EU and Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations have joined forces to take action on food waste and antimicrobial resistance.
Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Vytenis Andriukaitis and the Director-General of Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) José Graziano da Silva have agreed to ramp up collaboration between the two organisations in tackling the problems of waste in food supply chains and antimicrobial resistance.
In a letter of intent signed on 29 September 2017, The FAO and the EU pledged to work closely together to halve per capita food waste by 2030, a goal established under the new Sustainable Development Goals global agenda. It also commits them to intensified cooperation on tackling the spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) on farms and in food systems.
Commissioner Andriukaitis said: “Food loss and waste represent an unacceptable, unethical and immoral squandering of scarce resources and increase food insecurity, while AMR marks a grave societal and economic burden ,” adding: “We are becoming more united, more efficient and more strategic in how we tackle these issues, and as such, this agreement should be celebrated.”
Calling AMR a global threat to humans and animals, Graziano da Silva said: “FAO’s vision is that antibiotics and other antimicrobials, should be only used to cure diseases and alleviate unnecessary suffering.” While in certain circumstances such as treatments could be used to prevent an imminent infection, “in no circumstances should they be used for growth promotion,” he said.
Globally, one-third of all food produce for human consumption -1.3 billion tonnes – is lost or wasted, each year, causing massive financial losses while squandering natural resources. In Europe alone, around 88 million tonnes of food are wasted each year, with associated costs estimated at €143 billion, according to EU estimates.
Meanwhile, the increased use - and abuse - of antimicrobial medicines in both human and animal healthcare has contributed to an increase in the number of disease-causing microbes that are resistant to antimicrobial medicines used to treat them, like antibiotics.