While food poisoning is often caused by eating food that has encountered traces of human or animal feces from contaminated handling or surfaces, it could also be caused by improper storage.
The Food and Agriculture Organisation’s (FAO) assistant representative to Fiji, Joann Young, told World Food Safety Day celebrations in Lautoka last week that many street markets routinely “have food that sits out on a hot day, sometimes for hours”.
Ms Young said other examples of the improper storage of food that should be refrigerated but are not is eating chicken or eggs that are not fully cooked.
“Unsafe food is a threat to both human health and the economies of our countries,” she said.
“Unsafe food disproportionately affects vulnerable and marginalised people, especially women and children, as well as populations confronting natural disasters and conflict.”
Ms Young said poor handling of food also damages global trade, leading to further food waste, which is unacceptable in a world where too many people still suffer from hunger.
“Food safety is everyone’s business and World Food Safety Day is a chance for everyone to take a moment to pay closer attention to something many of us take for granted, that the food we are eating is safe, when unfortunately, here in Asia and the Pacific, sometimes it is not. Let us all work together to reduce the hazards of unsafe foods.”
