Good Food Initiative Food Safety Awareness
Food safety awareness · For everyone, everywhere

Safer food for a healthier world.

The Good Food Initiative is a worldwide effort spreading simple, science-backed habits for safer food — from the family kitchen to the street stall to the restaurant. Small changes, far fewer illnesses.

Learn the five keys Get involved

Guidance based on World Health Organization recommendations

• GOOD FOOD INITIATIVE • SAFE • FRESH • AWARE

Why it matters

Unsafe food makes millions ill — and most of it is preventable.

Contaminated food and water spread diseases such as diarrhoea, typhoid and hepatitis — hitting children and families hardest. The good news: the habits that stop them are simple, low-cost and work in every kitchen on earth.

600M
people — almost 1 in 10 worldwide — fall ill from contaminated food every year.
420,000
deaths each year are caused by unsafe food, many of them avoidable.
40%
of the foodborne-illness burden falls on children under five years old.

Source: World Health Organization (WHO), Food Safety key facts.

The basics

Five keys to safer food

Five habits the WHO recommends for every home and food business. Practise them daily and you stop most foodborne illness at the source.

Key 1

Keep clean

Wash hands with soap before cooking and eating, and after using the toilet. Keep surfaces, utensils and cloths clean, and protect food from insects and pests.

Key 2

Separate raw & cooked

Keep raw meat, poultry and fish away from other foods. Use separate boards, knives and bowls for raw items, and store them in closed containers.

Key 3

Cook thoroughly

Cook food fully — especially meat, eggs and seafood. Reheat leftovers until steaming hot. Aim for 70°C (158°F) at the centre; soups and stews should reach a rolling boil.

Key 4

Keep safe temperatures

Don't leave cooked food at room temperature for more than two hours. Keep hot food hot (above 60°C / 140°F) and cold food cold (below 5°C / 41°F). Thaw frozen food in the fridge, not on the counter.

Key 5

Use safe water & ingredients

Use clean, safe drinking water. Wash fruits and vegetables well, choose fresh ingredients, and check dates — never use food that is past its expiry.

Share these five.

Teach them to your children and neighbours. A single clean kitchen protects a family; a whole community protects a nation.

Framework: WHO “Five Keys to Safer Food”.

Be a smart buyer

Spot common adulteration at home

Everyday foods are sometimes mixed with cheaper — and sometimes unsafe — substances. Here are quick, widely used checks anyone can try at home with no special equipment.

Milk

Water added

Put a drop of milk on a polished, slanting surface. Pure milk flows slowly and leaves a white trail behind it; watered milk runs down fast, leaving no mark.

Ground spices

Starch / flour filler

Add a drop of iodine (tincture) to a small sample. If it turns blue-black, cheap starch or flour has been mixed in to bulk up the spice.

Chilli / paprika powder

Brick powder / dye

Sprinkle a little on a glass of water. Pure powder floats; brick powder or sand sinks quickly and feels gritty. Colour streaking down means artificial dye.

Honey

Sugar syrup / water

Dip a cotton wick in the honey and try to light it. Pure honey burns steadily; adulterated honey won't catch easily because of the added moisture.

Found something suspicious? Stop using the product and report it to your local food-safety or consumer-protection authority.

Quick checklist

Before you buy

  • Look for official food-safety certification and clear labelling.
  • Check the manufacturing and expiry dates before paying.
  • Prefer sealed, intact packaging — avoid torn or leaking packets.
  • Buy from clean vendors who cover food and use safe water.
  • Be wary of unnaturally bright colours in sweets and spices.
  • Choose fresh, in-season produce and wash it before use.

Our work

How we spread the word

We take food safety out of the textbook and into homes, schools and markets in communities around the world.

Community workshops

Hands-on hygiene sessions in neighbourhoods and marketplaces — showing families how the five keys work in a real kitchen.

School programs

Teaching children handwashing, safe drinking water and clean-eating habits they carry home to the whole family.

Vendor & restaurant training

Working with street-food sellers and small restaurants on covered food, clean water, safe storage and proper licensing.

Awareness campaigns

Posters, community events and online drives that turn food-safety facts into simple messages people remember.

Join us

Bring safer food to your community.

Volunteer for a campaign, invite us to your school or market, or simply share what you've learnt here. Every conversation makes food a little safer, somewhere in the world.

Volunteer with us Invite us to your school / market

Reach us

Where
Worldwide · online
Join from anywhere
Report unsafe food
Contact your local food-safety authority