ILRI marks World Food Safety Day 2023 with the launch of a report on improving food safety in informal markets

World Food Safety Day is celebrated on 7 June every year to raise awareness on food safety and inspire action to help prevent and manage foodborne risks thereby contributing to human health, food and nutrition security, economic prosperity, market access, and sustainable development. The theme this year is Food standards save lives.

The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) is commemorating World Food Safety Day 2023 with the launch of a new ILRI-commissioned report, New directions for tackling food safety risks in the informal sector of developing countries, by Spencer Henson, Steven Jaffee and Shuo Wang.

The report will be launched at a webinar on Wednesday 7 June 2023 at 0900 hours EDT / 1300 hours GMT /1600 hours EAT.

Despite ongoing structural changes, the food systems of most low- and lower middle-income countries are still dominated by small-scale processors, grocers, market vendors and food service operators. Unsafe food is a widespread issue in these informal food systems, with national public health implications.

Few countries have coherent strategies to effectively tackle food safety risks in the informal sector. Most of the policy attention and resources now devoted to domestic food safety in the developing world focus on strengthening centralized systems for ‘food control’. 

The authors of the report argue that a different approach is needed to better tackle food safety risks in the informal sector. This would entail local action that is centrally guided, multisectoral action, rebalancing the use of sticks and carrots, and differentiating local strategies and priorities.

Register for the webinar and join us to learn more about the report and hear reactions from food safety experts.

We have also created a landing page on the ILRI website to showcase our food safety projects, publications, stories and key messages. The page also highlights the profiles of ILRI scientists involved in food safety research.

The production of the report, New directions for tackling food safety risks in the informal sector of developing countries, was supported by the CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH) and the CGIAR Initiative on One Health. We thank all funders who supported this research through their contributions to the CGIAR Trust Fund.

Join the online conversations by following the hashtags #FoodSafety, #SafeFood and #WorldFoodSafetyDay.

Photo credit: World Health Organization

 

EatSafe project to host webinar on food safety innovations for traditional markets

The World Health Organization estimates that every year, 600 million people become ill and many die because of unsafe food. Up to 38% of those affected are children under five years of age, and 53% were people living in low- and middle-income countries.

To address this gap, the Evidence and Action Towards Safe, Nutritious Food (EatSafe) project recently organized an EatSafe Innovation Challenge aimed at encouraging the development of food safety solutions or safer food products towards improving food safety in traditional markets where most consumers in low- and middle-income countries access their food.

On Tuesday 13 December 2022, the EatSafe project will host a webinar to highlight the importance of innovative solutions in food safety, and their applicability to low- and middle-income countries, specifically in traditional markets and along the food value chain.

This webinar is the second part of a series on innovative approaches to food safety. The first webinar, held in January 2022, featured consumer-centred approaches to food safety research.

In this second webinar, speakers will share on the application, implementation and practice of innovative solutions for food safety, including highlights from finalists of the EatSafe Innovation Challenge.

Below are details of the hour-long webinar and how to register.

Date: Tuesday 13 December 2022

Time: 0800 hours EST / 1400 hours CET / 1600 hours EAT

Registration link: https://bit.ly/food_safetywebinar 

Speakers

• Delia Grace, Professor of Food Safety Systems, Natural Resources Institute and Joint-appointed Scientist, International Livestock Research Institute
• Helen Weldemichael, CEO, Safe Dish Ethiopia and Assistant Professor, Wolkite University
• Oyeyemi Fadairo, Project Lead, Solarflex Dryers
• Richard Pluke, Chief of Party, EatSafe project

EatSafe is a project of Feed the Future and the United States Agency for International Development.

Photo credit: Fruit and vegetable shop in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (University of Florida/Geraldine Klarenberg)

 

One Health experts to host webinar on animal health and pandemic prevention

Governments are currently negotiating a historic global pandemic treaty to protect us from future pandemics. The special session of the 2021 World Health Assembly agreed that the new accord will focus on early detection and prevention of pandemics, as well as the One Health approach which recognises the interconnectedness of human, animal and environment health.

On Tuesday 28 June 2022, the Action for Animal Health coalition will host an online event during which experts from civil society and multilateral organizations will discuss why robust animal health systems are critical to putting One Health into practice to reduce the risk of zoonoses spilling over to people.

The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) is a member of the Action for Animal Health coalition which calls on governments, donors and international agencies to invest in animal health systems through five pillars of action:

• Support community engagement and equitable access to animal health services
• Increase the numbers and improve the skills of the animal health workforce
• Close the veterinary medicines and vaccines gap
• Improve animal disease surveillance
• Enhance collaboration for One Health

Join the online event to hear more about why stronger animal health systems are key to preventing another pandemic. 

Below are details of the event and how to register.

Date: Tuesday 28 June 2022

Time: 1200–1315 hours (BST, GMT+1)

Location: Online (a Zoom link will be sent to registered participants the day before the event)

Registration link: https://takeaction.thebrooke.org/page/103248/event/2 

Speakers

• Klara Saville, head of animal health, welfare and community development, Brooke/Action for Animal Health
• Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka, founder and chief executive officer of Conservation Through Public Health
• Mariana Vale, Ecology Department, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Preventing Pandemics at the Source, and member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
• Chadia Wannous, One Health global coordinator, World Organisation for Animal Health
• Angélique Angot, laboratory specialist, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Moderator: Patricia Amira

Photo credit: Village women and livestock in Niger (ILRI/Stevie Mann)

 

ILRI marks World Food Safety Day 2022 with a focus on food safety research for better health

To commemorate this year’s World Food Safety Day (7 June) under the theme Safer food, better health, the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) has launched an online food safety campaign and landing page to showcase its collaborative research on risk-based approaches to improving food safety in low- and middle-income countries.

Better management of foodborne diseases could save nearly half a million lives a year and safeguard the livelihoods of over one billion small-scale livestock producers.

ILRI’s approach to food safety research is based on risk analysis. We identify the hazards in food and build the capacity of policymakers to understand risk-based approaches.

Policy will be more effective and efficient if based on actual risk to human health rather than the presence of hazards. ILRI’s approach is therefore to generate research evidence and develop solutions to improve the safety of animal products in informal food markets.

Visit the landing page to read key food safety messages as well as the latest food safety news from ILRI and information on projects and selected publications. You will also find the profiles of ILRI scientists involved in food safety research.

Join the online conversations by following the hashtags #FoodSafety, #SafeFood and #WorldFoodSafetyDay.

Photo credit: World Health Organization

 

Marking World Food Safety Day 2021 with a focus on ILRI’s food safety research

World Food Safety Day is celebrated annually on 7 June to raise awareness on the importance of safe food and its contribution to healthy lives, healthy economies and a healthy future.

The theme this year is Safe food now for a healthy tomorrow. Our food systems need to produce enough safe food for all. A One Health approach to food safety that recognizes the connections between the health of people, animals and the environment will improve food safety and help meet the nutritional and health needs of the future. Indeed, there is no food security without food safety.

Food safety is everyone’s business. Governments must put in place supportive regulatory frameworks that ensure access to safe and nutritious food for all. Farmers and other food producers need to adopt good agricultural practices to prevent contamination of food products at the farm level. Business operators must make sure food is safe at all stages of processing and distribution of food products. Consumers, too, have a role to play in learning about safe and healthy food so that they are empowered to demand for access to safe food.

The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) has a longstanding record of collaborative research on risk-based approaches to improving food safety in traditional, informal markets.

ILRI leads the food safety flagship of the CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health. The main research focus is on mitigating aflatoxin contamination in key staples and on managing risks in traditional, informal markets for nutrient-rich perishables like meat, milk, fish and vegetables.

We commemorate this year’s World Food Safety Day by shining the spotlight on ILRI’s research on food safety. Listed below is a selection of recent food safety publications from collaborative research by ILRI and partners.

Hai Hoang Tuan Ngo, Luong Nguyen-Thanh, Phuc Pham-Duc, Sinh Dang-Xuan, Hang Le-Thi, Denis-Robichaud, J., Hung Nguyen-Viet, Trang T.H. Le, Grace, D. and Unger, F. 2021. Microbial contamination and associated risk factors in retailed pork from key value chains in Northern Vietnam. International Journal of Food Microbiology 346: 109163.

Murungi, M.K., Muloi, D.M., Muinde, P., Githigia, S.M., Akoko, J., Fèvre, E.M., Rushton, J. and Alarcon, P. 2021. The Nairobi pork value chain: Mapping and assessment of governance, challenges, and food safety issues. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 8: 581376.

Rortana, C., Hung Nguyen-Viet, Tum, S., Unger, F., Boqvist, S., Sinh Dang-Xuan, Koam, S., Grace, D., Osbjer, K., Heng, T., Sarim, S., Phirum, O., Sophia, R. and Lindahl, J.F. 2021. Prevalence of Salmonella spp. and Staphylococcus aureus in chicken meat and pork from Cambodian markets. Pathogens 10(5): 556.

Mutua, F., Kang’ethe, E. and Grace, D. 2021. The COVID-19 pandemic and its implications for food safety in East Africa. ILRI Discussion Paper 40. Nairobi, Kenya: ILRI.

ILRI (International Livestock Research Institute). 2021. Keeping foods safe leads to healthier people, livestock and environment. Livestock pathways to 2030: One Health Brief 4. Nairobi, Kenya: ILRI.

Mutua, F. 2021. Food safety in One Health. Video. Nairobi, Kenya: ILRI.

Join the online conversations by following the hashtags #FoodSafety, #SafeFood and #WorldFoodSafetyDay.

Photo credit: World Health Organization

 

Celebrating World Food Safety Day 2020: Food safety, everyone’s business

To mark the second World Food Safety Day that will be celebrated on 7 June 2020, the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) has launched an online food safety campaign and landing page at https://www.ilri.org/world-food-safety-day-2020. 

The campaign draws attention to ILRI’s long-standing collaborative research on risk-based approaches to improving food safety in informal markets. 

On the landing page you will find a set of key messages on food safety in informal markets as well as links to news, projects, publications, photos and videos on food safety. You will also be able to read the profiles of some of the ILRI experts involved in food safety research. 

Also featured on the page are the voices of some of our partners who share in the mission of working to ensure that the food we buy and eat is safe. 

Remember: there is no food security without food safety and if it is not safe, it is not food!

Join the online conversations by following the hashtags #FoodSafety, #SafeFood and #WorldFoodSafetyDay.

Photo credit: World Health Organization

 

Call for abstracts: ecohealth 2020

Ecohealth approaches are designed to promote the health of people, animals and ecosystems with attention to social and ecological justice, sustainability and the relationships required to achieve a healthy future. Ecohealth approaches rely on systems thinking and the complementary efforts of transdisciplinary teams.

For the last 15 years, the global ecohealth community has been bringing together individuals and organizations to discuss ecohealth approaches. This year, the eighth biennial ecohealth conference will be held in Durban, South Africa on 22–26 June 2020. 

Participants at ecohealth 2020 are expected to include researchers, policymakers, community leaders, postgraduate students, government departments and non-governmental organizations working on ecohealth approaches towards sustainable management of the health of people, animals and ecosystems.

The organizers of the conference have extended the deadline for the submission of abstracts to 25 March 2020. 

To register and submit an abstract, please visit https://ecohealth2020.co.za.

Photo credit: Women waiting to fetch water as cattle drink from a water pan in Taita Taveta, Kenya (ILRI/ Juliet Kariuki)

 

Celebrating the inaugural #WorldFoodSafetyDay: A focus on food safety research at ILRI

Food market near Khulungira Village, in central Malawi (photo credit: ILRI/Stevie Mann).

Today marks the first ever World Food Safety Day following the adoption in December 2018 of a resolution by the United Nations General Assembly to set aside 7 June of every year to celebrate the benefits of safe food and inspire action towards preventing and managing foodborne diseases.

In Asia and Africa, most livestock products and fresh produce are sold in informal markets. The human health burden from foodborne disease is comparable to that of malaria, HIV/AIDS or tuberculosis. Unsafe food is also a barrier to market access for poor farmers.

Food safety is a key part of the research portfolio of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI). ILRI leads the food safety flagship of the CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH). This flagship seeks food safety solutions that can work in informal markets; it focuses primarily on mitigating aflatoxin contamination in key staples and on managing risks in informal markets for nutrient-rich perishables like meat, milk, fish and vegetables.

Our approach to food safety research is based on risk analysis. We identify the hazards in food and build the capacity of policymakers to understand risk-based approaches; policy will be more effective and efficient if based on actual risk to human health rather than the presence of hazards. We generate evidence and develop solutions to improve the safety of animal products in informal food markets.

Better management of foodborne diseases could save nearly half a million lives a year and safeguard the livelihoods of over one billion small-scale livestock producers. Indeed, there is no food security without food safety.

Some of the collaborative food safety projects that ILRI has led in the past include work on mitigating the risk of mycotoxins in the feed–dairy value chain in Kenya, improving food safety in smallholder pig value chains in Vietnam and food safety risk assessment and piloting of food safety interventions in eight countries in Africa.

Our current food safety projects seek to test market-based approaches to improve food safety in Cambodia, Vietnam, Burkina Faso and Ethiopia.  

Listed below are some recent publications on food safety by ILRI and partners.

• Roesel, K. and Grace, D. 2014. Food safety and informal markets: Animal products in sub-Saharan Africa. London, UK: Routledge.
• Grace, D. 2017. Food safety and the Sustainable Development Goals. Nairobi, Kenya: ILRI.
• World Bank. 2017. Vietnam food safety risks management: Challenges and opportunities. Technical Working Paper. Hanoi, Vietnam: World Bank.
• Grace, D., Dominguez-Salas, P., Alonso, S., Fahrion, A., Haesler, B., Heilmann, M., Hoffmann, V., Kang’ethe, E., Roesel, K. and Lore, T. 2018. Food safety metrics relevant to low and middle income countries: Technical brief. Agriculture, Nutrition and Health Academy Food Safety Working Group. London, UK: Innovative Methods and Metrics for Agriculture and Nutrition Actions Programme.
• Global Food Safety Partnership. 2019. Food safety in Africa: Past endeavors and future directions. Washington, DC: World Bank.
• Grace, D., Dipeolu, M. and Alonso, S. 2019. Improving food safety in the informal sector: Nine years later. Infection Ecology & Epidemiology 9(1): 1579613.
• Jaffee, S., Henson, S., Unnevehr, L., Grace, D. and Cassou, E. 2019. The safe food imperative: Accelerating progress in low- and middle-income countries. Agriculture and Food Series. Washington, DC: World Bank.

For more information on ILRI’s food safety research, contact the A4NH food safety flagship leader Delia Grace Randolph (d.randolph@cgiar.org).

 

#OneHealthDay: New research on Uganda’s urban pig value chain focuses on One Health from social science perspective

Cross-bred Pigs in Kiboga District, Uganda (photo credit: ILRI/Kristina Roesel).

Today is International One Health Day, an occasion celebrated around the world every year on 3 November to bring global attention to the need for One Health interactions and for the world to ‘see them in action’.

To mark this day, we highlight a new discussion paper published by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) that contributes towards a greater understanding of One Health from a largely overlooked social science perspective.

The report provides a summary of research conducted in 2016 in the peri-urban to urban pig value chain between Mukono District and Kampala in Uganda’s central region. Its focus is the zoonotic parasite Taenia solium, also referred to as the pork tapeworm, and cysticercosis, an infection with the larvae of T. solium. It highlights perceptions of T. solium and other pathogens associated with pigs as articulated by farmers, butchers, slaughterhouse workers, pork consumers and medical professionals.

Download the report, Pigs, people, pathogens: A qualitative analysis of the pig value chain in the central region of Uganda by Rebekah Thompson.

 

One Health to feature at international conference on tropical veterinary medicine

The holistic concept of ‘One World-One Health’ in disease prevention and control will be among the topics of discussion at the first joint international conference of the Association of Institutions for Tropical Veterinary Medicine (AITVM) and the Society of Tropical Veterinary Medicine (STVM) which is scheduled to place on 4-8 September 2016 in Berlin, Germany.

AITVM is a foundation of 24 veterinary faculties and livestock institutes based in Africa, Asia and Europe with the mandate to improve human health and quality of life by means of increased and safe food production in tropical regions through enhancement of research, training and education in veterinary medicine and livestock production within the framework of sustainable development.

STVM is made up of scientists, veterinarians and students from more than 40 countries with common interests in tropical veterinary medicine. It is a non-profit organization whose purpose is the advancement of tropical veterinary medicine, hygiene and related disciplines.

The joint conference will bring together animal health and production experts, senior and junior career researchers and students from all over the world to discuss research and development topics including animal and zoonotic disease control, food safety, genetic resources and biodiversity, rural development and animal production, training and capacity building and animal welfare.

The conference is organized by the Institute for Parasitology and Tropical Veterinary Medicine and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Reference Centre for Veterinary Public Health of the Freie Universität Berlin.

The co-organizing institutions are:

• the Friedrich-Loeffler Institute – Federal Research Institute for Animal Health
• the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment
• the German Veterinary Medical Society
• Vétérinaires Sans Frontières Germany
• the Albrecht Daniel Thaer-Institute of Agricultural and Horticultural Sciences of the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

The conference organizers are now accepting abstracts. The deadline for submission of abstracts is 15 March 2016.

Visit the conference website for more information.