WHO Urgently Reforms Food Safety System—90 Million People’s Health at Risk!

On September 10, 2024, the World Health Organization (WHO) officially announced that it will deepen and improve the current food health and hygiene system, with a special emphasis on system synergies, improving nutritional quality in the food supply chain and building a healthier food environment. The current food system does not yet fully meet the needs of a healthy diet. Once implemented, the reforms are expected to effectively address major issues such as hunger, food security and malnutrition.

This decision by the WHO draws on key documents such as the UN Summit on Food Systems, the Tokyo Summit on Improving Nutrition 2021 and the Voluntary Guidelines on Food Systems and Nutrition. The strategies of the Food Health System include taxing unhealthy foods and subsidizing healthy foods, ensuring that children are protected from harmful foods and beverages, ensuring that nutrition information on food labels is accurate, reducing the amount of salt, sugar and harmful fat in processed foods and beverages, enhancing the nutritional value of foods by adding vitamins and minerals, and ensuring meals Healthier structures, more nutritious foods, better regulation and response mechanisms for foodborne diseases, and evaluation and strengthening of food regulatory systems at the national level.