"We estimate that each year, nearly one person in 10 falls sick after eating contaminated food," said Kazuaki Miyagishima, who heads the World Health Organization (WHO) food security department. MANY DISEASESOf the 600 million people who fall sick from unsafe food, around 420,000 die, according to the UN's estimate. According to the WHO, contaminated food is to blame more than 200 diseases, ranging from diarrhoea to cancers -- and the economic impact is huge but often overlooked. "Africa has a major interest in this," said Mr Miyagishima, adding the continent, followed by Southeast Asia, is the worst affected by contaminated food. For countries trying to better respect international norms and export certain food products, Miyagishima warned of a "situation where exported food is of a better quality than products destined for the local market".

Source: Daily Nation February 12, 2019 13:18 UTC