The evolving world and food safety

Safe food supplies support national economies, trade and tourism, contribute to food
and nutrition security, and underpin sustainable development.

Urbanization and changes in consumer habits, including travel, have increased the
number of people buying and eating food prepared in public places. Globalization has
triggered growing consumer demand for a wider variety of foods, resulting in an
increasingly complex and longer global food chain.

As the world’s population grows, the intensification and industrialization of agriculture

and animal production to meet increasing demand for food creates both opportunities
and challenges for food safety. Climate change is also predicted to impact food safety,
where temperature changes modify food safety risks associated with food production,
storage and distribution.

These challenges put greater responsibility on food producers and handlers to ensure
food safety. Local incidents can quickly evolve into international emergencies due to the
speed and range of product distribution. Serious foodborne disease outbreaks have
occurred on every continent in the past decade, often amplified by globalized trade.

Examples include the contamination of infant formula with melamine in 2008 (affecting
300 000 infants and young children, 6 of whom died, in China alone), and the 2011
Enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli outbreak in Germany linked to contaminated
fenugreek sprouts, where cases were reported in 8 countries in Europe and North
America, leading to 53 deaths and significant economic losses.

Food safety: a public health priority

Unsafe food poses global health threats, endangering everyone. Infants, young
children, pregnant women, the elderly and those with an underlying illness are
particularly vulnerable. Every year 220 million children contract diarrhoeal diseases and
96 000 die.

Unsafe food creates a vicious cycle of diarrhoea and malnutrition, threatening the
nutritional status of the most vulnerable. Where food supplies are insecure, people tend
to shift to less healthy diets and consume more “unsafe foods” – in which chemical,
microbiological and other hazards pose health risks.

The Second International Conference on Nutrition (ICN2), held in Rome in November

2014, reiterated the importance of food safety in achieving better human nutrition
through healthy nutritious diets. Improving food safety is thus a key in achieving
Sustainable Development Goals. Governments should make food safety a public health
priority, as they play a pivotal role in developing policies and regulatory frameworks,
establishing and implementing effective food safety systems that ensure that food
producers and suppliers along the whole food chain operate responsibly and supply
safe food to consumers.

Food can become contaminated at any point of production and distribution, and the
primary responsibility lies with food producers. Yet a large proportion of foodborne
disease incidents are caused by foods improperly prepared or mishandled at home, in
food service establishments or markets. Not all food handlers and consumers
understand the roles they must play, such as adopting basic hygienic practices when
buying, selling and preparing food to protect their health and that of the wider
community.

Everyone can contribute to making food safe. Here are some examples of effective
actions:

Policy-makers can:

 build and maintain adequate food systems and infrastructures (e.g. laboratories)
to respond to and manage food safety risks along the entire food chain, including
during emergencies;
 foster multi-sectoral collaboration among public health, animal health, agriculture
and other sectors for better communication and joint action;
 integrate food safety into broader food policies and programmes (e.g. nutrition
and food security);
 think globally and act locally to ensure the food produce domestically be safe
internationally.

Food handlers and consumers can:

 know the food they use (read labels on food package, make an informed choice,
become familiar with common food hazards);
  handle and prepare food safely, practicing the WHO Five Keys to Safer Food at
home, or when selling at restaurants or at local markets;
 grow fruits and vegetables using the WHO Five Keys to Growing Safer Fruits and
Vegetables to decrease microbial contamination.

WHO response
WHO aims to facilitate global prevention, detection and response to public health
threats associated with unsafe food. Ensuring consumer trust in their authorities, and
confidence in the safe food supply, is an outcome that WHO works to achieve.

To do this, WHO helps Member States build capacity to prevent, detect and manage
foodborne risks by:

 providing independent scientific assessments on microbiological and chemical

hazards that form the basis for international food standards, guidelines and
recommendations, known as the Codex Alimentarius, to ensure food is safe
wherever it originates;
 assessing the safety of new technologies used in food production, such as
genetic modification and nanotechnology;
 helping improve national food systems and legal frameworks, and implement
adequate infrastructure to manage food safety risks. The International Food
Safety Authorities Network (INFOSAN) was developed by WHO and the UN
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to rapidly share information during food
safety emergencies;
 promoting safe food handling through systematic disease prevention and
awareness programmes, through the WHO Five Keys to Safer Food message
and training materials; and
 advocating for food safety as an important component of health security and for
integrating food safety into national policies and programmes in line with the
International Health Regulations (IHR - 2005).

WHO works closely with FAO, the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) and other
international organizations to ensure food safety along the entire food chain from
production to consumption.
 Basics for Handling Food Safely

 Shopping
 Storage
 Preparation
 Thawing
 Cooking
 Serving
 Leftovers
 Refreezing
 Cold Storage Chart

Safe steps in food handling, cooking, and storage are essential to prevent foodborne illness. You can't see, smell, or taste harmful
bacteria that may cause illness. In every step of food preparation, follow the four steps of the Food Safe Families campaign to
keep food safe:

 Clean — Wash hands and surfaces often.

 Separate — Don't cross-contaminate.
 Cook — Cook to the right temperature.
 Chill — Refrigerate promptly.
Shopping

 Purchase refrigerated or frozen items after selecting your non-perishables.

 Never choose meat or poultry in packaging that is torn or leaking.
 Do not buy food past "Sell-By," "Use-By," or other expiration dates.
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Storage

 Always refrigerate perishable food within 2 hours—1 hour when the temperature is above 90 °F (32.2 ºC).
 Check the temperature of your refrigerator and freezer with an appliance thermometer. The refrigerator should be at
40 °F (4.4 ºC) or below and the freezer at 0 °F (-17.7 ºC) or below.
 Cook or freeze fresh poultry, fish, ground meats, and variety meats within 2 days; other beef, veal, lamb, or pork,
within 3 to 5 days.
 Perishable food such as meat and poultry should be wrapped securely to maintain quality and to prevent meat juices
from getting onto other food.
 To maintain quality when freezing meat and poultry in its original package, wrap the package again with foil or plastic
wrap that is recommended for the freezer.
 Canned foods are safe indefinitely as long as they are not exposed to freezing temperatures, or temperatures above
90 °F. If the cans look ok, they are safe to use. Discard cans that are dented, rusted, or swollen. High-acid canned
food (tomatoes, fruits) will keep their best quality for 12 to 18 months; low-acid canned food (meats, vegetables) for 2
to 5 years.
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Preparation

 Always wash hands with warm water and soap for 20 seconds before and after handling food.
 Don't cross-contaminate. Keep raw meat, poultry, fish, and their juices away from other food. After cutting raw meats,
wash cutting board, utensils, and countertops with hot, soapy water.
 Cutting boards, utensils, and countertops can be sanitized by using a solution of 1 tablespoon of unscented, liquid
chlorine bleach in 1 gallon of water.
 Marinate meat and poultry in a covered dish in the refrigerator.
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Thawing

 Refrigerator: The refrigerator allows slow, safe thawing. Make sure thawing meat and poultry juices do not drip onto
other food.
 Cold Water: For faster thawing, place food in a leak-proof plastic bag. Submerge in cold tap water. Change the water
every 30 minutes. Cook immediately after thawing.
 Microwave: Cook meat and poultry immediately after microwave thawing.
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Cooking
Cook all raw beef, pork, lamb and veal steaks, chops, and roasts to a minimum internal temperature of 145 °F (62.8 ºC) as
measured with a food thermometer before removing meat from the heat source. For safety and quality, allow meat to rest for at
least three minutes before carving or consuming. For reasons of personal preference, consumers may choose to cook meat to
higher temperatures.

Ground meats: Cook all raw ground beef, pork, lamb, and veal to an internal temperature of 160 °F (71.1 ºC) as measured with
a food thermometer.

Poultry: Cook all poultry to an internal temperature of 165 °F (73.9 °C) as measured with a food thermometer.

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Serving

 Hot food should be held at 140 °F (60 °C) or warmer.

 Cold food should be held at 40 °F (4.4 ºC) or colder.
 When serving food at a buffet, keep food hot with chafing dishes, slow cookers, and warming trays. Keep food cold
by nesting dishes in bowls of ice or use small serving trays and replace them often.
 Perishable food should not be left out more than 2 hours at room temperature—1 hour when the temperature is
above 90 °F (32.2 ºC).
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Leftovers

 Discard any food left out at room temperature for more than 2 hours—1 hour if the temperature was above 90 °F
(32.2 ºC).
 Place food into shallow containers and immediately put in the refrigerator or freezer for rapid cooling.
 Use cooked leftovers within 4 days.
 Reheat leftovers to 165 °F (73.9 °C).
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Refreezing
Meat and poultry defrosted in the refrigerator may be refrozen before or after cooking. If thawed by other methods, cook before
refreezing.

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Cold Storage Chart

These short, but safe, time limits will help keep refrigerated food from spoiling or becoming dangerous to eat. Because freezing
keeps food safe indefinitely, recommended storage times are for quality only.

Cold Storage Chart

Refrigerator Freezer
Product
40 °F (4.4 ºC) 0 °F (-17.7 ºC)
 Eggs

Fresh, in shell 3 to 5 weeks Do not freeze

Raw yolks & whites 2 to 4 days 1 year

Does not freeze

Hard cooked 1 week
well

Liquid pasteurized eggs, egg substitutes

Does not freeze

Opened 3 days
well

Unopened 10 days 1 year

Mayonnaise, Commercial

Refrigerate after opening 2 months Do not freeze

Frozen Dinners & Entrees

Keep frozen until ready to heat — 3 to 4 months

Deli & Vacuum-Packed Products

Does not freeze

Store-prepared (or homemade) egg, chicken, ham, tuna, & macaroni salads 3 to 5 days
well

Hot dogs & Luncheon Meats

Hot dogs

Opened package 1 week 1 to 2 months

Unopened package 2 weeks 1 to 2 months

Luncheon meat

Opened package 3 to 5 days 1 to 2 months

Unopened package 2 weeks 1 to 2 months

Bacon & Sausage

Bacon 7 days 1 month

Sausage, raw — from chicken, turkey, pork, beef 1 to 2 days 1 to 2 months

Smoked breakfast links, patties 7 days 1 to 2 months

Hard sausage — pepperoni, jerky sticks 2 to 3 weeks 1 to 2 months

Summer sausage
 labeled "Keep Refrigerated"

Opened 3 weeks 1 to 2 months

Unopened 3 months 1 to 2 months

Corned Beef

Corned beef, in pouch with pickling juices 5 to 7 days Drained, 1 month

Ham, canned
labeled "Keep Refrigerated"

Opened 3 to 5 days 1 to 2 months

Unopened 6 to 9 months Do not freeze

Ham, fully cooked

Vacuum sealed at plant, undated, unopened 2 weeks 1 to 2 months

"Use-By" date on
Vacuum sealed at plant, dated, unopened 1 to 2 months
package

Whole 7 days 1 to 2 months

Half 3 to 5 days 1 to 2 months

Slices 3 to 4 days 1 to 2 months

Hamburger, Ground & Stew Meat

Hamburger & stew meat 1 to 2 days 3 to 4 months

Ground turkey, veal, pork, lamb, & mixtures of them 1 to 2 days 3 to 4 months

Fresh Beef, Veal, Lamb, Pork

Steaks 3 to 5 days 6 to 12 months

Chops 3 to 5 days 4 to 6 months

Roasts 3 to 5 days 4 to 12 months

Variety meats — tongue, liver, heart, kidneys, chitterlings 1 to 2 days 3 to 4 months

Pre-stuffed, uncooked pork chops, lamb chops, or chicken breasts stuffed with Does not freeze
dressing 1 day
well

Soups & Stews

Vegetable or meat added 3 to 4 days 2 to 3 months

Fresh Poultry
Chicken or turkey, whole 1 to 2 days 1 year

Chicken or turkey, pieces 1 to 2 days 9 months

Giblets 1 to 2 days 3 to 4 months

Cooked Meat and Poultry Leftovers

Cooked meat & meat casseroles 3 to 4 days 2 to 3 months

Gravy & meat broth 3 to 4 days 2 to 3 months

Fried chicken 3 to 4 days 4 months

Cooked poultry casseroles 3 to 4 days 4 to 6 months

Poultry pieces, plain 3 to 4 days 4 months

Poultry pieces in broth, gravy 3 to 4 days 6 months

Chicken nuggets, patties 3 to 4 days 1 to 3 months

Other Cooked Leftovers

Pizza, cooked 3 to 4 days 1 to 2 months

Stuffing, cooked 3 to 4 days 1 month