GFSI Surveys Industry on Action for SDGs

At the recent GFSI Conference in Barcelona, the Global Food Safety Initiative launched a call to foster greater action and impact to embed the food safety industry into the sustainability agenda and to engage its community in taking a bigger role in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The SDGs are a shared blueprint settled in 2015 by the United Nations for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, for now and into the future, to be achieved by 2030.

A global structural shift in the food industry means that demand for the world’s food supply continues to grow. This is happening alongside the urgent need to preserve the planet, the requirement to shift to more sustainable production and consumption patterns, as well to make the food system less fragile and unequal; all while also combatting food fraud and managing the impacts of climate change. Due to their relation to food safety, the following SDGs are of particular interest to GFSI:

• SDG 1 No poverty and SDG 2 Zero Hunger – food security and the end of poverty cannot be achieved without safer food. More is needed to strengthen capacities through the food system safety management of food business operators everywhere.
• SDG 12 Food waste and management of chemicals – there is at times a challenge to maintain food safety whilst reducing food waste. Food safety must also be maintained while keeping control of the contaminants that come from plastic recycling.
• SDG 6 Good water and sanitation – how can we maintain food safety while increasing water re-use.

To support the food industry, for World Food Safety Day 2022 on 7th June, GFSI wants to hear from its community via an online survey available here about what the food industry and GFSI can do to support and further the SDGs agenda by 2030. The survey sets out to identify the best ideas from the community for supporting the global food safety ecosystem and strengthening its impact at scale towards the SDGs agenda. The outcome of the survey will be showcased on 7th June in a webinar hosted by GFSI.

GFSI hopes this call for action and the survey outcomes will provide a framework to support the industry for greater collaboration between the public and the private sectors, to strengthen the collective contribution to achieving the SDGs by 2030 and to make a positive impact on food systems by working together to ensure better food safety management systems.

We invite you to participate in the survey at this link before 16th May 2022.