A Public Health Perspective On Food Safety
Keywords:- Public Health, Food Safety, Consumer
Author: Dr. Saumya Lal
Introduction
Food safety refers to the processes of growing, harvesting, storing, shipping, processing, as well as preparing food. This covers food preparation in commercial kitchens, restaurants, and school cafeterias, as well as food preparation in private homes. Microbial disease prevention, environmental contamination from farm pesticides, commercial or industrial chemicals, and hazardous waste, are all part of food safety. In most industrialised nations, food safety regulations are complicated. In the United States, for example, numerous agencies are responsible for organising and implementing food safety laws, labelling, and standards.
Statistics
Unsafe food is a worldwide health problem that puts everyone at risk. Infants, small children, pregnant women, the elderly, and those suffering from an underlying ailment are all at risk. Every year, 220 million children get diarrhoea, with 96,000 of them dying. Foodborne illness feeds a vicious cycle of diarrhoea and malnutrition, jeopardising the nutritional status of the most vulnerable. Food safety should be a public health priority for governments. This is primarily because they play a key role in formulating laws and regulatory frameworks. The Food safety also helps in building and executing effective food safety systems.
Food Safety Controls
Food safety is regulated at the federal level for issues such as food additives and pesticide residues, as well as at the local level by local health departments and health commissions. Who are in charge of enforcing laws regarding the cleanliness of food preparation areas, expiration dates and storage of milk products and eggs, among other things. Both industrialised and developing countries are concerned about food safety. Every individual in every community has the right to wholesome nourishment.
Food Contamination: How?
Food can be contaminated at any moment during manufacturing and delivery, and food producers have the major responsibility. Foods poorly cooked or maltreated at home, in food service facilities, or at markets, however, generate a substantial proportion of foodborne illness cases. Not all food handlers and consumers are aware of their responsibilities. For example, following fundamental sanitary procedures while buying, selling, and preparing food to safeguard their own and the community’s health is imperative. The current food landscape needs consumers to navigate a shifting terrain. Considering the flow of new food technologies and ongoing debates, regarding the safety of food products. The debates among food scientists, industry groups and health care professionals ensure which foods are safe and how one ought to consume it to have a lasting impact on one’s health.
Techniques for Food Safety
The polar food chain contains persistent organic chemicals and trace metals, raising questions regarding the safety of subsistence food intake. A technique utilised widely in regulating environmental clean-up and pollution regulations is one approach for evaluating subsistence food safety. This technique, referred to as regulatory risk assessment, differs significantly from the methods employed in public health risk assessment. The use of regulatory risk assessment in assessing public health threats from environmental exposures in the diet has limitations.
It includes a limited scope, a lack of consideration for the nutritional and health benefits of subsistence foods. It is also limited in overestimation of risks due to the use of worst-case assumptions in the absence of scientific data. There might be a situation of mistaking on the side of safety for one exposure. It might be done by advocating reduced intake of a certain item. Sound public health policy might also accidentally err which can be done by decreasing a coexisting exposure with potentially tremendous health benefits.
Factors of Food Safety
The food processing industry is the middle section of the farm-to-table value chain. It extends from the moment livestock and crops leave the farm for slaughter and process until food items reach retail outlets and consumers. Food items might be used by terrorists to introduce dangerous chemical or biological substances into the food chain. Toxic chemicals or infectious pathogens that contaminate food processing facilities pose a risk to public health. Food safety is being challenged by new trends in global food production, processing, distribution, and preparation. Food cultivated in one nation may suddenly be moved halfway around the world and consumed. People desire a larger range of meals than in the past; they want out-of-season items and frequently dine out.
The integration and consolidation of agricultural and food sectors and the globalisation of food commerce, are altering food production and distribution patterns. These circumstances are fostering an atmosphere in which both recognised and unknown food-borne illnesses can spread. Food and feed are delivered across much longer distances than previously, allowing for broader outbreaks of food-borne disease. Over a two-week period in a recent crisis, more than 1,500 farms in Europe got dioxin-contaminated feed from a single supplier. Within weeks, food generated by animals fed this tainted fodder that made its way to every continent. The impact of dioxin exposure from this source on public health may not be understood for many years.
Other Factors
Other factors contribute to the establishment of food safety as a public health concern. As cities become more densely populated, the need for food transportation, storage, and preparation grows. People consume much of their meals outside their homes due to rising income, an urban lifestyle and a lack of amenities. Food is frequently made by street vendors in underdeveloped nations. In industrialised nations, meals made outside the house can account for up to 50% of the food expenditure. All these changes lead to situations in which a single source of contamination can have widespread, even global consequences.
Conclusion
Developing countries in particular are experiencing rapid changes in their health and social environments. The strains on their limited resources are compounded by expanding urbanization, increasing dependence on stored foods, insufficient access to safe water as well as facilities for safe food preparation. Consumers gain greatly from the globalisation of the food trade. This is because it results in a larger range of high-quality meals that are accessible, inexpensive, and safe, thereby satisfying consumer demand. A balanced diet that includes a variety of foods promotes nutritional status and health. The global food trade allows food-exporting countries to earn foreign money. This is critical for the economic growth of many countries and the improvement of many people’s standard of life.
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