Unsafe food causes an estimated 866 million illnesses and 1.5 million deaths worldwide each year, with young children carrying a disproportionate share of the burden, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday in a report timed to World Food Safety Day.
New WHO estimates cited by Ada Derana, sourced to Anadolu Agency, show that children under the age of five are nearly three times more likely to fall ill from contaminated food than older children and adults. Although they make up just 9 per cent of the world’s population, they account for almost a third of all foodborne disease cases.
“Food safety is not an abstract issue — it touches every meal, every family, every day,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
Biological hazards — bacteria, viruses and parasites — caused the vast majority of foodborne illnesses, but chemical contamination drove a disproportionate share of deaths. Chemical hazards were responsible for 73 per cent of food-related deaths in 2021, the WHO said, with inorganic arsenic and lead alone linked to more than one million deaths because of their role in raising the risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer.
The economic toll is also substantial. Foodborne diseases caused an estimated US$310 billion in lost productivity in 2021, the report said. Adjusted for cost-of-living differences, that figure rises to US$647 billion.
Africa and Southeast Asia carried nearly three-quarters of all foodborne illnesses and accounted for 60 per cent of deaths, the report said, underscoring persistent regional disparities. The WHO warned that climate change, antimicrobial resistance and inequalities in food systems were worsening the risks, and called on governments to strengthen surveillance, prevention and food safety regulation.
Many illnesses and deaths could be prevented through better access to water, sanitation and hygiene, safer food handling practices and stronger primary health care, the agency said. Sri Lanka’s own food safety inspections during the Avurudu season found violations at numerous outlets, while the FAO has separately warned of food-price inflation driven by Middle East conflict.
