Testing milk in Kenya’s informal market (photo credit: ILRI/Dave Elsworth).
World Health Day is celebrated on 7 April every year to mark the anniversary of the founding of the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1948. Each year, a theme is selected to highlight a priority area of public health. The theme for World Health Day 2015 is food safety, with the slogan “From farm to plate, make food safe”.
An estimated 2 million people die every year from contaminated food or drinking water. Over 200 diseases are caused by unsafe food containing harmful bacteria, parasites, viruses and chemical substances. New data on the harm caused by foodborne illnesses underscore the global threats posed by unsafe foods, and the need for coordinated, cross-border action across the entire food supply chain.
The Food Safety and Zoonoses program of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) carries out research on food safety in informal markets to support intensifying livestock production by building capacity for better management of the safety of animal food products.
As we celebrate this year’s World Health Day, we invite you to read some recent blog posts on food safety research by ILRI and partners:
- BecA-ILRI Hub hosts aflatoxin research platform towards safe food and feed in Africa
- IFPRI 2014–2015 Global Food Policy Report features chapter on food safety management
- Why do we need a gender perspective in research to improve food safety in informal markets?
- New book presents research findings on food safety in Africa’s traditional meat, milk and fish markets
- ILRI research on animal health and food safety featured at the 6th All Africa Conference on Animal Agriculture
AgHealth 