Countries Across the Americas Adopt Five-Year Food Safety Strategy to Reduce Foodborne Disease
Health authorities across the Americas have approved a new regional strategy intended to strengthen food safety systems and reduce foodborne disease, which affects an estimated 43.7 million people and causes approximately 78,000 deaths in the region each year.
Adopted by the 63rd Directing Council of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the Strategy and Plan of Action on Food Safety 2026–2031 provides a framework for strengthening national food safety systems, institutionalizing science-based risk analysis, and improving regional cooperation for the prevention and detection of, as well as response to, food safety risks.
The strategy addresses increasingly complex food safety challenges, including climate- and environment-related hazards, mycotoxins, disruptions to cold chains and water systems, food fraud, emerging food technologies, and the potential for hazards to spread rapidly through international trade.
PAHO identified three primary lines of action:
- Strengthening national food safety systems across the food chain
- Integrating risk assessment, risk management, and risk communication into routine decision-making
- Enhancing regional coordination through information-sharing, preparedness, coordinated response, and international cooperation.
By 2031, PAHO aims to increase the number of countries and territories producing surveillance bulletins on foodborne diseases or outbreaks, as well as those implementing risk-based food inspections, from eight to 15. The strategy also aims to increase from nine to 15 the number of countries and territories using risk assessment to inform food safety decisions, and from 19 to 27 those participating in regional food safety cooperation and coordination mechanisms.
Consistent with the One Health approach, the strategy calls for greater coordination among the health, agriculture, environment, trade, industry, and consumer protection sectors. It also emphasizes stronger laboratory networks, improved outbreak detection, enhanced food safety governance, and alignment with international standards, including Codex Alimentarius.
The strategy was developed under the coordination of PAHO's Pan American Center for Foot-and-Mouth Disease and Veterinary Public Health (PANAFTOSA), following consultations with Member States and regional partners. PAHO, through PANAFTOSA, will support implementation through technical cooperation, capacity-building, regional networks, partnerships, and resource mobilization.
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