WHO impure foods create diseases

Contaminated foods cause millions of deaths

04/02/2015

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), contaminated food and contaminated drinking water are estimated to kill two million people each year. The first results of an analysis of foodborne diseases transmitted worldwide show that there is an urgent need for action here. Coordinated cross-border measures along the food supply chain are needed to sustainably increase food safety, according to the WHO communication.

Contamination of food with harmful bacteria, viruses, parasites or chemicals can lead to more than 200 different diseases, from diarrhea to cancer, according to the WHO. In particular, unsafe foods include uncooked foods of animal origin, faeces-contaminated fruits and vegetables and shellfish containing marine biotoxins, according to WHO's press release on World Health Day. Under the motto „Food safety: from the farm to the plate“ On 7 April, the challenges and opportunities in food safety will be discussed. According to the WHO, diseases caused by contaminated food are an essential aspect here.

Modern food production with increased risks
„Food production has become industrialized, trade and distribution have become globalized“, the „Changing several new ways to contaminate the food with dangerous bacteria, viruses, parasites or chemicals“ conditions, WHO Director Dr. Margaret Chan. Today could „a local food safety problem is fast becoming an international emergency.“ The subsequent investigation of an outbreak of food-borne infections would be much more complicated if the food on the plate or the portion of food contained ingredients from several countries.

Also in Germany infections due to contaminated food
Infections due to contaminated foodstuffs are by no means uncommon in Germany, although international trade routes often make it much more difficult to determine the source of infection. One example is the 2011 EHEC epidemic, which eventually identified contaminated fenugreek seeds from Egypt as a likely trigger. (Fp)