WORLD HEALTH DAY

April 7, 2015
FOOD SAFETY: Getting The Basics Right
Dr. Vidushi Sharma, MD, FRCS & Dr Suresh K Pandey

SuVi Eye Institute & Lasik Laser Center,

Kota, Rajasthan, India
www.suvieye.com, Email-suvieye@gmail.com; Ph. 91-9351412449
IMA KOTA WORLD HEALTH DAY CELEBRATION &
INSTALLATION CEREMONY,
KOTA, RAJASTHAN, INDIA

Food
Food and Water are the
most basic necessities for
survival.
Most diseases, specially in developing
countries are still food and waterborne
Beyond survival, quality and quantity
of food determine good health or lack
of it.
Dr Vidushi Sharma, MD, FRCS

Medicine and Food

Let Food be they medicine and
medicine be thy food. Hippocrates 460BC
When Diet is wrong, medicine is of no
use, when diet is right, medicine is of
no need. Ayurvedic proverb
He that takes medicine and neglects
diet, wastes the skills of the
physician. Chinese proverb

Dr Vidushi Sharma, MD, FRCS

Food Security and Food Safety

A situation that exists when all people,
at all times, have physical, social and
economic access to sufficient, safe and
nutritious food that meets their dietary
needs and food preferences for an active
and healthy life. (FAO 2001)
Assurance that food will not cause harm
to the consumer when it is prepared
and/or eaten according to its intended
use.
Dr Vidushi Sharma, MD, FRCS

Dr Vidushi Sharma, MD, FRCS

Food Security in India

India is home to more than 230
million undernourished people (21%
of population) FAO report 2008
Rising prices increase poverty and the
number of hungry people
Inflation in food articles is higher than
general inflation, affecting the
poorest of poor in terms of
percentage
Dr Vidushi Sharma, MD, FRCS

Social issues
Huge wastage in marriages (15%)
Executive guest control order 1960s
Lack of granaries, warehouses,
rotting food grains

Dr Vidushi Sharma, MD, FRCS

Dr Vidushi Sharma, MD, FRCS

Food Safety
Unsafe food can lead
to a range of health
problems
diarrhoeal disease, viral disease (the
first Ebola cases were linked to
contaminated bush meat)
reproductive and developmental
problems, cancers..
Dr Vidushi Sharma, MD, FRCS

Key Facts
Unsafe foodcontaining harmful
bacteria, viruses, parasites or
chemical substancescauses more
than 200 diseases, ranging from
diarrhoea to cancers.
Food-borne and waterborne
diarrhoeal diseases kill an estimated
2 million people annually, 700,000 in
SE Asia, including many children
Dr Vidushi Sharma, MD, FRCS

Food threats
Bacteria: Salmonella, Vibrio,
Campylobacter...
Virus: Norovirus, Hepatitis A
Parasies: Echinococcus Entamoeba,
Ascaris, Giardia
Prions
Chemicals
Dr Vidushi Sharma, MD, FRCS

Changes in Food chain

Intensive agriculture
Globalization of food
trade
Mass catering and
street food

Dr Vidushi Sharma, MD, FRCS

WHO Day 2015

Opportunity to alert
governments, manufacturers,
retailers and the public to the
importance of food safetyand the
part each can play in ensuring that
the food on peoples plates is safe to
eat.

Dr Vidushi Sharma, MD, FRCS

Dr Vidushi Sharma, MD, FRCS

Aim of the Campaign

Governments
public awareness
campaigns
Consumers
ensure safety
check labels, ask
questions, follow
hygiene tips

Dr Vidushi Sharma, MD, FRCS

Codex Alimentarius
Latin for book of food
Collection of internationally
recognized standards, codes of
practice, guidelines and other
recommendations relating to foods,
food production and food safety.

Dr Vidushi Sharma, MD, FRCS

WHOs five keys to safe food

Keep clean
Separate raw and
cooked food
Cook thoroughly
Cook and store at safe
temperatures
Use clean water and raw
materials
Dr Vidushi Sharma, MD, FRCS

Growing safe vegetables

Practice good personal hygiene

Avoid animal fecal contamination
Use treated fecal waste
Risks from irrigation water
Keep harvest and storage equipment
clean and dry

Dr Vidushi Sharma, MD, FRCS

Newer Problems
Drug Residues, pesticides, genetically
modified foods
Intensive agriculture
Antimicrobial resistance
Climate change
Food allergies
Mineral deficiencies, obesity and
NCDs processed food
Dr Vidushi Sharma, MD, FRCS

Recent Concerns
One of the most
ubiquitous and
long-lasting
recent changes to
the surface of our
planet is the
accumulation and
fragmentation of
plastics,

Say No to Disposables/ Educate

Dr Vidushi Sharma, MD, FRCS

Plastic Not so Fantastic

Chemicals added to plastics are
absorbed by human bodies.
Plastic buried deep in landfills can
leach harmful chemicals that spread
into groundwater.
bisphenol A (BPA), found in
polycarbonate bottles and the linings
of food and beverage cans, can leach
into food and drinks.
Dr Vidushi Sharma, MD, FRCS

Plastic
It has been estimated
that over one trillion plastic bags are
used worldwide each year and .5%
to 3% of all bags winds up recycled
In 2006, the United Nations found
that each square mile of the ocean
has 46,000 pieces of plastic in it.

Dr Vidushi Sharma, MD, FRCS

Bottled Water Lessons

learnt
Scare us Tap
water
Seduce Us
Images of pristine
mountains and
nature
Misleading Us
SF (USA) ban
Dr Vidushi Sharma, MD, FRCS

Toxic Farming
234 pesticides registered in India till
2012, 24 of these classifies as
potential carcinogens by US EPA
67 pesticides in use which have been
banned elsewhere
Many banned and restricted
pesticides in India appear in residue
testing
Bio-accumulation & Bio-magnification
Dr Vidushi Sharma, MD, FRCS

Pesticides
More than 95% of
the pesticide doesnt reach the target
organisms, and reaches air soil and
water and contaminates them
More water needed per crop

Dr Vidushi Sharma, MD, FRCS

Media Attention

Dr Vidushi Sharma, MD, FRCS

Punjab
Food basket to disease basket
20 % of all sampled wells have
nitrate levels above the safety limit of
50 mg of nitrate per litre for drinking
water
Cause methemoglobinemia, (bluebaby syndrome) and cancer.
Overuse without precautions
Dr Vidushi Sharma, MD, FRCS

Punjab
2.5% agriculture
land and 18%
pesticide use
Cancer train to
Bikaner
Malwa region
most highly affected

Dr Vidushi Sharma, MD, FRCS

Chemicals
Naturally occuring: mycotoxins
(aflatoxin, ochratoxin), marine biotoxins
Persistent organic Pollutants: industrial
processes, waste incineration dioxins
and PCBs - reproductive &
developmental problems, damage the
immune system, interfere with
hormones and cause cancer.
Dr Vidushi Sharma, MD, FRCS

Heavy metals
Lead, Cadmiumm and Mercury though
air water and soil pollution
Dangerously high amounts of Barium,
Cadmium, Manganese, Lead and
Uranium, signifying long-term exposure
in hair of physically and mentally
challenged children in Punjab
Dr Vidushi Sharma, MD, FRCS

Dr Vidushi Sharma, MD, FRCS

GM Crops
Bacillus thuringiensis (or Bt)
bacteria produce chemicals harmful
to selective insects biological
pesticide
The gene coding for Bt toxin injected
into cotton to give Bt cotton
Initially, increased yield, more profits,
but a vicious cycle ensues, needs
refuge areas
Dr Vidushi Sharma, MD, FRCS

Organic farming in India

Inida 7th in the world in terms of area
Area under organic certification
highest in MP, followed by HP and
Rajasthan, yet no formal outlets for
organic produce in Rajasthan
Balance between the two approaches
to feel the population
Organic food superior? Tastier?
Dr Vidushi Sharma, MD, FRCS

Indian Scenario
Need to strike a
balance between
organic farming
(Sikkim) and
increased production
Hygiene
Do not overdo,
overuse, use
precautions
Dr Vidushi Sharma, MD, FRCS

Storage

Let us start
Swchchata
here!
Dr Vidushi Sharma, MD, FRCS

Food Adulteration
Milk products such as khoya, butter,
ghee, milk-based sweets, pulses
(arhar and rajma), mustard oil,
groundnut oil, poultry and meat

Dr Vidushi Sharma, MD, FRCS

Food Adulterants

Dr Vidushi Sharma, MD, FRCS

Dr Vidushi Sharma, MD, FRCS

What can we do?

Be aware and
educate
Walk the Talk
Doctors well
suited to be the
change you
wish to see

Dr Vidushi Sharma, MD, FRCS

Walk the Talk

Dr Vidushi Sharma, MD, FRCS

Dr Vidushi Sharma, MD, FRCS

WORLD HEALTH DAY

April 7, 2015
FOOD SAFETY: Getting The Basics Right
Dr. Vidushi Sharma, MD, FRCS & Dr Suresh K Pandey

SuVi Eye Institute & Lasik Laser Center,

Kota, Rajasthan, India
www.suvieye.com, Email-suvieye@gmail.com; Ph. 91-9351412449
IMA KOTA WORLD HEALTH DAY CELEBRATION &
INSTALLATION CEREMONY,
KOTA, RAJASTHAN, INDIA