Rabia Mustafa
The world observes World Food Safety Day on 7th June to raise awareness about the importance of safe food and to encourage collective action to prevent, detect, and manage foodborne risks. United Nations General Assembly, jointly facilitated by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) establish this day to ensure that food safety is not just a technical issue confined to laboratories, regulators, or food businesses. Rather, it is a fundamental requirement for human health, food security, and economic prosperity.
Food is a basic human necessity. Yet access to food alone is not sufficient. Food must also be safe. A nutritious meal contaminated by harmful bacteria, viruses, parasites, toxins, chemicals, or other hazards can become a source of disease rather than nourishment. In an increasingly interconnected world, where food travels across borders through complex supply chains, ensuring food safety has become both a national and global challenge. Food produced in one country may be processed in another and consumed thousands of miles away, making food safety a shared international responsibility.
The theme of World Food Safety Day 2026, “From Burden to Solutions – Safe Food Everywhere,” emphasizes the need to transform scientific evidence and data on foodborne diseases into practical, effective, and affordable solutions. The theme highlights that while foodborne diseases impose a significant burden on public health, livelihoods, education, and economies, these illnesses are largely preventable through evidence-based interventions, sound regulations, effective enforcement, and informed consumer practices. The campaign encourages relevant stakeholders including governments, food businesses, and consumers to focus on implementing solutions that ensure safe food for all.
Food safety and food security are inseparable concepts. Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social, and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs for active and healthy life. When food causes illness, it reduces nutritional outcomes, weakens public health, increases healthcare costs, and weakens consumer trust in food systems. Consequently, achieving global food security requires not only producing enough food but ensuring that food remains safe throughout the entire food chain: from farm to table.
The magnitude of the global food safety challenge illustrates why food safety has become a priority on the international development agenda. The latest State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2025 report presents a mixed picture of global food security. Although the number of people experiencing hunger declined to approximately 673 million people, representing 8.2 percent of the world’s population in 2024, this figure remains above pre-pandemic levels and progress has been uneven across regions. Hunger continues to rise in Africa and Western Asia, particularly in regions affected by conflict, instability, climate shocks, and prolonged food crises. Beyond hunger, global food insecurity remains a pressing concern, with an estimated 2.3 billion people experiencing moderate or severe food insecurity and over 2.6 billion unable to afford a healthy diet. Malnutrition continues to affect millions of children worldwide, with approximately 150 million children under five suffering from stunting and nearly 43 million affected by wasting, causing serious and often irreversible physical and cognitive consequences. Looking ahead, the international community remains far from achieving Sustainable Development Goal 2 namely Zero Hunger, by 2030. Current projections suggest that approximately 512 million people may still be chronically undernourished by the end of the decade, nearly 60 percent of whom will reside in Africa. These statistics underscore the urgent need for coordinated global action to strengthen food systems and ensure that all people have access to safe, nutritious, and affordable food.
Foodborne diseases remain one of the most significant yet preventable public health challenges facing humanity. Despite advances in science, technology, and food regulation, millions continue to suffer from illnesses caused by contaminated food every year. Children, older persons, pregnant women, and individuals with weakened immune systems remain particularly vulnerable. Developing countries often bear a disproportionate share of food related burdens due to limited infrastructure, inadequate regulatory systems, and insufficient access to food safety technologies.
Science lies at the heart of food safety. The 2025 World Food Safety Day theme, “Food Safety: Science in Action,” highlighted how scientific knowledge enables governments, businesses, and consumers to identify hazards, assess risks, establish standards, and make informed decisions. However, science alone is not enough. Scientific findings must be translated into policies, regulations, standards, monitoring systems, and practical actions that effectively protect consumers.
This is where the 2026 theme becomes particularly significant. Data and science provide the evidence; solutions require implementation. Governments must establish effective food safety laws, inspection systems, traceability mechanisms, laboratory networks, and emergency response procedures. Food businesses must adopt good agricultural practices, good manufacturing practices, hazard analysis and critical control point (HACCP) systems, and quality assurance mechanisms. Researchers and academia must continue generating evidence and innovations. Consumers must understand safe food handling, preparation, storage, and hygiene practices. Each actor in the food chain has a role to play in ensuring that food remains safe. Everyone is the part of this food chain.
The global food system is currently facing unprecedented challenges. Climate change, environmental degradation, urbanization, population growth, emerging pathogens, antimicrobial resistance, natural disasters, and increasingly complex supply chains create new food safety risks. Extreme weather events can contaminate crops and water supplies, while disruptions in transportation and storage can increase food spoilage and contamination. These evolving challenges require resilient and adaptive food safety systems capable of responding rapidly to emerging threats.
Pakistan has made significant progress in recent years through the establishment and strengthening of food safety authorities, food standards, quarantine systems, and regulatory mechanisms. The National Agri-trade and Food Safety Authority Ordinance, 2025 (NAFSA Ordinance) is a landmark federal law promulgated on 2 May 2025. It establishes the National Agri-trade and Food Safety Authority (NAFSA) as a centralized regulatory body under the Ministry of National Food Security and Research to regulate sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures, food safety, agricultural trade, biosecurity, and quarantine matters. The Ordinance seeks to modernize Pakistan’s regulatory framework governing agricultural imports, exports, food safety, plant health, animal health, and agro-chemical regulation. Its primary objective is to align Pakistan’s regulatory system with international SPS obligations and standards, including those developed by the FAO, Codex Alimentarius, IPPC, and WOAH, thereby improving market access for Pakistani agricultural exports.
Moreover, on the occasion of World Food Safety Day 2026, Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to strengthening food security and food safety through a comprehensive national strategy focused on sustainable agriculture, modern technology, scientific innovation, and effective regulatory systems.
However, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) Acute Food Insecurity Analysis for Pakistan (December 2025–September 2026) presents a concerning picture of food security in the country’s most vulnerable rural areas. The assessment covered 45 rural districts across Balochistan, Sindh, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa that have been severely affected by the residual impacts of the 2025 monsoon floods, prolonged drought and dry spells, localized insecurity, economic challenges, and persistently high food prices. The report estimates that between December 2025 and March 2026, approximately 7.5 million people, representing 21 percent of the analysed population, are experiencing acute food insecurity classified as IPC Phase 3 (Crisis) or above. Of these, around 1.25 million people are facing IPC Phase 4 (Emergency), characterized by severe food consumption gaps, high levels of acute malnutrition, and an urgent need for life-saving assistance, while another 6.3 million people are in IPC Phase 3 (Crisis), struggling to meet their basic food needs without resorting to negative coping strategies.
Nevertheless, in Pakistan, challenges remain in enforcement, laboratory capacity, traceability, public awareness, coordination among institutions, financial constraints, and food safety culture across the supply chain. Continued investment in science-based regulation, risk assessment, surveillance, and stakeholder awareness will be critical to ensuring safe food for all citizens.
This day reminds us that safe food is essential for healthy lives, sustainable agriculture, and food security. Scientific knowledge has already provided many of the answers. The challenge before us is to transform that knowledge into action.
