Year of publication 2006

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Pages 108 p.

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Author Nutrition Division

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Product type Meeting

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Edition 1

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Synopsis (short abstract) Ensuring safe food is essential for the protection of human health and for improving the quality of life in all countries. The importance of safe food, whether domestically produced and consumed, imported or exported, is well known by the countries of the Americas and the Caribbean. An estimated 57,000 deaths have occurred in Latin America and the Caribbean as a result of food- and waterborne diarrhoea in 2004, but even this estimated burden likely greatly underestimates the true magnitude of th e food-borne disease problem in the region. Each food-borne disease outbreak results in a number of direct and indirect costs, in addition to the resultant human suffering. Furthermore, food safety is foundational to all other issues in the area of nutrition and food security, as well as international trade of foods. Food exports from the region are currently worth some US$66 billion, or 12% of the world's total food trade, and this figure could increase rapidly over the coming decades if food s afety and quality standards are improved. Despite these well-known and important reasons, many challenges remain to improving food safety in the region. The countries of the region recognize the importance of developing practical actions for capacity building to overcome these challenges and to promote food safety in the region. Accordingly, following the guidance of the FAO/WHO governing bodies, in line with the suggestions made by the participants at the first and second Joint FAO/WHO Global Fora of Food Safety Regulators (GF1-Morocco, January 2002 and GF2- Thailand, October 2004) and the kind invitation of the Government of Costa Rica, FAO and WHO jointly convened the first Regional Conference on Food Safety for the Americas and the Caribbean in San José, Costa Rica from 6 to 9 December 2005. The Conference brought together over 175 delegates from 32 member countries of the Americas and the Caribbean and observers from 14 international governmental and non-governmental organizatio ns to discuss food safety issues in the region, under the general theme of “Practical Actions to Promote Food Safety”. The participants at the Conference recommended a series of practical actions to the member countries and to FAO and WHO to strengthen food safety systems in the region. It was generally recognized by the participants that although the convening of the Conference itself was successful, its true success can only be measured by the degree of implementation of the recommended actio ns of the Conference and the improved safety of foods produced and consumed in the region.

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Language English

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