Children under the age of five are three times more likely to become ill from unsafe food than other children and adults. This was evident from figures from the World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday. Every year, 1.5 million people die worldwide as a result of unsafe food that may contain harmful bacteria, viruses, parasites or chemicals.
This can lead to more than two hundred foodborne illnesses. Young children are especially vulnerable. They face almost a third of all cases of disease, especially diarrheal diseases that can be fatal for this vulnerable age group.
In addition, exposure to chemical hazards such as methylmercury and lead in food can harm brain development and cause lifelong neurological and developmental problems in children.
Every year, unsafe food leads to 866 million diseases worldwide. In addition, there are major regional inequalities, with many consequences due to unsafe food, especially in Southeast Asia and Africa. “Children and people from communities with limited resources bear the greatest health burden, particularly in low- and middle-income countries,” the WHO report said.
Contaminated food
Most foodborne illnesses (nearly 860 million in 2021) were caused by bacteria, viruses and parasitic infections. Food contaminated with chemicals is responsible for the majority (73 percent) of deaths. Most of those deaths were related to inorganic arsenic (42 percent) and lead (31 percent), because exposure to them increases the risk of heart disease and cancer.
“This report is a wake-up call, but at the same time also a guide. The data shows that foodborne illness is not only persistent, but is also exacerbated by climate change, which increases the risk of contamination, and by antimicrobial resistance, which makes infections more difficult to treat,” said Yuki Minato, food safety expert at WHO.