Unsafe food a cost to the economy – Kasonka

Government says unsafe food is a major cost to the country’s economy.

Ministry of Health Permanent Secretary for Technical Services Dr. Luckson Kasonka says this is also a threat to public health, and produces inefficiencies in animal and plant production systems and creates trade barriers across the global food.

Speaking in Lusaka when he officially opened a media sensitisation meeting on food safety organized by the Ministry of Health in collaboration with the World Health Organisation, Dr. Kasonka says unsafe food does not only negatively affect health, but also influences socioeconomic growth in agribusiness, trade and tourism.

He says food products are among the most traded commodities in the world and as markets become increasingly globalized and as the population continues to grow, food safety compliance becomes more important.

Dr. Kasonka says the food value chain can only be more pragmatic in protecting consumers’ health with the involvement of stakeholders such as the media in disseminating information on safe food measures to all other stakeholders especially producers and consumers.

And speaking on the sidelines of the workshop, Ministry of Health Chief Environmental Officer for Food Safety, Doreen Siayajani called on the media to enhance its sensitization of the public on food safety.

According to the World Health Organization, over 600 million people across the globe fall ill from consuming contaminated foods, while 420,000 deaths of which 125,000 are children are recorded annually.

Ms Siayajani has bemoaned how members of the public pay little attention to reading the ingredients contents of the food they consume and worse off checking on the expiry date.

And speaking the same meeting, Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock Senior Veterinary Officer Food Safety, Dr. Maputa Kamulete says consumption of uncertified products can lead to severe health challenges including death.