World Food Safety Day

Introduction

It is my great pleasure to join you this morning for the Opening Ceremony of this workshop on Food Safety. I am speaking to you today on behalf of the United Nations Resident Coordinator for Mauritius and Seychelles, Ms. Lisa Simrique Singh, who unfortunately could not be here as she is currently traveling overseas.

Partnership for Food Safety

It is great to see gathered here such a diverse cross-section of representatives from across the food chain in Mauritius. Working together across different stakeholder groups and different sectors is key because food safety impacts food security, human health, economic prosperity, agricultural production, market access, tourism, and sustainable development.

Access to safe and nutritious food is key to sustaining life and promoting good health. Unsafe food containing harmful bacteria, viruses, parasites, or chemical substances causes more than 200 diseases, ranging from diarrhoea to cancers. It also creates a vicious cycle of disease and malnutrition, particularly affecting infants, young children, the elderly, and the sick. Foodborne diseases undermine sustainable development by putting a strain on healthcare systems and harming national economies, tourism, and trade.

Allow me to share some sobering facts from the World Health Organization:

• An estimated 600 million – almost 1 in 10 people in the world – fall ill after eating contaminated food and 420 000 die every year, resulting in the loss of 33 million healthy life years.
• US$ 110 billion is lost each year in productivity and medical expenses resulting from unsafe food in low- and middle-income countries.
• Children under 5 years of age carry 40% of the foodborne disease burden, with 125,000 deaths every year.

These facts really do underline the links between food, health, and food security – which is why collaborative efforts such as today’s workshop are so important.

Codex – Food Standards

How do you know your food is safe? This year’s theme, “Food standards save lives”, highlights the role of established food safety practices and standards, which ensure food safety and quality. Countless people are involved in making sure that food production follows established food safety practices. So, to strengthen food safety and food systems there needs to be effective collaboration between governments, researchers, producers, and consumers.

At the United Nations agencies such as the WHO, together with FAO, lead global expert groups and provide scientific advice to develop international food safety standards to protect consumer health. Food standards – such as the Codex standards - are at the heart of food safety. Each year the ‘food code’ grows. When new data becomes available new standards are introduced, and existing standards are updated. Food standards really do define the path to safe food for everyone everywhere.

Mauritian Context

As you may be aware, the issue of food security is particularly relevant to small island states who by their very size and location are exposed to unique risks and vulnerabilities. Like other small island states, Mauritius is disproportionately affected by the negative impacts of climate change, which threaten the well-being of the country and its people. Additionally, importing about 77% of its food requirements Mauritius has a higher exposure to external crises like the current rise in Food and Energy prices resulting from the war in Ukraine. 

Stakeholders in Mauritius highlighted - through the consultative National Food Systems Dialogues organized for the 2021 UN Food Systems Summit - the need “to produce more of what we consume and to consume what we produce.” A National Pathway was developed with recommendations to promote the sustainable production of local foods through eco-friendly approaches. However, to ensure that the people of Mauritius benefit from local production proper policies and procedures need to be in place to promote food safety.

I would like to take this opportunity to commend the government for taking action to strengthen the food standards in the country. And to recognize the European Union for its funding of the "Strengthening of Capacities and Governance in Food and Phytosanitary Control” launched earlier this year. It is also important to highlight the role of academia - universities such as the University of Mauritius contributing to vital

research and educating the future generation of food safety practitioners.

Conclusion

The Government of Mauritius will join the high-level meeting of the “United Nations Food Systems Stocktaking Moment” in July to report on progress to date in implementing the National Pathway that I referred to previously.  Rest assured the UN will continue to support the government in its goal to achieve green, fair, and resilient food systems for the country.

On this note, I wish you all a fruitful day of discussions, and thank you for your kind attention.