The One Health approach in food safety: Challenges and opportunities

Abstract

According to the World Health Organization, contaminated food causes approximately 600 million cases of illness and 420,000 associated deaths worldwide each year. In this scenario, food safety is a crucial task, which is based in the application of correct hygiene practices throughout the entire food production chain: from farm to table. Ensuring food safety requires the implementation of practical, comprehensive, affordable, and effective approaches such as Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points, Good Agricultural Practices, Good Manufacturing Practices, use of low cost technologies for traceability, regular inspection and auditing, as well as education and training, among other factors. In addition, it is essential to establish more comprehensive strategies based on the One Health approach. Since human health and animal health are interdependent and linked to the health of the ecosystems in which they coexist, collaboration between multiple disciplines is necessary to achieve optimal health for people, animals, and the environment. Within the food system, the One Health approach can be useful, for example, in the fight against zoonoses or antibiotic resistance. This paper describes various aspects related to the main biotic food-borne diseases, the problem of biofilms and the impact of different antimicrobials (whether biocides or antibiotics) on antibiotic resistance, listing a range of alternatives to the use of classic sanitizing compounds. All of this has the aim of giving an overview of the different factors, including those connected to the environment or animal health, which can influence food safety and thus public health.