The Food Safety and Quality Unit and the Animal Health Service of FAO have reviewed the zero draft of the Framework for Action for the ICN2 and submit the following inputs to revise the text in section 3.3.6.
3.3.6 Food safety and antimicrobial resistance
While food safety is an intrinsic part of food security (by definition) the significance of this is still poorly recognized. Food safety problems threaten the nutritional status of food insecure populations and particularly vulnerable sub-populations like the elderly, pregnant women and children. Morbidity due to diarrhea, dysentery and other enteric diseases arising from unsafe food, contaminated water and poor sanitation have not declined over the last decades and it has been estimated that between 80-100 percent of children in some African countries are chronically exposed, through their diets, to aflatoxins , which, beside being potent carcinogens, are thought to be a contributing factor to stunting. Food safety needs to be integrated into the global food and nutrition security agenda if we are to make significant progress in improving nutrition.
As food systems evolve, so do the challenges to food safety. One emerging food safety issue of global concern is antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Antimicrobial drugs are essential for both human and animal health. In food producing animals antimicrobial drugs are critical for animal health and welfare, and therefore contribute to supporting the livelihoods of livestock farmers and to economic development. However, the use of antimicrobials in animals is also an important factor in the wider development of resistance in zoonotic bacteria which are carried by animal reservoirs and can be transmitted through the food chain, such as Salmonella, Campylobacter, E coli and other Enterobacteriaceae. AMR now poses a growing threat to human health and globally, it is estimated that 500,000 people die each year from infections caused by antimicrobial resistant bacteria. The social and economic costs are also huge.
With the current rates of increase of the world population, which is projected to reach 9 billion by 2050, ongoing trends in urbanization and rising incomes, the demand for animal sourced foods is increasing exponentially. To meet the demand, beef production will need to increase by up to 70 per cent by 2050 and fish by 40 per cent by 2021, mostly through production intensification. This is likely to lead to increased usage of antibiotics and thereby increased risks of AMR emergence and spread, if it is not accompanied by improved animal management, health and husbandry practices.
AMR emergence and spread is closely linked to human and animal health, to food production systems and agro-ecological environments. Addressing AMR therefore requires a holistic “One Health” approach to better understand the drivers and in the design of effective measures to minimize risks of AMR development and spread. Over the past decade, there have been significant developments at the international level with respect to understanding and addressing AMR and several initiatives have been led by the FAO, WHO and OIE Tripartite collaboration on AMR. However significant gaps in understanding the issue remain and there are still many challenges with regards to national capacities to translate internationally accepted guidelines and standards into appropriate policies and actions at national level. FAO and WHO, the lead intergovernmental agencies with responsibility for food and agriculture and human health respectively, have important leadership roles in implementing measures to combat the global threat of AMR.
Priority actions:
§ Raise awareness of the impact of food safety on food and nutrition security.
§ Invest in strengthening national food control systems
§ Ensure cross-sector participation across health, agriculture and trade for safe, quality foods and coordinated implementation of programmes, including those for food safety emergency response.
§ Raise awareness of AMR and assist countries in developing appropriate policies and measures to address AMR in the food chain. .
§ Ensure that AMR prevention/control measures in food production are accompanied by corresponding measures and controls in in human medicine.
§ Promote promote prudent and responsible se of veterinary drugs in animal production.
§ Support primary producers to adopt good animal husbandry and health, management and biosecurity practices to reduce the need for antimicrobial drugs in animal production.
§ Implement a One Health approach to promote multi-sectoral and multi-disciplinary collaboration and address AMR across all sectors.
§ Progressively phase out non-therapeutic use of antimicrobials, such as the use of antimicrobials as growth promoters.
§ Restrict or eliminate the use of antimicrobials identified as critically important in human medicine, especially the use of fluoroquinolones, and third-and fourth generation cephalosporins in food-producing animals.
§ Support countries to develop national integrated surveillance programmes to monitor trends in AMR emergence and usage of antimicrobials.
§ Develop alternatives to antimicrobial, including the use of effective vaccines.
Food Safety and Quality Unit and the Animal Health Service