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Every year 1 in 10 people in the world get sick from eating contaminated food and around 420 thousand die.
Every year, about 110 billion dollars in productivity is lost in the sector due to unsafe food.
There are more than 200 most common diseases caused by food contamination that must be prevented from the production chains.
Establishing health processes and guaranteeing a state of food safety for human consumption has been one of the main challenges of the sector in recent years, since it is a problem that threatens public health and, therefore, has a negative impact on the economy. and international trade.
Experts from the United Nations Organization (UN) and the World Health Organization (WHO) have warned in recent years about contaminants in consumer products, which arrive through toxic metals, residues of pesticides or drugs for veterinary use, viruses, bacteria and mycotoxins.
With that in view, the risk of contamination in the agricultural food chain, mainly, is not exempt, since it can come from different sources and it is almost impossible to be 100 percent shielded, since they are surrounded by various possible sources of direct and indirect contamination..
Food contamination: a threat to public health
According to UN data, contaminated food is a threat to human health, producing nearly 600 million cases of illness, 420 thousand deaths and a loss of up to 110 billion dollars in productivity (nearly one billion 901 thousand 947 million 500 thousand Mexican pesos).
Also, each year 10 percent of people around the world suffer from one of the more than 200 diseases caused by the intake of contaminated food, which mainly affects women and children in a state of food vulnerability and populations subject to socioeconomic conflicts and migration.
The World Food Safety Guide 2022from the WHO, also breaks down the more than 200 ailments caused by eating food contaminated with bacteria, viruses or parasites, being the antimicrobial resistant microbes the most common in food chain transmission, especially by direct contact between animals and people or through the environment.
In raw food contamination datathe Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) details that nearly 700,000 people die each year from antimicrobial-resistant infections caused by this global problem; 48.4 million cases a year of eleven of the main parasitic diseases occur and at least 48 percent of them derive from a food source.
Meanwhile, children under 5 years of age bear 40 percent of the burden attributable to this type of disease, giving an annual mortality of 125,000 people in this age group.
These figures imply a greater responsibility for food producers and distributors, since local accidents can become alarming health emergencies due to the speed and scope of the distribution of products, generating outbreaks of serious diseases. An example of this occurred between 2017 and 2018, when the contamination of meat with listeria monocytogenes, in South Africa, left a balance of 1.60 cases of listeriosis and 216 deaths, a fact that was of global relevance when it became known that the cause came from contaminated products that had been exported to 15 countries in Africa, which led to the establishment of international measures to apply risk management measures.
Another more recent casewhich emerged in April of this year, is that of the Ferrero brand, which had to withdraw all the product from Kindergarten eggs that was distributed in supermarkets and food stores in Europe and Argentina, due to the discovery and contagion of salmonella in consumers up to 4 years of age. This case rang worldwide when seeing how the sweets were removed from sale in Ireland, Germany, Sweden, the United Kingdom and France, causing a brand crisis that has been solved to date.
The quest for food safety
Unsafe food poses challenges for the food industry on a global scale, as it can endanger the lives of millions of consumers.
And it is that this contamination can be generated in any of the stages of the food production value chain process, leaving the primary responsibility to the producer, an issue that has been analyzed by world health institutions that seek to protect the integrity of everything. an essential industry.
Therefore, in the Manual on the five keys to safe foodof the WHO, calls for a trilateral responsibility between production companies, consumers and governments, where actions such as:
- Maintain adequate infrastructure throughout the entire food chain.
- Integrate food safety into policies and protocols of related companies and support them in the communication or implementation of public programs that promote healthy nutrition and food safety.
- Ensure by industry that locally produced food remains safe when exported to other countries.
- Read the labels on the containers and become familiar with the most common dangers when handling certain ingredients.
- Grow fruits and vegetables based on WHO protocols to reduce contamination.
As urbanization has strengthened national economies, trade and tourism, food security has become a central issue in the demand for a variety of foods within an increasingly complex global chain.
Therefore, andCompanies in the food sector have paid special attention to preventing fines, costs for market recalls and damage to the reputation of their brands with a process recommended by the WHO that seeks to mitigate cross-contamination through the implementation of safety and health programs, contamination risk assessments; as well as looking for processes, engineering and chemical technology that are friendly to the environment that reduce the impact on non-renewable resources.
Solutions implemented by the industry
Manufacturers find broad solutions with automation in the hygiene process, as long as they perform under USDA and FDA standards. An example of this is Rosmar Group (SOR)which has a team of specialists in all branches of comprehensive and innovative healthcare.
According to experts in the food sector, Business Solutions Rosmar have the ISO 9001:2018 certification for Quality Management Systems, which allows them to seek commercial benefits with ample technological capital and which, in addition to guaranteeing a return on investment (ROI) in the medium term, adapts to health-safety, production, engineering and financial approaches of each company, ensuring the sustainability and quality of its products. To do this, some of the solutions it provides are:
- HyPress High Pressure water washing systems. Centralized machinery with independent pressurized hot water and foaming stations, with a calibrated chemical dispenser for rigorous cleaning processes.
- Systems CIPSys Belts. cleaning system high-pressure conveyor belts that, thanks to its diffuser for the supply of chemicals, manage to carry out cleaning and sanitizing processes in food processing plants.
- Tunnel Washer Sys specialized washing system. This type of manual basket washer is designed to wash, rinse and sanitize. It is completely built in 304 stainless steel, with an electronic control board and mobile side panels for internal cleaning.
- Typhoon ApSys fogging systems. Have a high nebulization performance during the direct intervention of the production lines in food processing plants, as this will help improve the microbiology of the product and extend its shelf life.
Thus, consolidating a base of access to healthy food, on the way to food safety, will be key to maintaining a circular economy with increased productivity and prosperous national food markets that promote a stable foreign trade scenario and reduce the pressure in health care systems.
With 188 countries plus the European Union negotiating food safety protocols, the UN considers a favorable path for the next five years in terms of product quality and standards Codex Alimentariuswhich already guarantee in regions such as Mexico that the food is free of contamination and can be marketed.
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