As the year passed, the world’s reliance on technology increased. In fact, accelerated digitalization and innovation are evidenced by increased investment in emerging technologies to solve issues in different sectors of life.
Recently, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) launched a comprehensive, practical, and accessible toolbox designed to help all those operating in the food sector adhere to international food hygiene standards.
The toolbox was released on June 7 to mark World Food Safety Day 2023 with a "food code," a collection of standards, guidelines, and codes of practice managed by FAO and the World Health Organization (WHO) that aims to protect consumer health and promote fair practices in food trade.
FAO’s Director of Food Systems and Food Safety Division, Corinna Hawkes, disclosed that the tool provides internationally agreed-upon principles of food safety and sets a common language, which in turn provides a framework and a commonality within which countries can negotiate and food businesses can communicate on food safety amongst themselves.
The toolbox translates the extensive set of guidelines and norms governing Good Hygiene Practices (GHP) and Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) into easily digestible information via an FAO website.
The overarching aim is to give all food business operators, whether on the farm or further along the value chain, and regardless of size and location, an instrument that enables them to better engage with local food safety authorities to produce, process, and distribute safe food.