Safe food - a safer world around us

Food safety is still one of the most significant public issues. Foodborne diseases, caused by pathogenic microorganisms, continue to occur worldwide. The bacterial pathogens and toxins which cause foodborne illnesses, present a threat to public health and increase the risk of significant economic losses. Poultry pathogens are of particular importance since poultry is the second-most usually consumed meat worldwide and it is considered the main source for two of the most frequent human foodborne diseases: Campylobacteriosis and Salmonellosis. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), food insecurity causes 600 million food cases and 420,000 deaths annually. Thirty percent of deaths related to foodborne diseases occur among children under 5 years of age. WHO estimates that 33 million years of healthy individuals are lost due to the global consumption of unsafe foods each year, and this number is probably an underestimate.