World Food Safety Day 2024: Date, Theme, History, and Inspiring Quotes

Having access to a sufficient amount of safe food is the key to maintaining a good life. Consuming food that is contaminated can lead to various food-borne illnesses. Food safety can be defined as a way to store, prepare, consume, and deliver food in such a way that it can maintain proper nutrition and good health. Food safety also prevents the development of bacteria, which can lead to severe illness.

As per the WHO, around 420,000 people die every year solely due to food-borne diseases. Every year on June 7, the whole world celebrates World Food Safety Day to highlight the importance of maintaining food standards. Here’s a look at the history, significance, theme, and quotes on World Food Safety Day:

World Food Safety Day: History

The United Nations (UN) instructed two of its agencies, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the World Health Organisation (WHO), to put in efforts around the world and teach people about the importance of food safety. In 2016, FAO and WHO collaborated to celebrate Food Security Day.

In July next year, the idea was supported by the Conference of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in its 40th session. In 2018, it was decided that June 7 should be declared World Food Security Day. On August 3, 2020, the World Health Assembly passed Resolution WHA 73.5 to understand the importance of food security.

World Food Safety Day: Significance

All around the world, the WHO reports that 4,20,000 people die every year due to illnesses caused by contaminated food. In the present time, there has been an increase in such diseases from food because of a lack of purity and enhanced use of chemicals (Toxic substance).

Another major problem is the contamination of water as well. As a result, World Food Security Day is celebrated every June 7 to highlight the importance of food and water security.

World Food Safety Day 2024: Theme

The theme for World Food Safety Day 2024 is ‘Food Safety: Prepare for the Unexpected.’ This theme highlights the importance of saving and securing food and water, irrespective of any situation.

World Food Safety Day: Quotes

1. ‘The food that enters the mind must be watched as closely as the food that enters the body.’ by Pat Buchanan
2. ‘There are people in the world so hungry that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread.’ by Mahatma Gandhi
3. ‘One of the trends we’re seeing in food and agriculture is more and more consumers wanting to know things about their food, where and how it’s grown, and what’s in it.’ by Dan Glickman
4. ‘Healthy citizens are the greatest asset any country can have.’ by Winston Churchill
5. ‘We may find in the long run that tinned food is a deadlier weapon than the machine gun.’ by George Orwell.