The Decade of Action on Nutrition
Ensuring Safer Food for All People
The Decade of Action on Nutrition is urged to embed food safety as a critical component at the highest level of importance within its agenda to ensure access to safe, affordable, nutritious food at all times for all people.
Food safety problems: Statistics and human health, social and economic impacts
Unsafe, contaminated food seriously undermines the food systems of every country and thwarts efforts to achieve food security and improve the nutritional status and well-being of vulnerable populations. Unsafe foods are significant and pervasive causes of food insecurity that touch almost every Sustainable Development Goal (SDG), especially SDGs 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 12, 13 and 17. Unsafe foods contribute to the persistence of poverty, hunger, malnutrition, diseases and premature deaths, especially among women. Unsafe foods impede trade, economic opportunities, and human development for farmers and burden health care systems. Unsafe foods are as significant a silent killer as micronutrient deficiencies, but unfortunately have received little attention from global policy making bodies.
Six food safety challenge areas--physical, chemical and biological hazards; food preparation and handling; and mycotoxins, especially aflatoxins--persist in one form or another among all income levels in every country. Global food safety data from WHO, FAO and other national data sources align to illustrate a gloomy global picture of the safety status of the world’s food supply. For example, FAO estimates that up to 25% of key food crops are contaminated by mycotoxins and WHO’s global burden of disease statistics highlight why food safety problems must be addressed immediately. The FAO and WHO report that over 4.5 billion people suffer human health, social and economic consequences from unsafe foods annually as illustrated in these compelling facts:
Unfulfilled linkages among food security, nutrition and food safety
The food safety landscape is more challenging than 20 years ago. Food safety management struggles to keep pace with the growing globalization of the food supply chains. Climate change is introducing new threats from pathogens, adulteration, and mycotoxins, especially aflatoxins, in areas that were previously less at risk as population growth stresses international food trade.
The time to act was a decade or so ago, making immediate action today even more urgent, However, time remains for the Decade of Action for Nutrition to use its mandate as an umbrella platform to involve other UN entities, such as FAO, WHO, IFAD, UNIDO, CODEX Alimentarius, WFP, and SCN as well as multi-sector, multi-disciplinary stakeholders to collaborate in identifying solution pathways for more, safer foods that will enhance nutrition and food security.
Food Safety: the orphan food security pillar
Food safety is essential to alleviate hunger, malnutrition and poverty and is one of the leading indicators to improve food security and adequate nutrition. In other words, where food safety increases, food security improves. Solution pathways exist to raise the food safety bar, manage the harmful impacts from unsafe foods and prevent and address hazards early in the supply chain. Likewise, the use of appropriate agro-machinery, technology, equipment, and good agricultural practices will be critical to improve food safety and ensure adequate productivity. The sustainability of these solution pathways will depend on building institutional and individual capacities and appropriate policy frameworks that ensure adequate amounts of safe and nutritious foods are moved from the farm to the consumers. Food systems and the food safety regulatory framework must include rigorous food safety management and assessment capabilities that detect and pinpoint problems at critical control points. Highlighting the need and value for establishing cadres of trained food safety and quality experts and agricultural extension workers—from the farm to the household—is essential for building and sustaining these systems.
No single entity can achieve the outcomes needed to move the needle towards ensuring more safe food at all times for all people with effective and sustainable progress. Thus, partnerships are essential for sustainable outcomes. National and regional success is dependent upon forging holistic multi-sector, multi-disciplinary partnerships with UN agencies, national governments, NGOs, and other stakeholders including business, to harness their tools, capabilities, innovations and expertise. Bold, global leadership is required to stimulate actions to address food safety challenges immediately. The Decade of Action on Nutrition can simulate actions and policies to enhance the likelihood of achieving the UN Secretary General’s goal of ending hunger and malnutrition by 2030.
In sum, unsafe foods are significant and pervasive global challenges that attack the human faces of nutrition, health, well-being and development in the daily lives of billions of people. Unsafe foods impact access to nutrition, better health and improved economic status. Risks are prevalent throughout the food supply chain from production, harvesting, transportation, processing, storage, and manufacturing and at the consumer level. Food contamination is a significant, preclusive barrier to eliminating food insecurity, hunger and malnutrition and thwarts other development efforts.
Conclusion
Food safety presents a global development challenge. Compelling social, economic and human statistics demonstrate that unless the negative consequences of food safety are managed that national development and nutritional improvement will be effectively thwarted and other development efforts will be wasted.
The UN Decade of Action on Nutrition is encouraged to embed food safety as a priority agenda item that encourages UN agencies and other stakeholders to take the necessary steps to improve the safety of food for consumption and better nutrition, reduce the harmful impacts of unsafe food and help enhance the likelihood of supporting elements of several SDGs.
Recommendation for CFS HLPE Activity for the Biennium 2016-2017
Kindly accept this recommendation that the CFS give a high priority to an HLPE Report focus on the linkages among food security, nutrition, health and safety challenges by:
Such an assessment would be a unique contribution to global decision makers and afford an opportunity for all sectors to participate in contributing to the outcome of the assessment which should:
The Problem
Achieving sustainable food security for the 9 billion people projected to populate the planet in 2050 will require more than increased production, availability and regular access to sufficient amounts of nutritious and affordable food. These foods must be also be safe.
500 million of the world’s 570 million farms are family owned and these farms account for almost 60% of agriculture production. Thus it is critical to raise the profile and create awareness of food safety challenges and to define and implement solutions that contribute to food security, nutrition, diverse diets, and increased income opportunities for all farmers.
Food safety problems present significant and pervasive threats to food security as these facts express:
Conclusions
This HLPE assessment should provide useful and timely insights and perspectives to assist interested parties to co-create platforms to:
Such outcomes will help to:
Recommendation submitted by J.B. Cordaro, May 19, 2014
M. J.B. Cordaro
On behalf of Mars Incorporated we are pleased to submit the attached description to the Global Forum on Food Security and Nutrition. The attachment describes how Mars is addressing the challenges that unsafe foods present to food security through a network of partnership which are integral components of our comprehensive global food safety strategy.
We welcome the opportunity to participate in the planned panel discussion in October at CFS 44 to further elaborate on these unique partnership activities that are having positive impacts on nutrition and that will enhance the likelihood that the Decade of Action on Nutrition and other initiatives will be achieved.
Likewise we are prepared to provide additional information or resource material that is mentioned in this document.
Regards,
J.B. Cordaro
Proponent
Mars, Incorporated
Date/Timeframe and location
Mars Incorporated’s food safety strategy recognizes that food safety is global, impacts all food systems and is a fundamental of food security and nutrition. The food safety challenges faced by the world today are complex and multifaceted. While Mars believes that industry has a key role in helping find solutions, no single entity can do this alone. Mars’ has employed a precompetitive and collaborative approach to food safety for more than a decade and recently opened the Mars Global Food Safety Center in China in 2015 to drive and support ongoing and new partnerships, collaborations, research and key food safety commitments. These additional partnerships are referenced below in Main responsibility entity.
Main responsible entity
Mars partnerships address food safety challenges in food systems as follows: (1) Partnership for Aflatoxin Control in Africa (PACA) to help mitigate the harmful impacts of aflatoxins since 2015; (2) IBM on new approaches to address pathogen management, “Sequencing the food Supply Chain” since 2014; (3) creating capability through training with the World Food Programme (WFP) since 2015; (4) addressing aflatoxin and other food safety challenges, such as low moisture foods, with Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) since 2015; (5) working with the Global Food Safety Partnership at the World Bank since 2014; (6) collaborating with the US Grocery Manufacturer’s Association since 2015); (7) working with the China Children’s and Teenager Fund since 2016); (8) helping with regulatory capability building and connectivity with the China Food and Drug Association and China AQSIQ since 2016; (9) The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition- Business Platform for Responsible Nutrition (GAIN-BPNR) since 2013; and (10 several academic and university partnerships, such as Cambridge University; UC Davis; Cornell University, University of Maryland / JIFSAN, University Laval, Canada and Queens University, Belfast.
Nutrition context
Ensuring all people access, safe and nutritious foods is one of the key global challenges being pursued within the United Nations communities to implement the ICN2, achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, especially SDG 2 and pursue a Decade of Action for Nutrition.
There is no dispute that the safety of foods we consume influences nutrition, health and well-being, cognitive capability and economic opportunities which shape national and global development. Unsafe foods have debilitating human, economic and social consequences. The significance of food safety and its relationship to nutrition within food systems cannot be overstated. Unfortunately, this link has not been fully appreciated by decision and policy makers when they address food security and emphasize production perspectives.
Mars addresses safety and nutrition simultaneously to achieve all components of the UN definition of food security and to fulfill the aspirations of the UN global initiatives to help ensure safe and nutritious foods. Over the past decade, Mars has made several commitments to create greater awareness of the linkages among food security, nutrition and food safety to: (1) help mitigate the existence of mycotoxins, including aflatoxins with prevention and mitigation expertise; (2) enhance quality control and safety processes; and (3) enable good manufacturing practices.
These commitments require building additional partnerships, new technologies and forever commitments to make positive impacts. Such collaborations cannot be viewed as one and done as new threats continue to emerge, such as food fraud.
Key characteristics of the food system(s) considered
Mars positions food safety and quality initiatives across every element of a food system where risks to safety and quality can occur. A snapshot of a key compelling global statistics from WHO, FAO, PACA and the USA’s CDC align to paint a gloomy picture of the negative health, social and economic impacts of contaminated foods:
These facts underscore the significant and pervasive nature of the food contamination throughout food systems. Vigilance must be maintained from agricultural production- harvesting, post-harvest handling, storage and transportation-- to processing, packaging, storage and distribution within the manufacturing sector and the end user- consumers, and how they store, handle and consume food products.
Key characteristics of the investment made
Mars utilizes a combination of monetary and in-kind resources to support a global network of uncommon partnerships and collaborations to address global food safety challenges. At the core Mars: (1) utilizes its tools, capabilities, scientific expertise as well as food safety and quality management expertise of internal associates that help raise the food safety bar; (2) targets partnerships in regions at high risk with associated aspects of food safety challenges and networks these pieces together; and (3) Global Food Safety Center (GFSC) provides a focal point for research, knowledge generation, scientific dissemination, information exchanges and capability building through training.
The Mars Global Food Safety Center (GFSC) which opened in Huairou, China in September 2015 is a global hub and state-of-the-art research and training facility designed to drive a global focus on addressing food safety challenges through partnerships and collaborations on a pre-competitive basis. This reach extends beyond the knowledge generated and shared on site to a far reaching global network of food safety research partnerships and collaborations, sharing knowledge from global experts and collaborators as well as operational insights from Mars facilities around the world. The intent of the GFSC is to build food safety capability leading to better food access, availability and nutrition, reduced food waste and increased overall quality of life. The GFSC represents Mars’ ongoing commitment to working with world-leading experts to improve food safety and security through a diverse network of academia and global relationships.
Key actors and stakeholders involved (including through south-south/triangular exchanges, if any)
Mars Global Food Safety Center provides a one-of-a kind focal point for Mars’ partners and other researchers, listed above in “Main responsible entity,” to share information, internship programs, training, scientific conferences, technical exchanges and talent development for industry and regulatory agencies. These relationships support food safety activities through our partners in numerous countries such as Kenya, Ghana, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Malawi, Senegal, Gambia, Thailand, Uganda, India and China to achieve positive impacts that enhance food safety and quality.
Key changes (intended and unintended) as a result of the investment/s
The cumulative effect of the numerous Mars food safety investments can be observed in these areas: (1) research findings for using data to identify risks and trends in the global food supply chain; understanding food safety in the context of forensics and next generation sequencing; valuing food safety opportunities offered by next generation sequencing versus traditional culture methods; (2) significant increased awareness of the challenges from food safety problems and exploration for new solutions; and (3) highlighting the willingness for business to commit resources and operational insights to food safety and public health problem solving and to be recognized as an inclusive partner among other stakeholders.
Challenges faced
Success often comes with challenges faced and overcome. Mars partnerships attest with these examples: (1) building internal capacity to nurture and support partnerships; (2) unlocking and resolving intellectual property matters; (3) matching internal expectations with external realities and expectations; (4) managing the complexity and magnitude of the interdependencies related to these issues; and (5) appreciating the complexity of the shifting landscape.
Lessons/Key messages
If food is not safe, it is not food—all our lives depend on safe, nutritious food!