of food borne disease.

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.

Food safety is a shared responsibility between governments, producers and consumers.  Everyone has a role to play from farm to table to ensure the food we consume is safe and healthy.

Through the World Food Safety Day, WHO works to mainstream food safety in the public agenda and reduce the burden of food borne diseases globally.

Marking World Food Safety Day, advocacy and research organization PROGGA (Knowledge for Progress) urged to immediately finalize and implement the regulations on limiting trans fats in food.

Industrially produced transfat is a toxic food element that increases risks of premature deaths from heart diseases.

Around 500,000 people die across the globe each year due to transfat-induced heart diseases.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has set the target to eliminate industrially produced transfat from the global food supply by 2023.

The Bangladesh Food Safety Authority has prepared the draft “Regulations on Trans Fatty Acids Control in Foodstuffs, 2021”, but its finalization is still underway.

Underscoring World Food Safety Day, Executive Director of PROGGA (Knowledge for Progress) ABM Zubair has said, “There is no alternative to  safe food for nurturing a healthy generation. Eliminating trans fat from food can save the lives of thousands and it is also a cost effective measure for the government. Trans fat must be eliminated from the food chain immediately for ensuring safe food for all.”