Prevention of foodborne disease: Five keys to safer food
Each year millions of people become ill and thousands die from a preventable foodborne disease. Proper food preparation can prevent many foodborne diseases. As part of its global strategy to decrease the burden of foodborne diseases, WHO identified the need to communicate a simple global health message, rooted in scientific evidence, to educate all types of food handlers, including ordinary consumers. The Five Keys to Safer Food message is a global health message which explains the basic principles that each individual should know all over the world to ensure safe food handling practices and prevent foodborne diseases. The Five Keys to Safer Food, and associated training materials, were developed to provide countries with materials that are easy to use, reproduce and adapt to different target audiences.
Translated into 84 languages, mainly on initiative from countries, the Five Keys to Safer Food message serve as the basis for health promotion campaigns and educational programmes in over 100 countries and are used to train food handlers in restaurants, canteens, street and market places, small processing businesses, hospitals, health care centres, schools, home. Recognized as an international reference source, the Five Keys to Safer Food message is also extensively used in emergency situations to prevent and control diseases outbreaks (e.g. cholera).
The five keys to safer food
- Keep clean
- Separate raw and cooked
- Cook thoroughly
- Keep food at safe temperatures
- Use safe water and raw materials
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About the 5 Keys to Safer Food Programme
pdf, 290kb -
Five keys to safer food poster
Introduced in 2001, the poster, now available in 84 languages, is used as the basis for educational projects all over the world. -
Five keys to safer food manual
The manual elaborates the food safety information provided in the WHO Five keys to safety food poster and suggests ways to communicate the message. -
Shanghai Expo shines spotlight on Five Keys
From 11-15 October 2010, WHO held an exhibition in the UN Pavilion of the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai. Titled "Five Keys to Safer Food", it used eye-grabbing images of food to raise public awareness about simple ways to prevent foodborne disease. -
Building on the Five Keys to Safer Food concept: The 3 Fives
Introduced in 2007, The 3 Fives: Five Keys to Safer Food, Five Keys to a Healthy Diet, Five Keys to Appropriate Physical Activity, were used to promote healthy lifestyles during the Beijing Olympics. -
News Release: WHO Launches new "5 Keys" Strategy in Bangkok, Thailand
October 2004
Brochure on the five keys
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English
pdf, 286kb -
French
pdf, 273kb -
Spanish
pdf, 266kb -
Chinese
pdf, 639kb -
Arabic
pdf, 1.01Mb -
Russian
pdf, 369kb
INFOSAN Information Note 05/2006: Five Keys to Safer Food
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English
pdf, 119kb -
French
pdf, 108kb -
Spanish
pdf, 115kb -
Chinese
pdf, 313kb -
Russian
pdf, 336kb -
Arabic
pdf, 90kb
For more information about the WHO requirements to reproduce or translate the poster, to share your experiences, for potential collaborations or any additional information, please contact directly Françoise Fontannaz at fontannazf@who.int. For regional food safety contacts please go to our contact us page.
The Five Keys materials, including the Train the Trainer course, should not be used for any commercial or income-generating purpose. No element of the Five Keys materials may be used to promote any specific individual, entity or product, in any manner whatsoever.