It is estimated that every year, around 600 million people worldwide — nearly 1 in 10 inhabitants, which represents an estimated 19 million in the region of OIRSA member countries —become ill from consuming contaminated food, with 420,000 deaths globally due to this cause, resulting in the loss of 33 million years of healthy life. Annually, low- and middle-income countries lose $110 billion in productivity and medical expenses due to unsafe food.
By exerting excessive pressure on healthcare systems, food-borne diseases (FBD) hinder economic and social development and damage national economies, tourism, and trade.
In food safety, OIRSA supports its member countries in strengthening sanitary measures to ensure safety based on risk through the implementation of Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) principles and their prerequisite programs, including Good Agricultural Practices, Good Livestock Practices, and Good Manufacturing Practices (GAP, GLP, GMP), Standard Operating Procedures and Sanitization Procedures (SOP, SOPs), biosecurity, among others, to prevent, reduce, or eliminate the presence of pesticide residues, drugs and veterinary medicines, environmental contaminants, toxins, or pathogenic organisms in food products, to protect people's lives and health and facilitate food trade.
Furthermore:
- Harmonization of food safety standards.
- Establishment of equivalences between trading partners.
- Strengthening the analytical capacity of laboratories based on ISO/IEC 17015:2017.
- Implementation of control, inspection, and approval procedures for tolerance limits of contaminants in food products, based on risk analysis, due to the presence of bacteria (Salmonella, Campylobacter, E. coli O157:H7, etc.), viruses, parasites, prions, chemicals, including natural toxins such as mycotoxins, pesticide residues, veterinary drugs, and heavy metals.
- Technical assistance and capacity building for member countries.
- Support for surveillance and monitoring programs.
- Risk communication to strengthen national agri-food safety systems throughout the entire chain.