Safe Food for All

  HAPPY WORLD SAFETY DAY!  Make food safe today for a healthy tomorrow.  It is yet another 7th June to commemorate the World Food Safety Day and to encourage everyone to take actions to ensure that food is safe at any point food meets us - as a farmer, processor, distributor and consumer.  It's also a day the government of different nations should reflect on how well they have ensured that food is produced, distributed and consumed in safe manner.  I had the opportunity to submit a video answering the question " what does good food means to you " for the GoodFood4All Movement  of the United Nation Food System Summit, one of my opinions was that "Good food must be safe and wholesome, if it's not safe, it's not food at all". This is very true and if we can agree to this opinion today, we will jointly work towards transforming our food system. No matter the amount of minerals and vitamins a food may contain, if it is not safe, it is poison and not food. The...

T he COVID-19 situation since the year 2020 led us all to practicing frequent hand washing with soap and water. Generally, hand washing plays a critical role in preventing disease transmission. Just as regular hand-washing with soap can reduce the likelihood of COVID-19 infection and transmission, it can also reduce the likelihood of food infection and poisoning. Hand-washing is one of the most important practices to prevent food poisoning while preparing food for yourself, for your family, and for the public. It is a practice to be adopted in any form of food processing and consumption. Briefly we will look at its importance in the food industries, catering and street food industries, and among consumers. Handwashing in the Food Processing Industries For the food processors in the industries, standard food sanitation procedures like hand washing must be followed duly. It is important to note that handwashing before and after using gloves is very imperative in safe food processin...

In a very simple sentence , a food label  is a   panel found on a package of food which contains a variety of information about the nutritional value of the food item. There are many standard pieces of information on most  food labels , including serving size, the amount of calories and other key nutrients, a list of ingredients, the production dates and the best date to be used or discarded.  Even though food labels are just one of the many boring pieces of writing struggling for our attention daily, it is important to note that practicing food safety starts by reading and understanding the labels on a food package.  All details in the food label are very important if you must make a healthy choice. However, this article explains some of the common terms seen on the seemingly confusing food labels. Those common terms are the  USE BY, BEST BEFORE AND SELL BY  dates.  Use by "Use by" dates are the most important date to consider, as ...

Photo credit: FAO Today the 16th of October 2019 is the World Food Day and a very important day of action dedicated to tackling the global hunger in a world of growing population. On this day, different people, leaders and organisations from around the world come together again to declare their commitment to eradicate worldwide hunger. The main aim is to create awareness of the importance of food as a basic human right.  The Theme of World Food Day 2019 is  “Our Actions Are Our Future. Healthy Diets for a Zero-Hunger World” . According to the United Nations (UN) Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), people need to eat healthy diets for a zero hunger world.  It is evident from the theme that the FAO identified the current problem in the world and seek to address it. Due to urbanization and our growing busy schedules, our diets and eating habits have changed. Instead of the usual well-prepared vitamin and fibre rich foods and/or plant-based foods, we h...

What is food safety? Food Safety is the concept of handling, preparing, storing, and consuming foods in ways that best reduce the risk of individuals becoming sick. Its principles generally aim at preventing foods from becoming contaminated and causing food poisoning. Ensuring food safety is a shared responsibility among governments, producers, processors, distributors, retailers, and consumers. In the food supply chain, every component plays a major role in ensuring food safety. What is a food supply chain? A food supply chain is a sequence through which food moves systematically from producers (farmers) to processors to distributors to retailers and then to consumers who are the end users.  Who is a Consumer? : A consumer is a person who purchases goods and services for personal use. So you and I are consumers of all kinds of food products in the market. You may wonder if consumers have a role to play in ensuring food safety. The answer is yes, we do. Consumers have a...

PHOTO: UNICEF The World Breastfeeding Week is celebrated every year from 1 - 7th August to encourage breastfeeding and improve the health of babies around the world. Breastfeeding provides both long-term and short-term health, economic and environmental benefits to children, women and the society at large. Studies have shown that children who are breastfed for a longer period have better cognitive development than those who are breastfed for shorter periods; this translates to improved academic performance and productivity. Breastfeeding decreases the risk of mothers developing breast cancer, ovarian cancer, type 2 diabetes, heart diseases and averts maternal deaths yearly. These are reasons why public health organizations recommend breastfeeding, starting from one hour after birth to six months until the baby is six (6) months old. Thereafter, nutritious and safe complementary food should be added while continuing to breastfeed for up to 1 year and beyond. Apart from the ...