FAO Leaders Call for Science as Shared Language Ahead of World Food Safety Day
Image credit: FAO/WHO
At the United Nations Information Service (UNIS) briefing on June 3, 2025, Markus Lipp, Senior Food Safety Officer at the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), underscored the foundational role of science in global food safety, calling it “a shared language” essential for building trust between consumers, industries, regulators, and nations.
Speaking ahead of World Food Safety Day on June 7, Lipp emphasized that science is not simply a technical tool but a framework for understanding and managing risk in a pluralistic world.
“At FAO, we believe food safety is not just about preventing harm,” Lipp said. “It is about creating confidence and trust in the food we eat, in the systems that protect us, that protect food safety and in the institutions that serve the public good for safe food.”
Lipp stressed that science must not be imposed in a top-down fashion but embraced as a collective foundation for action and dialogue. “Science is more than practice—it is a belief in shared knowledge and shared reality. When used well, it protects health, facilitates trade, and strengthens trust,” he said.
Lipp also pointed to the joint work of FAO and the World Health Organization (WHO) in delivering scientific advice through mechanisms like the Codex Alimentarius Commission, which helps ensure food safety standards are evidence-based while also respecting local contexts and cultural norms.
FAO Director General Qu Dongyu had a similar message in a recent video regarding World Food Safety Day 2025.
“On this World Food Safety Day, let us reflect on the fundamental role science plays in protecting our food,” Qu said, adding, “To ensure food availability, food accessability, food affordability, and food safety for all, we need to accelerate the transformation of global agrifood systems to be more efficient, more inclusive, more resilient, and more sustainable.”
Click here to learn more about the activities FAO is planning for this year’s World Food Safety Day.
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