From 1 to 2 June 2021, a Technical Capacity Building Workshop for members of the National Codex Alimentarius Committee was held in Bohicon (BENIN). The aim was to train stakeholders on the procedures of the Codex Alimentarius, the online commenting system, participation in electronic working groups. An FAO expert (Luc Ingenbleek) from Italy and a WHO expert (Lusubilo Mwamakamba) from Burkina Faso, who joined online, in collaboration with local experts facilitated the workshop. Participants came from the technical directorates of [...]

On World Food Safety Day, the Minister of Health and Wellness of Botswana, Dr Edwin G Dikoloti, was joined by several ministerial dignitaries and representatives from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) in a public event where he delivered a keynote address on the importance of food safety for Botswana. Minister of Health and Wellness of Botswana, Dr Edwin G Dikoloti Dr Puna Gasennelwe, a Public Health Specialist hosted the event on [...]

Food safety advocates and professional training organization, Veraliment, held its third consecutive annual World Food Safety Day event on 7 June this year. In a live webinar, "Culture of Safety 360°," the focus was on “all those actors that are necessary to implement a correct Culture of Safety.” Participants included Gemma Trigueros, food expert at consumer rights organization, OCU, Maria Claudia Degrossi, member of the Testing Laboratory Accreditation Committee, and Andrés García, CEO of Veraliment. The round table discussion was moderated by Fernando [...]

On World Food Safety Day, Senegal’s Minister for Health and Social Action presided over a food safety exposition in the country’s capital, Dakar, on 7 June, and gave a speech about the need to promote food safety “for our health and for our economy.” Events were organized in Dakar and Kaolack to raise awareness among stakeholders on the importance of food safety and the implementation of strategies that ensure safer food, to avoid foodborne illness. Panel discussions were also convened. The [...]

To mark World Food Safety Day this 7 June, Danone in China convened a knowledge sharing event that was also available online. The company acknowledging the important role World Food Safety Day plays in strengthening food safety awareness and education. Their event attracted around 100 participants.

About 200 people took part in the webinar: “La inocuidad en el año internacional de las frutas y verduras” (Safety in the International Year of Fruits and Vegetables), on 7 June for World Food Safety Day. Dr Rui Costa, Secretary General of the ISEKI Food Association and Dr Carmen de Vega, President of FEDALCYTA (the Federation of Food Science and Technologies Associations) opened the event, presenting the two organizations that co-convened the live seminar. The first presentation under the title "Fruits and vegetables: healthy is not [...]

On 7 June, Samim Saner, President of the Turkish Food Safety Association moderated the first of a week-long series of “Food Safety Conversations” to mark World Food Safety Day. This webinar was entitled simply “The World Food Safety Day panel: safe food now for a healthy tomorrow.” Guests from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the World Health Organization (WHO) and Turkey’s Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry talked about key food safety issues in their area of [...]

Dr Adriana Abud is a food safety expert who works forRede Savegnago Supermercados in Brazil. Last year, she introduced shoppers and supermarket workers to Dr Drika, her food safety “avatar.” And Dr Drika has returned this year, with new outfits for different supermarket departments. This year, Dr Abud has developed a number of World Food Safety Day materials to promote a culture of hygiene and good practice among managers, suppliers, staff and customers of the supermarket chain she works for. She [...]

Over the past 2 days, June 7 and 8, 2021, food safety leaders from across North America joined the North American Food Safety Summit, and I had the privilege of being one of the hosts for the event along with my friend, Dr Darin Detwiler at Northeastern University. Setting up a web cam feed that works for camera angles and manages all the scripts and notes effectively takes creativity. To get a good camera angle, I set up a step [...]

Fran Freeman, Chairperson CCFICS Australia hosted the first virtual session of the 25th Codex Committee on Food Import and Export Inspection and Certification Systems (CCFICS25) from 31 May to 08 June 2021. The work of CCFICS is crucial, particularly as we recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, in assisting global efforts to modernize food safety systems and deliver guidance that can influence regulatory standards related to food import and export inspection and certification systems. Virtual meetings can bring their own challenges – time zones never work for everyone! Although the [...]