Download or read book Enhancing Early Warning Capabilities and Capacities for Food Safety written by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and published by Food & Agriculture Org.. This book was released on 2018-06-18 with total page 105 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Worldwide, food safety incidents can have a significant impact on public health, economies, agrifood trade, food security, and public confidence in the food supply. The prevention, mitigation, and management of food safety incidents globally can be enhanced through more effective early warning systems for food safety. Early warning systems help countries to better anticipate food safety threats and respond quicker through appropriate risk management actions. This publication provides a resource for countries to enhance their early warning capabilities and capacities. It emphasizes the need to build and connect links between existing food safety infrastructure (e.g. surveillance and food control) and to improve collaborative relationships among all of the different food chain stakeholders in order to protect public health and the food supply.
Download or read book Early warning tools and systems for emerging issues in food safety Technical background written by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and published by Food & Agriculture Org.. This book was released on 2023-12-28 with total page 74 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Early warning (EW) systems have a critical role in the reduction of risks from various hazards. The capability and capacity to identify early signals and emerging food safety risks, and to provide on-time EW that would allow for the mitigation of related upcoming risks have therefore become vital for national and international authorities and organizations dealing with food safety. The developments in early warning systems show a shift from reactive towards proactive systems. With the rapid development of modern systems fed by numerous, real-time and diverse data, as well as the advancements achieved in artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques, increasingly tested and validated digital methods and models have become available for food safety early warning and analysis. This technical background report enhances the awareness of the available evidence-based innovative digital tools and provides technical background information to support their use for proactive food safety early warning.
Download or read book Terrorist Threats to Food written by World Health Organization. Food Safety Department and published by World Health Organization. This book was released on 2002 with total page 56 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: While only a few cases of intentional contamination of food have been proven, the risk of possible terrorist threats to food should be given serious consideration by public health authorities and the food industry.This document examines means of establishing basic prevention, surveillance and response capacities. Because both unintentionally and deliberately caused outbreaks of foodborne disease may be managed by many of the same mechanisms, the WHO recommendations concentrate on working with national governments on integrating terrorism prevention and response measures into existing national food safety and disease surveillance programmes.Preventive measures by governments and the food industry are discussed. Industry involvement is encouraged from the outset, as the food industry possesses the primary means and greatest ability to minimize food-related risks. Existing food safety management programmes can be enhanced, WHO says, while putting in place appropriate security measures to protect food production and distribution systems. The document provides suggestions for specific measures for consideration by industry.The document provides guidance on strengthening existing communicable disease control systems to ensure that surveillance systems are sufficiently sensitive to meet the threat of any food safety emergency.The guidance document emphasizes the need to strengthen existing emergency alert and response systems by improving links with all relevant agencies and with the food industry. Many developed and most developing countries are not yet adequately prepared to deal with a large-scale food safety emergency. All countries should undertake preparedness and response planning to be able to cope with food safety emergencies regardless of their cause. In this regard, the services of various technical programmes of WHO as well as other organizations that may be of assistance to countries in addressing this newly emerging public health concern are also described in the document.Experts from national agencies in Australia, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Russia, Spain, United Kingdom, and United States of America, and from organizations including the European Commission, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the Industry Council for Development contributed to the development of the document.
Download or read book Food Security Tipping Points Using Remote Sensing to Improve Famine Early Warning Systems written by Prasanna Krishna Krishnamurthy Reddiar and published by . This book was released on 2020 with total page 139 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With a growing population and climate-related disasters projected to become more severe, the need to anticipate and better prepare for food crises has never been higher. Status quo early warning systems perform well, by and large, but complex weather phenomena are a major source of uncertainty. In this dissertation, I explore whether statistical diagnostics associated with tipping point theory can be used to improve detection of major crises. First, the accuracy of early warning systems is evaluated - with a focus on the Greater Horn of Africa. I discuss geographical disparities in early warning skill, and explore the various sources of uncertainty that impact food security projection accuracy. I quantify the contribution of climate forecast skill and conflict events in overall early warning skill to use as a baseline upon which to improve. Second, the potential applications of tipping point theory are discussed in relation to the use of remotely-sensed environmental variables for food security early warning. I evaluate the different statistical diagnostics that can be applied to identify food security tipping points and the data requirements in terms of spatial and temporal resolutions, data availability, latency and geographic coverage in order to be maximally useful for early warning analysis. Finally, I test whether statistical diagnostics of tipping points can be used for detection of food security transitions. Through this work, I demonstrate the utility of combining soil moisture measurements from the SMAP mission with food price data for identifying transitions, with a lead time of approximately 3 months. The model presented here was used to detect all major food security transitions (both towards and away from a crisis) in the observational record of soil moisture. Importantly, the diagnostics are also correlated with the magnitude of change in food security conditions which is critical information for food security planning. Overall, the dissertation advances the science and capabilities of food security early warning, which will lead to an improvement in saving lives and resources.
Download or read book Ensuring Safe Food written by Committee to Ensure Safe Food from Production to Consumption and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 1998-09-02 with total page 209 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How safe is our food supply? Each year the media report what appears to be growing concern related to illness caused by the food consumed by Americans. These food borne illnesses are caused by pathogenic microorganisms, pesticide residues, and food additives. Recent actions taken at the federal, state, and local levels in response to the increase in reported incidences of food borne illnesses point to the need to evaluate the food safety system in the United States. This book assesses the effectiveness of the current food safety system and provides recommendations on changes needed to ensure an effective science-based food safety system. Ensuring Safe Food discusses such important issues as: What are the primary hazards associated with the food supply? What gaps exist in the current system for ensuring a safe food supply? What effects do trends in food consumption have on food safety? What is the impact of food preparation and handling practices in the home, in food services, or in production operations on the risk of food borne illnesses? What organizational changes in responsibility or oversight could be made to increase the effectiveness of the food safety system in the United States? Current concerns associated with microbiological, chemical, and physical hazards in the food supply are discussed. The book also considers how changes in technology and food processing might introduce new risks. Recommendations are made on steps for developing a coordinated, unified system for food safety. The book also highlights areas that need additional study. Ensuring Safe Food will be important for policymakers, food trade professionals, food producers, food processors, food researchers, public health professionals, and consumers.
Download or read book Food safety in the context of limited food availability written by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and published by Food & Agriculture Org. [Author] [Author]. This book was released on 2024-05-24 with total page 128 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Lipid-based nutrient supplements (LNS) and ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF) are used to prevent and treat malnutrition in children. [Author] They are often produced in regions experiencing food insecurity and include edible oils obtained from oleaginous seeds or fruits that must be refined to remove undesirable substances and ensure adequate shelf-life for the product. [Author] However, the formation of the heat-induced contaminants 3-monochloropropane-1,2-diol (3-MCPD) fatty acid esters and glycidyl fatty acid esters (GEs) may occur during the refining process of edible oils. [Author] 3-MCPD and its fatty acid esters are present in many other foodstuffs and most of the total lifetime exposure is attributed to foods other than LNS/RUTF. [Author] While the only Codex standard developed for 3-MCPD is for liquid condiments containing acid hydrolyzed vegetable proteins, no Codex standards are available for GEs. [Author] This publication provides an overview of risk assessments for 3-MCPD and GEs previously performed by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA), European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and other authorities, based on chronic exposure. [Author] The use of LNS/RUTF is intended to be of finite duration and confined to a specific life stage. [Author] The aim of this report was to provide an assessment to characterize the risk of less-than-lifetime exposure to 3-MCPD (including 3-MCPD fatty acid esters) and GEs via LNS/RUTF in the context of limited food availability. [Author] The thresholds identified herein for concentrations of 3-MCPD and glycidol equivalents in LNS/RUTF products are considered to represent a level of exposure that is of low concern for human health. [Author]
Download or read book Climate Change Disaster Risks and Human Security written by Juan M. Pulhin and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2021-03-18 with total page 470 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores how climate change and disaster risks threaten human security in Asia. Climate change and disaster risks have emerged as major human security challenges in the twenty-first century, and are an imminent “threat multiplier” with the potential to harm the vital core of human life and curtail people’s freedom and ability to live with dignity. Climate change and disaster risks undermine the security of individuals, communities, nations, and the world, considering the increasing trend in the frequency and magnitude of hydro-meteorological disasters and the projections on their future adverse impacts. Despite recent advances in the literature, there is still a major gap in understanding the relationship and linkages between climate change, disaster risks, and human security, particularly as gleaned from the Asian experience. Asia is the world’s most vulnerable region in terms of the quantity and magnitude of impacts from various forms of disaster. At the same time, it has developed a number of innovative responses to address those risks, offering a wealth of experience. Exploring and capitalizing on the Asian perspective, this book provides valuable resource material for students, academics, researchers, policymakers, and development practitioners working in these areas.
Download or read book Climate change Unpacking the burden on food safety written by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and published by Food & Agriculture Org.. This book was released on 2020-03-01 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Climate change is causing unprecedented damage to our ecosystem. Increasing temperatures, ocean warming and acidification, severe droughts, wildfires, altered precipitation patterns, melting glaciers, rising sea levels and amplification of extreme weather events have direct implications for our food systems. While the impacts of such environmental factors on food security are well known, the effects on food safety receive less attention. The purpose of Climate change: Unpacking the burden on food safety is to identify and attempt to quantify some current and anticipated food safety issues that are associated with climate change. The food safety hazards considered in the publication are foodborne pathogens and parasites, harmful algal blooms, pesticides, mycotoxins and heavy metals with emphasis on methylmercury. There is also, a dedicated section on the benefits of forward-looking approaches such as horizon scanning and foresight, which will not only aid in anticipating future challenges in a shifting global food safety landscape, but also help build resilient food systems that can be continually updated as more knowledge is assimilated. By building a more widespread and better understanding of the consequences climate change has on food safety, it is hoped that this document will aid in fostering stronger international cooperation in making our food safer by reducing the global burden of these concerns.
Download or read book Enhancing Food Safety written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2010-11-04 with total page 589 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Recent outbreaks of illnesses traced to contaminated sprouts and lettuce illustrate the holes that exist in the system for monitoring problems and preventing foodborne diseases. Although it is not solely responsible for ensuring the safety of the nation's food supply, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) oversees monitoring and intervention for 80 percent of the food supply. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's abilities to discover potential threats to food safety and prevent outbreaks of foodborne illness are hampered by impediments to efficient use of its limited resources and a piecemeal approach to gathering and using information on risks. Enhancing Food Safety: The Role of the Food and Drug Administration, a new book from the Institute of Medicine and the National Research Council, responds to a congressional request for recommendations on how to close gaps in FDA's food safety systems. Enhancing Food Safety begins with a brief review of the Food Protection Plan (FPP), FDA's food safety philosophy developed in 2007. The lack of sufficient detail and specific strategies in the FPP renders it ineffectual. The book stresses the need for FPP to evolve and be supported by the type of strategic planning described in these pages. It also explores the development and implementation of a stronger, more effective food safety system built on a risk-based approach to food safety management. Conclusions and recommendations include adopting a risk-based decision-making approach to food safety; creating a data surveillance and research infrastructure; integrating federal, state, and local government food safety programs; enhancing efficiency of inspections; and more. Although food safety is the responsibility of everyone, from producers to consumers, the FDA and other regulatory agencies have an essential role. In many instances, the FDA must carry out this responsibility against a backdrop of multiple stakeholder interests, inadequate resources, and competing priorities. Of interest to the food production industry, consumer advocacy groups, health care professionals, and others, Enhancing Food Safety provides the FDA and Congress with a course of action that will enable the agency to become more efficient and effective in carrying out its food safety mission in a rapidly changing world.
Download or read book Risk assessment of food allergens written by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and published by Food & Agriculture Org.. This book was released on 2024-02-08 with total page 102 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Codex Committee on Food Labelling (CCFL) requested scientific advice as to whether certain foods and ingredients, such as highly refined foods and ingredients, that are derived from the list of foods known to cause hypersensitivity can be exempted from mandatory declaration. The objective of this fourth meeting was to expand on the recommendations from the first meeting concerning derivatives of food allergens and establish a framework for evaluating exemptions for food allergens. A pro forma process has been developed and tested against allergen derivatives previously granted exemptions in various countries or regions and found to be effective for consideration in future exemption decisions. The Expert Committee recommends that the process outlined in the pro forma process be used to guide any future development and evaluation of derivative exemptions. Establishment of safety based upon this weight of evidence approach is dependent upon consideration of data quality, outcome of the exposure assessment for all intended ingredient uses (specified for exemption) and review by competent authorities (as needed). When safety is established, exemption can be justified.
Download or read book Risk Assessment of Food Allergens Part 5 written by World Health Organization and published by World Health Organization. This book was released on 2023-11-15 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Food control system assessment tool written by World Health Organization and published by World Health Organization. This book was released on 2018-11-07 with total page 44 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Food control system assessment tool Introduction and glossary written by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and published by Food & Agriculture Org.. This book was released on 2019-07-09 with total page 44 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The main objective of the tool is to propose a harmonized, objective and consensual basis to analyse the performance of a national food control system. It is intended to be used by countries as a supporting basis for self-assessment to identify priority areas of improvement and plan sequential and coordinated activities to reach expected outcomes, and by repeating the assessment on a regular basis, countries can monitor their progresses. The Tool is based on Codex principles and Guidelines for National Food Control Systems as well as other relevant Codex guidance for food control systems, which are referenced throughout the document. Its scope is given by the dual objectives quoted in Codex guidance for these systems: protect health of consumers and ensure fair practices in the food trade. This introductory volume presents the FAO/WHO Food Control System Assessment Tool, providing background to its development and outlining its main scope and objectives. It presents a thorough review of the assessment Tool structure, breaking it down into its constitutive elements (dimensions, sub-dimensions, competencies and assessment criteria). Finally, it gives an overview of the assessment approach, from the ratings to the descriptive analysis supporting the allocation of scores. The volume also contains a glossary of useful terms and the list of Codex documents referenced in the Tool.
Download or read book Food Safety from Farm to Table written by and published by . This book was released on 1997 with total page 64 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Under the Weather written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2001-06-29 with total page 161 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since the dawn of medical science, people have recognized connections between a change in the weather and the appearance of epidemic disease. With today's technology, some hope that it will be possible to build models for predicting the emergence and spread of many infectious diseases based on climate and weather forecasts. However, separating the effects of climate from other effects presents a tremendous scientific challenge. Can we use climate and weather forecasts to predict infectious disease outbreaks? Can the field of public health advance from "surveillance and response" to "prediction and prevention?" And perhaps the most important question of all: Can we predict how global warming will affect the emergence and transmission of infectious disease agents around the world? Under the Weather evaluates our current understanding of the linkages among climate, ecosystems, and infectious disease; it then goes a step further and outlines the research needed to improve our understanding of these linkages. The book also examines the potential for using climate forecasts and ecological observations to help predict infectious disease outbreaks, identifies the necessary components for an epidemic early warning system, and reviews lessons learned from the use of climate forecasts in other realms of human activity.
Download or read book The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2018 written by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and published by Food & Agriculture Org.. This book was released on 2018-09-14 with total page 302 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: New evidence this year corroborates the rise in world hunger observed in this report last year, sending a warning that more action is needed if we aspire to end world hunger and malnutrition in all its forms by 2030. Updated estimates show the number of people who suffer from hunger has been growing over the past three years, returning to prevailing levels from almost a decade ago. Although progress continues to be made in reducing child stunting, over 22 percent of children under five years of age are still affected. Other forms of malnutrition are also growing: adult obesity continues to increase in countries irrespective of their income levels, and many countries are coping with multiple forms of malnutrition at the same time – overweight and obesity, as well as anaemia in women, and child stunting and wasting.
