Safe Food for All

FAO TODAY IS WORLD FOOD DAY!!!  World Food Day is a day of action dedicated to tackling global hunger. Held annually on 16th October, people from around the world come together to declare their commitment to eradicate worldwide hunger from our lifetime.  Celebrating the creation of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), events are organized in over 150 countries across the world, making it one of the most celebrated days of the UN calendar. These events promote worldwide awareness and action for those who suffer from hunger and for the need to ensure food security and nutritious diets for all.  The focus of the day is that food is a basic and fundamental human right. Yet, in a world of billions, 805 million people worldwide live with chronic hunger, 60% women and almost five million children under the age of five die of malnutrition-related causes every day. The only way out is to increase food production that everyone can afford to eat a bala...

NAFDAC warns Nigerians to stay away from rotten tomato to avoid cancer. According to Sun News, Mrs Christiana Essenwa, The Deputy Director of National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) warned Nigerians against the consumption of rotten tomatoes to forestall cancer. According to her, rotten tomatoes contain microorganisms that induce cancer. She explained that “once tomatoes become rotten, it will have microorganisms, mostly fungi, and fungi in rotten tomatoes produce mycotoxins which are deadly and induce cancer, and cause immune deficiency in man and animals. “Mycotoxins are deadly, and can cause all sorts of poisoning in the body,” the director said. M ycotoxins are naturally occurring toxins produced by certain moulds ( fungi) and can be found in food. She said that some research suggested that mycotoxins could also cause kidney damage. According to her, some people think that rotten tomatoes which are cheap, can be consumed a...

An Overview Food poisoning is an illness caused by eating contaminated, spoiled, or toxic foods. It is also referred to as a foodborne illness. The burden of poisoning is a global concern and millions of people get sick from contaminated food. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), six hundred million (600,000,000) people in the world fall ill after consuming contaminated food each year and of these millions of people 420,000 die, including 125,000 children under the age of five years. Thus, this calls for the general public (farmers, food processors, food handlers and vendors, and consumers) to develop food safety culture to ensure that food poisoning is kept at bay at every point. For better understanding, food poisoning is not a situation where someone intentionally introduces a substance into your food to harm or to kill you. NO! That’s an attempted murder. Causes of food poisoning:  Food poisoning may be caused by microorganisms (bacteria o...

Food is a general word anyone can attempt to define. Just like I know what food is, I believe anyone can say what food is in their own term.  Therefore, to define food, I will say that food is any safe and nutritious substance people eat or drink in order to maintain life and growth. It is any substance consumed that is not a drug.  Food is eaten every day and contributes highly to the health of any individual. To be healthy and sound at work or in school, one must take in adequate food substance. Even though the qualities and significance of foods and food products may be analyzed from a different perspective, this article points out the qualities essential to every consumer.  The two major qualities consumers should be mindful of while purchasing any food product from the street, grocery, food establishment and/or before eating any food prepared by oneself are: i.    Nutritional quality of the food. ii.   Safety or wholesomeness of the...

#FoodSafety. A woman preparing a local favorite in Lagos state.  Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life.   It is common knowledge that the condition of foods from the farms and handling by food processors are major determinants of nutritional status of a given society.    But how safe is food in the country today? Am concerned about the safety of the people, in the aspect of food. As a graduate of food science and technology, my passion is to contribute to food security especially in Africa. Food safety is one aspect of food security that needs more emphasis. Most times I wonder why issues on food safety and its training are mostly channeled to the food industries with less attention on the street food vendors and food handlers, yet street food supply is an important component o...