Asia-Pacific has high mortality for foodborne illnesses

MANILA, Philippines — The Asia-Pacific region has a poor track record when it comes to preventing foodborne illnesses, resulting in the deaths of 225,000 people each year, the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said.

Globally, some 600 million cases of foodborne illnesses occur annually and 420,000 people, including 30 percent of them children below the age of five, die each year as a result of these illnesses. In the Asia-Pacific region, more than 275 million people fall ill due to foodborne causes each year.

FAO said foodborne illness is clearly a public health issue that results in lost productivity and damaged livelihoods, hindering progress to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal of zero hunger by 2030.

“Worldwide, each year, unsafe food or water kill more people than HIV, AIDS, malaria and measles combined, and it’s now time that everyone takes this issue more seriously,” said Kundhavi Kadiresan, FAO assistant director-general and regional representative for Asia and the Pacific. 

“In so many cases the deaths and illnesses associated with consuming unsafe food were needless and could have been prevented,” she said.

While there are various ways that food can become contaminated, in the Asia-Pacific region poor hygiene and mishandling are mainly to blame. 

Food can also become contaminated by exposure to the elements, such as street food and fresh produce left out for hours in open markets and in hot climates. Undercooking of food and lack of proper refrigeration also contribute to food that becomes unfit to eat.

Improving hygiene practices in the food and agricultural sectors helps to reduce the emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistance along the food chain and in the environment.

Investment in consumer food safety education has the potential to reduce foodborne disease and return savings of up to tenfold for each dollar invested.