New Delhi, Sep 20 (IANS) World Health Organisation (WHO) Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Friday said climate change is a challenge to the global food system.
In a video message at the 2nd Global Food Regulatory Summit in Delhi, the WHO chief highlighted the important role of national food regulators in harmonising regulatory policies for the world.
Ghebreyesus said that besides climate change, “population growth, new technologies, globalisation and industrialisation” are other challenges to global food systems.
In addition, he said food regulators also play a vital role in dealing with unsafe food, which causes 600 million cases of foodborne illnesses and 4,20,000 deaths annually.
He also lamented that 70 per cent of deaths due to unsafe food occur among children under five years of age.
“The food regulatory community has a vital role to play in addressing these global challenges,” Ghebreyesus said.
Meanwhile, stressing the need for innovative regulatory solutions, Dr Samuel Godefroy, President of the International Union of Food Science and Technology, said food science is vital to human survival.
He also praised FSSAI for its contribution in strengthening the global food regulatory network.
Codex President Steve Wearne praised India’s significant investment in Codex and food safety regulation. He highlighted that India is one of the few countries to host Codex subsidiary commissions.
The summit also launched Food Import Rejection Alert (FIRA) – an online portal designed to inform the public and concerned food safety authorities about food import rejections at Indian borders.
The two-day summit is expected to have over 5,000 physical attendees and over 1,50,000 virtual participation. This includes 1,00,000 food business operators, 40,000 students and researchers, 6,000 exporters, 5,000 importers and 3,500 food safety officers. It will also be attended by around 2,500 food safety trainees, 2,000 laboratory officers and 800 food safety friends, apart from Indian missions in over 60 countries.
–IANS
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