Wildlife markets in the pandemic: Prohibit or preserve them? Ban or promote them?

In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, caused by the SARS-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), which is suspected to have originated in a bat or other wild animal, calls are increasing for bans on consuming game meat or selling it in the traditional fresh markets ubiquitous in low- and middle-income countries, also known as ‘informal’ or ‘wet’ markets. … Continue reading →

Why food safety in Africa’s informal markets must be driven by consumers

Opinion piece by Arie Havelaar, University of Florida and Ashagrie Zewdu Woldegiorgis, Addis Ababa University. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article published on #WorldFoodSafetyDay. @gatesfoundation, @DFIDAgResearch and @DFID_Research. Listeria in processed meat products from South Africa, E. Coli in romaine lettuce in the US, Salmonella in … Continue reading →

Food Safety a ‘Major Public Health Issue,’ Says UF/IFAS Professor Ahead of First-Ever World Food Safety Day

Written by Kirsten Romaguera, University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) The World Health Organization estimates that each year, 600 million people suffer from an episode of foodborne disease, or one out of every 10 global citizens. To highlight the need for safe, accessible food worldwide, the United Nations General Council last … Continue reading →

New World Bank report says food-borne illnesses cost US$ 110 billion per year in low- and middle-income countries

Originally posted on AgHealth:
Rinsing fresh fish in Accra, Ghana (photo credit: ILRI/Kennedy Bomfeh). A new World Bank study finds that the impact of unsafe food costs low- and middle-income economies about US$ 110 billion in lost productivity and medical expenses each year. Yet a large proportion of these costs could be avoided by adopting…

‘Is my food safe?’ – the state of current research on food safety

Originally posted on AgHealth:
Pork on sale in a local wet market in Hanoi, Vietnam (photo credit: ILRI/Andrew Nguyen). “Is my food safe?” This question voices a fundamental consumer concern – regardless of where they live, what their income level is, or where they purchase their food. The demand for information on food safety, meanwhile,…

Agrilinks hosts month-long focus on food safety

Originally posted on AgHealth:
Fish market in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia (photo credit: WorldFish/Jamie Oliver). Agrilinks is an online community for food security and agricultural development practitioners. During the month of March 2018, Agrilinks shines the spotlight on the topic of food safety, with a series of feature articles and resources by food safety experts on…

Collaboration between government and researchers to improve food safety in Cambodia

Originally posted on ILRI Asia:
Expanding a ministerial-level food safety working group to influence food safety policy and enhancing collaboration between government and food safety researchers will help strengthen food safety in Cambodia. These were the views of animal health and food safety experts who gathered on 14 December 2017 in Phnom Penh to explore…

New project to strengthen food safety in Cambodia

Originally posted on ILRI Asia:
A new initiative that will address growing food safety concerns in Cambodia was recently unveiled in the country. Funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) under the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Livestock Systems (LSIL), the ‘Safe Food Fair Food for Cambodia’ (SFFF Cambodia) project kicked…

Hanoi workshop held on providing safer pork products in Vietnam

Originally posted on ILRI news:
A local pork vendor at the wet market sells her meat to two local women, Hung Yen province, Vietnam (photo credit: ILRI/Nguyen Ngoc Huyen). This article is written by Chi Nguyen, communications officer for ILRI Asia. A two-day workshop, 7–8 Sep 2017, on the topic of ‘Improving food safety along…

Workshop identifies strategies to improve food safety in low and middle income countries

Originally posted on AgHealth:
Selling agricultural produce at Chimbiya Market, near Dedza in central Malawi (photo credit: ILRI/Mann). ? On 24 May 2017, the CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH) and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine hosted policymakers, researchers and donors at a workshop in Belgium under the…