The Important of Food Safety Hazards in Developing Countries

The Important of Food Safety Hazards in Developing Countries
All countries share similar concerns about food safety hazards, but also relative importance of risks differs with climate, food habits, levels of income and public infrastructure.

Some risks are greater in developing countries.

Poor sanitation and inadequate drinking water supplies pose a much greater hazard to health in developing countries than in developed ones.

Diarrheal disease accounts for most illness and death in children under five.

According to WHO study, of the approximately 1,500 million global episodes of diarrhea occurring annually, resulting in 3 million deaths among children under five, 70 percent have been estimated to have been caused by biologically contaminated food. Contaminated food has been recognized as playing a major role in the epidemiology of cholera and other forms of epidemic diarrhea, substantially contributing to malnutrition.

Other hazard may also differ by climate and level of income. Mycotoxins are more prevalent in the sub-tropics and tropics, and pose greater risks where diets are concentrated in foods that have higher mycotoxins levels.

Parasites are also common. For example, cysticercosis in endemic in rural areas of Latin America, Asia and Africa infecting between 2 to 15 percent of the population, in comparison with less than one-hundredth of a percent infected population in the US.

Many of the reasons why food safety is becoming a more important issue worldwide are most compelling in developing countries.

Increased food borne disease can be expected from increased urbanization, which lengthens the food chain and introduces new risks; climate change, which encourages the growth of some pathogens; shrinking fresh water supplies, which increases the cost of risk mitigation; and the growth of immune compromised populations who are susceptible to foodborne illness.

In addition, expanded food product trade and migration will contribute to the globalization of food borne diseases.
The Important of Food Safety Hazards in Developing Countries