In Africa, 91 million people fall ill each year due to consumption of

unsafe foods, said Thomas Kwesi Quartey, the deputy chairperson of the

African Union Commission.

He was speaking at a commemoration on Friday at the African Union

headquarters of the World Food Safety Day that is observed for the

first time at a continental level.

“It is about time that food security was made a priority in Africa,”

he said at a Public Policy Dialogue event organised to commemorate the

day.

The event brought together ambassadors, African Union leaders, African

Union Commission staff and representatives of partner organisations.

According to Quartey, tens of thousands of people die in Africa each

year after consumption of unsafe food.

“An estimated 600 million – almost 1 in 10 people in the world – fall

ill after eating contaminated food and 420,000 die every year,”

according to the World Health Organization.

“A quarter of global deaths due to unsafe foods consumption is in

Africa,” Egyptian Ambassador to the African Union Osama Mohamed

Abdelkhalek said on the occasion.

The number of deaths, according to the Ambassador, stands at as high

as 137,000 people each year.

The AU is commemorating the Day “[…] in order to foster dialogue and

inspire actions to enhance food safety using the World Food Safety Day

as a global reminder of the need to maintain a high level of public

awareness on this important issue.” (Anadolu Agency)

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