"FAO Introduces Innovative Toolbox Empowering Food Businesses for Enhanced Global Food Safety"

By: Christina Sandra Singh


On 7 June, 2023, World Food Day, a tool box has been launched by FAO for food sector operators so that proper international food safety and hygiene standards in these sectors can be implemented. This instrument is designed to aid all types and sizes of food businesses in manufacturing, packaging, and distributing totally safe food to consumers by engaging with local food safety authorities. Apart from food operators, the toolbox can also assist various capacity-building organizations, educational institutions and government workplaces. Moreover, this toolbox is based on the guidelines, and codes of practice that is adopted by both FAO and WHO, known as Food Code or Codex Alimentarius in Latin. These Codex standards keep in check that food is safe for consumption and can be marketed.

Therefore, this new launch can be beneficial for consumers’ health safety.

Through this device, the food operators can easily understand and decipher the guidelines, rules and norms governing Good Hygiene Practices (GHP) and Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP), as this toolbox translate these guidelines into easy understandable language through an FAO website. Thus, the challenges and issues faced by food businesses in under/lesser developed or developing countries can be reduced. For places where computers and it’s utilization is limited, this FAO website can be well-used on mobile phones. Food Safety Officers of FAO, and a team from the Department of Food Science at University of Guelph, Canada, joined hands to develop and review the technical contents of this device.

The content of this toolbox consists of guidelines and regulations regarding personal hygiene in food industries like techniques and types of appropriate clothing for food industry workers, tips for allowing outside visitors into the food processing unit, and involved steps and frequency of hand washing by the workers. In future, feedback about the device can be taken and upon receiving positive response, this toolbox can be expanded to other agricultural sectors like fisheries, and educational institutions for enabling food safety courses to the students.


This initiative to launch the device is due to FAO's priority to ensure that every consumer is buying and feeding on safe food given to the fact that increasing number of individuals become victims of food infections and related illness every year. And the toolbox is a resource provided by FAO to the many food businesses to implement proper food safety standards at work place. Also, this newly-launched device is currently available in three widely known languages, English, Spanish, and French.
Corinna Hawkes, FAO’s Director of Food Systems and Food Safety Division, suggested that this device is an essential, positive step and point of reference for global food safety. It provide international food hygiene standards as well as these instructions in common language which can be understood by all. Through this set language, various countries can negotiate, and food sectors workers there get the opportunity to communicate on food safety among themselves.

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