ARE WE REALLY EATING FOR HEALTH OR HUNGER?
At the recently concluded 2022 World Food Safety Day celebration organised by the Lagos State Safety Commission, one of the invited Guest Speaker who is a Retired Director of Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON), an erudite scholar, a distinguished Fellow of the Nigeria Institute of Food Science and Technology (NIFST), Dr. Margaret Eshiett threw a pertinent question to the audience, “Are we really eating for health or Hunger”?
The World Health Assembly Resolution WHA53.15 of May 2000 recognised food safety as an essential public health function. Furthermore, WHO action in the African Region (2005), emphasize the importance of food safety in disease prevention.
Food quality and safety are a priority for national governments and an integral part of improving food security. Safe and Nutritious food is therefore necessary for human survival and well-being. The Codex Alimentarius Commission,(a joint body of FAO and WHO) sets international standards for food to ensure safe foods towards protecting the health of consumers and ensure fair practices in the international food trade.
It has been established that safe food supplies contribute to food and nutrition security and underpin sustainable development, support national economies, trade and tourism, ensure consumer confidence in the food supply system of any nation. However, the economic fallout of the pandemic put more than 11 million Nigerians in poverty by 2022. Safe food is one of the most critical guarantors for good health. The effects of the pandemic created a dangerous mix of unemployment, increased poverty, increased overall inflation, increased food inflation a widespread loss of income and overall hunger. And this, brought up the questions, “In Nigeria, are we really eating for health or Hunger”?
What’s your take on this?
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