The first ever World Food Safety Day has been marked by the Department of Agriculture with a call for recognition of Australia’s leadership in food safety and the contribution safe food makes to global health and strong economies.
Proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly to be held on 7 June every year, the new Day is to be used as a reflection on the production of safe, sufficient, nutritious food for the world.
Deputy Secretary at the Department of Agriculture, Cindy Briscoe said that as a nation Australia exported around two thirds of what it grows.
“We’re able to reliably provide that food to global markets because we have a strong and robust food safety system that is internationally recognised,” Ms Briscoe said.
“We contribute to food regulation policy, incident responses, export inspection and certification services and residue monitoring.”
She said Australia also managed food safety risks with imported food by administering a risk-based border inspection scheme.
“To protect human health and ensure fair practices in the food trade worldwide, we’ve been a member of the Codex Alimentarius Commission — the international food standards-setting body — since 1963.”
She said food safety was everyone’s business.
“We collaborate across Departments, Governments, industry, and international counterparts to provide people everywhere with safe food,” Ms Briscoe said.
“From the farm to the table, and across dozens of foreign markets that import our produce, people know food from Australia is safe. We work hard to keep it that way.”
