Climate change increases the risk of foodborne diseases
Vittorio Fattori, FAO Food Safety Officer, and Keya Mukherjee, FAO Food Safety Specialist, recently gave a talk at the United States Government Global Nutrition Coordination Plan Food Safety Technical Working Group meeting. The focus of the talk was to discuss the multi-faceted impacts of climate change on various foodborne hazards globally, and how achieving food security will not be possible without paying due attention to food safety. The talk was based on the findings of a recent FAO report on the topic.
Elevated temperatures, changes in water availability, deteriorating soil quality, extreme weather events, rising sea levels and ocean acidification all have serious implications for both biological and chemical contaminants in food and water by altering their occurrence and virulence. “This increases our risk of exposure to both food and water-borne hazards”, said Keya Mukherjee. Moreover, increased globalization of the food supply chains can amplify foodborne hazards along the way, enhancing the chances that unsafe food produced in one side of the world can affect consumers on the other side. Foodborne illnesses are usually under-reported which makes it difficult to estimate the true foodborne disease burden and conduct timely detection of outbreaks.
Vittorio Fattori reiterated the importance of continued commitment to food safety from a One Health perspective, especially in the face of climate change. “More efforts are needed to adequately prepare food supply chains and regulatory systems for the various food safety challenges associated with climate change,” he said.
“Along with traditional surveillance systems,” Fattori underlined, “foresight and forward-looking approaches will help identify and address emerging food safety issues like those triggered by climate change – a shift from reactive to proactive mindset”.
The video of the talk can be found here
Related links:
Publication (2020): Climate change: Unpacking the burden on food safety
Publication (2008): Climate change: Implications for food safety
Infographic: How a single aspect of climate change can make food less safe
Watch a video “Climate change is threatening the safety of our food” in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, Spanish
Read more about FAO’s work on climate change