Food systems, food safety and health

Abstract

Our world is not well fed and while hunger has been decreasing over the last decades, communicable and non-communicable diseases are trending upwards. The best estimates indicate that the health burden of foodborne disease is equivalent to that of malaria, HIV/AIDs or tuberculosis and the cost to low- and middle-income countries is more than 100 billion USD a year. Most of the global health burden of foodborne disease originates in animal source food and fresh vegetables sold in the informal, traditional markets of developing countries. Alleviating this burden also benefits nutrition, incomes, equity and the environment.  Delia Grace Randolph discusses a journey of several decades to provide an understanding of foodborne disease and how best to manage it.

Delia Grace Randolph is a renowned scientist with unique and transformative impacts on the safety of food systems and public health in developing countries. As a trained veterinarian and epidemiologist, she brings a special expertise on the interconnectedness of animal health, human health and eco-health to her work. A focus of her work is improving food safety in informal markets in developing countries. Her career has spanned the private sector, field-level community development and aid management, as well as research.  She has lived and worked in Asia, west and east Africa and authored or co-authored more than 200 peer-reviewed publications as well as training courses, briefs, films, articles, chapters and blog posts.