engleski

Implications of climate change on food safety

Nowadays, there is a constant and on-going concern about rapid climate change affecting food safety on global scale. Food systems underlie vulnerability due to the cascading impacts of climate changes. This multidisciplinary challenge affects all parts of the food chain. Direct impact of weather conditions on agriculture has an indirect effect on food safety and on our lives as we are consuming more and more „unsafe foods“. Changes in climatic conditions lead to modifications in various biotic parameters such as pests and diseases. Increased temperatures and moisture can greatly affect the growth of fungi and the formation of mycotoxins which can cause serious health problems. Increased algal blooms which produce toxic components, as well as more frequent occurrence of zoonosis in the warmer period also represent a significant public health problem. Development of more resistant pests leads to greater use of pesticides which traces will increasingly be found in food. The elevated CO2 greenhouse gases lead to declining food quality due to reduction of specific important key nutrients. Environmental changes will be particularly felt in developing countries where food control is less robust, which is a major risk to public health. Proactive and targeted actions are needed to increase the resilience of the food systems such as reducing exposure as well as reducing sensitivity but increasing the capacity to adapt to different risks. It is necessary to act in the direction of reduction in long-term effects as well as changes in livelihood strategies.

climate change ; food safety ; public health ; food quality

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