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Food Safety Experts Agree Plan to Improve Food Safety in the Americas and Caribbean
San Jose, Costa Rica, December 9, 2005 (WHO/FAO)—Urgent measures are needed across Latin America and the Caribbean to improve food safety and the availability of food, both to reduce the level of disease and death and also to make it easier to export the region's numerous food products to the rest of the world, 200 regional food-safety experts and regulators agreed today.
At least 6000 outbreaks of a number of different foodborne diseases occurred in Latin America and the Caribbean between 1993 and 2002, according to figures announced here by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO).
Such outbreaks, as well as the greater burden of the many single cases of foodborne disease, resulted in an estimated 57,000 deaths in the region from food- and waterborne diarrhoea in 2004. However, even this estimated disease burden is considered to be greatly underestimating the true scope of the foodborne disease occurrence in the Region, the meeting, organized by FAO and WHO, and hosted by the Government of Costa Rica, heard. The meeting ran from 6 to 9 December.
The experts, representing government food regulatory authorities, food producers, consumer associations and international organizations, agreed on a comprehensive plan to improve the safety and quality of food both for the peoples of the region and for export.
Measures to be taken include assuring safety throughout the entire food chain, with science-based regulations and the application of risk analysis guiding at which critical points in the food chain government authorities should concentrate their efforts to support producers; and improved coordination both among countries in the Region, and between food regulators and food producers in each country.
Currently, despite some success, multiple agencies with fragmented responsibilities, combined with a lack of human and financial resources, are making efforts to achieve uniform high standards across the region difficult.
For example, not all countries in the Region currently harmonize their food legislation entirely with Codex Alimentarius standards. This makes exporting food to the rest of the world, which uses Codex standards as the reference for safe and quality food, more difficult. Codex Alimentarius is the FAO/WHO body setting food safety and quality standards for consumer health protection and facilitation of domestic and international trade.
Food legislation is currently enforced by a number of ministries, including, depending on the country, those for agriculture, health, economy and tourism. With more than one implementing agency, there is often the danger that their regulations overlap. Moreover, the regulations are sometimes out-dated and not science-based.
Moreover, food safety and quality reference laboratories do not exist in all countries in the Region. The 200 experts cited the necessity of ensuring that all countries in the Region have food-testing facilities, or access to them.
Food exports from the region are worth some US$66 billion, or 12% of the world's total food trade, and this figure could increase rapidly over the coming decades if food safety and quality in the region is improved, according to FAO and WHO. However, food safety problems are causing costly rejections of products from the region by importing countries.
"Without adequate food safety frameworks and mechanisms, the people of Latin America and the Caribbean will continue to suffer millions of cases of food-borne illness and their food exports will always run the risk of being rejected," said Dr Jorgen Schlundt, WHO's Director for Food Safety.
"We therefore welcome and will do everything we can to support the development of strong food safety authorities in all the countries of the region, including strengthened food-borne disease surveillance, in order to know where to put increased efforts to lower the disease burden," he added.
Dr Kraisid Tontisirin, FAO's Director of Food and Nutrition, said: "Food safety is the bedrock for everything else in the area of nutrition and food security, and for trading food internationally. For example, FAO is actively working with Member countries in the region to assure the safety of fresh fruits and vegetable and the safety and quality of coffee. In so doing, we are enhancing the food security of the region and its ability to export its food. Ensuring safe and nutritious food is an important precondition of food security, and helps countries in the region in their efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals."
Food Safety Experts Agree Plan to Improve Food Safety in the Americas and Caribbean
San Jose, Costa Rica, December 9, 2005 (WHO/FAO)—Urgent measures are needed across Latin America and the Caribbean to improve food safety and the availability of food, both to reduce the level of disease and death and also to make it easier to export the region's numerous food products to the rest of the world, 200 regional food-safety experts and regulators agreed today.
At least 6000 outbreaks of a number of different foodborne diseases occurred in Latin America and the Caribbean between 1993 and 2002, according to figures announced here by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO).
Such outbreaks, as well as the greater burden of the many single cases of foodborne disease, resulted in an estimated 57,000 deaths in the region from food- and waterborne diarrhoea in 2004. However, even this estimated disease burden is considered to be greatly underestimating the true scope of the foodborne disease occurrence in the Region, the meeting, organized by FAO and WHO, and hosted by the Government of Costa Rica, heard. The meeting ran from 6 to 9 December.
The experts, representing government food regulatory authorities, food producers, consumer associations and international organizations, agreed on a comprehensive plan to improve the safety and quality of food both for the peoples of the region and for export.
Measures to be taken include assuring safety throughout the entire food chain, with science-based regulations and the application of risk analysis guiding at which critical points in the food chain government authorities should concentrate their efforts to support producers; and improved coordination both among countries in the Region, and between food regulators and food producers in each country.
Currently, despite some success, multiple agencies with fragmented responsibilities, combined with a lack of human and financial resources, are making efforts to achieve uniform high standards across the region difficult.
For example, not all countries in the Region currently harmonize their food legislation entirely with Codex Alimentarius standards. This makes exporting food to the rest of the world, which uses Codex standards as the reference for safe and quality food, more difficult. Codex Alimentarius is the FAO/WHO body setting food safety and quality standards for consumer health protection and facilitation of domestic and international trade.
Food legislation is currently enforced by a number of ministries, including, depending on the country, those for agriculture, health, economy and tourism. With more than one implementing agency, there is often the danger that their regulations overlap. Moreover, the regulations are sometimes out-dated and not science-based.
Moreover, food safety and quality reference laboratories do not exist in all countries in the Region. The 200 experts cited the necessity of ensuring that all countries in the Region have food-testing facilities, or access to them.
Food exports from the region are worth some US$66 billion, or 12% of the world's total food trade, and this figure could increase rapidly over the coming decades if food safety and quality in the region is improved, according to FAO and WHO. However, food safety problems are causing costly rejections of products from the region by importing countries.
"Without adequate food safety frameworks and mechanisms, the people of Latin America and the Caribbean will continue to suffer millions of cases of food-borne illness and their food exports will always run the risk of being rejected," said Dr Jorgen Schlundt, WHO's Director for Food Safety.
"We therefore welcome and will do everything we can to support the development of strong food safety authorities in all the countries of the region, including strengthened food-borne disease surveillance, in order to know where to put increased efforts to lower the disease burden," he added.
Dr Kraisid Tontisirin, FAO's Director of Food and Nutrition, said: "Food safety is the bedrock for everything else in the area of nutrition and food security, and for trading food internationally. For example, FAO is actively working with Member countries in the region to assure the safety of fresh fruits and vegetable and the safety and quality of coffee. In so doing, we are enhancing the food security of the region and its ability to export its food. Ensuring safe and nutritious food is an important precondition of food security, and helps countries in the region in their efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals."