For World Food Safety Day, June 7, 2026
Food safety is the assurance that food will not cause harm, illness, or death to the consumer when it is properly prepared and consumed.
According to the latest World Health Organization estimates on the global burden of foodborne diseases, more than 866 million people fell ill in 2021 due to the consumption of unsafe food contaminated with bacteria, viruses, parasites, or chemical substances, resulting in 1.52 million deaths. The heaviest burden of foodborne diseases falls on children under five, as well as on low- and middle-income countries, where the consequences of unsafe food are most pronounced.
Central Asia is among the regions with a high prevalence of foodborne and zoonotic infections. According to an Asian Development Bank report, cases of salmonellosis, hepatitis A, E. coli infections, and botulism are recorded annually in the countries of the region. Epidemiological surveillance and laboratory control systems face shared structural constraints, including underfunding and weak intersectoral coordination. Data sharing among public health, veterinary, and environmental services remains fragmented.
The "One Health" Approach
The modern understanding of food safety is based on the recognition that risks emerge at the intersection of human health, animal health, and environmental conditions. This approach reflects the "One Health" concept, which posits that these systems are interconnected and require coordinated management to prevent and control threats.
At the global level, this approach is institutionalized in the One Health Joint Plan of Action (2022–2026), developed by the Quadripartite (FAO, UNEP, WHO, and WOAH). The document establishes a framework for coordinated action by countries and international organizations to strengthen public health, veterinary, and environmental systems.
The plan highlights six interconnected pathways, including health system capacity building, the prevention and control of zoonotic diseases, and the integration of the environmental component into risk management. A dedicated pathway focuses on strengthening food safety risk assessment, management, and communication systems, underscoring its place within the overall "One Health" architecture.
In Central Asian countries, the implementation of this approach is supported through regional initiatives and programs by international partners. In particular, projects implemented with the support of the World Bank and the Pandemic Fund aim to strengthen pandemic preparedness, ensure food system resilience, and promote ecosystem health within the "One Health" framework.
Antimicrobial Resistance as a Food Safety Component
Among the most critical contemporary threats to food safety, antimicrobial resistance (AMR)—which develops at the nexus of food safety, animal health, and human health—occupies a distinct place. The use of antimicrobials in livestock production promotes the emergence of resistant pathogen strains that can be transmitted to humans through the food chain.
An analysis of AMR prevalence published in Nature Communications (2024) identified high-risk AMR zones in livestock within parts of Central Asia; however, the authors point to the limitations of surveillance data in the region as a standalone issue. Incomplete data hinders the assessment of the true scale of the threat and demonstrates the urgent need to develop integrated monitoring systems.
The "Farm-to-Fork" Chain
Food safety risks are not confined to isolated stages of production and can emerge throughout the entire food chain, from the cultivation and management of plants and animals to the consumption of finished products.
According to the Asian Development Bank’s assessment, the region's countries face systemic challenges in ensuring food safety across all stages of the "farm-to-fork" chain. These constraints stem from a fragmented legal and regulatory framework, including gaps in the distribution of responsibilities among government agencies and risk management requirements for the private sector. Additionally, a pronounced shift toward end-product testing rather than the regulation of food chain operators limits the adoption of preventive risk management approaches.
Systemic constraints also include an over-reliance on paper-based certification and finished-product testing instead of the risk-based systems recommended by the WHO and the FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius. Alongside this, deficiencies in laboratory infrastructure are highlighted, including outdated equipment, shortages of consumables, limited access to training, and insufficient implementation of quality management principles and ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation.
Crucially, food safety is determined not only by the efficiency of controls at individual stages of the "farm-to-fork" chain but also by broader drivers that influence the formation of biological and chemical risks within food systems.
Determinants of Food Safety
Environmental health is a key determinant of food safety, as water, soil, and air pollution directly affect the formation and spread of biological and chemical risks in food systems.
Food products serve as a major transmission mechanism for a number of zoonotic diseases, with a significant proportion of foodborne pathogens originating from animals and circulating widely in the agricultural environment. For instance, Brucella can originate from infected sheep, cattle, and goats, illustrating the direct link between the state of livestock systems and human health risks via the food chain.
Furthermore, chemical contaminants such as pesticides, mycotoxins, and food additives can enter the food chain through environmental pollution and agricultural practices, causing acute and chronic illnesses in both animals and humans. In this regard, sustainable plant pest and disease management is viewed as an essential element in mitigating environmentally driven food risks, while the "One Health" approach supports the adoption of sustainable practices aimed at simultaneously improving ecosystem, animal, and human health.
Conclusion
Food safety in Central Asia is not an isolated sanitation issue but a complex, systemic risk emerging at the intersection of food supply chains, public health, livestock production, and environmental factors.
Analysis indicates that foodborne infections, antimicrobial resistance, environmental factors, and the structural constraints of food systems constitute interconnected elements of a unified risk landscape, reinforcing one another along the "farm-to-fork" chain.
Under these conditions, the "One Health" approach serves as the pivotal operational framework for integrated food safety risk management, aligning the efforts of public health, veterinary, and environmental systems.
For the countries of Central Asia, the transition from fragmented control systems to integrated surveillance mechanisms—anchored in intersectoral data exchange, upgraded laboratory infrastructure, and the regional harmonization of regulatory approaches—is becoming a paramount priority.
Nadezhda Ryapolova
Health Sector Consultant, "One Health" Pro
grams, CAREC