Food Safety in Developing Countries

Unsafe food containing harmful bacteria, viruses, parasites, or chemical substances can cause more than 200 different diseases, ranging from diarrhea to cancers. Worldwide, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 600 million people—almost one in 10—become ill after eating contaminated food each year, resulting in 420,000 deaths and the loss of 33 million healthy life years.

Food safety, nutrition, and food security are closely linked. Unsafe food creates a vicious cycle of disease and malnutrition that affects infants, young children, and the elderly and sick in particular, according to WHO reports. “In addition to contributing to nutrition and food security, a safe food supply also supports global, national, and local economies as well as safe and fair trade, while enhancing the diffusion of sustainable development at large,” says Anne Gerardi, senior manager for the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) public–private partnerships and capability building programs at The Consumer Goods Forum in Paris, France. The globalization of food trade, a growing world population, climate change, and rapidly changing food systems all impact food safety.

What’s Working

Several approaches to addressing food safety in developing countries have shown success and promise in recent years. These approaches are often rooted in and center around preventive actions and interventions based on science-based standards for the safe growing, harvesting, packing, transport, and storage of food, says Tracy Fink, PCQI, director of scientific programs and science and policy initiatives at the Institute of Food Technologists in Chicago.

Some of the most effective methods have included capacity-building and training programs, public–private partnerships, and a farm-to-fork approach. Providing training and capacity-building programs for food producers, processors, and regulators is critical to global food safety. These programs equip individuals and organizations with the knowledge and skills needed to implement food safety practices developed in countries with more advanced scientific experience.

Additionally, training helps bridge the food safety knowledge gap in emerging regions and ensures that best practices are understood and followed across the food chain. This training can cover various aspects of food safety, including good hygiene practices, hazard analysis and critical control points (HACCP) systems implementation, laboratory testing, and risk assessments, Fink says.

Collaboration among government agencies, private sector stakeholders, and non-government organizations (NGOs) is also an effective way to improve food safety, Fink adds. Public–private partnerships can provide resources to promote better practices throughout the nodes of the food supply chain.

A holistic “farm-to-fork” approach considers food safety at each part of the supply chain, from production and processing to distribution and consumption, Fink says. This comprehensive approach also helps identify potential biological, chemical, and physical hazards and risks at various points, allowing for targeted and preventive interventions and risk management.

WHO and FAO Efforts

In 2019, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations and WHO jointly developed the food control system assessment tool to assist member states in evaluating the effectiveness of national food control systems. The tool’s main objective is to provide a harmonized, objective, and consensual basis to analyze the performance of a national food control system, says Markus Lipp, PhD, senior food safety officer at the food systems and food safety division of the FAO in Rome. Countries can use the tool to identify priority areas of improvement and plan sequential and coordinated activities to reach expected outcomes. The tool is based on the Principles and Guidelines for National Food Control Systems adopted by the Codex Alimentarius, often referred to as Codex, an international food safety standard-setting body established by FAO and WHO.

These organizations also work with member countries to develop capacity-building programs, provide technical assistance, and promote best practices to address global food safety issues, Fink says. Furthermore, they support and promote research and data collection to better understand and mitigate food safety risks worldwide.