World Food Safety Day is celebrated on the 7th of June (tomorrow).

Whether you grow, process, transport, store, distribute, sell, prepare, serve or consume food, you have a role to play in keeping it safe.

يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلنَّاسُ كُلُوا۟ مِمَّا فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ حَلَـٰلًا طَيِّبًا وَلَا تَتَّبِعُوا۟ خُطُوَٰتِ ٱلشَّيْطَـٰنِ ۚ إِنَّهُۥ لَكُمْ عَدُوٌّ مُّبِينٌ
O mankind! Eat of that which is lawful and wholesome in the earth, and follow not the footsteps of the devil. Lo! he is an open enemy for you. [Al Baqarah 2: 168]

We all know that it is the system of Allah that we have to eat in order to stay alive, but as Muslims we have been commanded to only eat that which is Halaal and we have been openly commanded to abstain from that which the Shariah has deemed as Haraam. But that is not all, the Holy Quran also carries the instruction that we should eat that which is wholesome and pure.
So with this in mind and the fact that tomorrow the 7th of June is World Food Safety Day, over the course of this week, we will take a look at the Day and its related matters particularly from an Islamic perspective.

Why the Day?
Access to sufficient amounts of safe food is key to sustaining life and promoting good health. Foodborne illnesses are usually infectious or toxic in nature and often invisible to the plain eye, caused by bacteria, viruses, parasites or chemical substances entering the body through contaminated food or water.

Food safety has a critical role in assuring that food stays safe at every stage of the food chain – from production to harvest, processing, storage, distribution, all the way to preparation and consumption.

World Food Safety Day on 7 June aims to draw attention and inspire action to help prevent, detect and manage foodborne risks, contributing to food security, human health, economic prosperity, agriculture, market access, tourism and sustainable development. The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) jointly facilitate the observance of World Food Safety Day, in collaboration with Member States and other relevant

organizations. This international day is an opportunity to strengthen efforts to ensure that the food we eat is safe, mainstream food safety in the public agenda and reduce the burden of foodborne diseases globally.

The way in which food is produced, stored, handled and consumed affects the safety of our food. Food safety is a shared responsibility between governments, producers and consumers. Everybody has a role to play from farm to table to ensure the food we consume is safe and will not damage our health.

Did you know?
• Unsafe food containing harmful bacteria, viruses, parasites or chemical substances causes more than 200 diseases.

• Recent estimates indicate that the impact of unsafe food costs low- and middle-income economies around US$ 95 billion in lost productivity each year.

• Good hygiene practices in the food and agricultural sectors help to reduce the emergence and spread of foodborne diseases.