World Health Day - Food Safety

Food safety is one of the issues that have been thoroughly addressed by the Institute of Preventive Medicine, Environmental and Occupational Health, Prolepsis, a non-profit organization which holds an important role in the sector of public health at national and European level for the past 25 years. Both the Food Aid and Promotion of Healthy Nutrition Program - DIATROFI and the development of the National Dietary Guidelines as part of the project "EF... Dia Trofin", promote healthy nutrition, with a goal, inter alia, to raise awareness and inform the public about issues on safe food handling.

Food intake should not only be of high nutritional value, but safe as well. The central message of the World Health Organization for this day, as established by competent bodies and emphasized in the National Dietary Guidelines for Adults, is that the standards of hygiene and food safety should be applied at all stages of the production of food (harvesting, storage, processing, packaging, consumption), as highlighted under the WHO slogan “From farm to plate, make food safe”.

Detailed information for the consumer with the basic food safety guidelines relating to the purchase, transportation and storage, cleaning, preparation, cooking and food preservation is available at http://www.diatrofikoiodigoi.gr/files/PDF/ADULTS.pdf (Chapter 17 PREPARATION, COOKING AND SAFE FOOD HANDLING).

- ### -

The Prolepsis Institute is a non-profit organization, founded in 1990 and holds an important role in the field of public health both at a national and a European level. Its initiatives vary in the areas of medical research, occupational and environmental health, health promotion, education and of humanitarian work. More information can be found at www.prolepsis.gr.