Food Safety: How Climate Plays a Crucial Role in Overall Health and Food Hygiene

Food Safety: Climate has a tremendous impact on food safety and public health. Climate change exacerbates the problems caused by foodborne infections and diseases, affecting the entire food supply chain, from agriculture and horticulture to processing and consumption. Climate change-induced changes in temperature, humidity, and soil quality have resulted in increased food contamination by pathogenic bacteria such as Salmonella, Staphylococcus aureus, and Campylobacter. These microbes represent major biological risks, and changing climate patterns also have an impact on chemical and physical hazards in food safety.

Climate and Food

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals emphasize the critical need to reduce the effects of climate change by 2030, urging for action across all sectors. To ensure food safety, dangers must be addressed at all stages—growing, collecting, processing, and packing. For example, declining soil quality and rising humidity levels both increase the danger of contamination in primary and marine foods. To reduce dangers and safeguard public health, effective sanitation, hygiene, and process controls must now take climate-related risks into account.