Agribusiness: food safety in Africa’s informal markets must be driven by consumers.

Listeria in processed meat products from South Africa, E. Coli in romaine lettuce in the US, Salmonella in eggs across Europe and Campylobacter in chicken liver pâté in Australia.

These are among the many pathogens and foods at the centre of recent food safety crises worldwide, estimated to impact as many people as infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS, malaria and TB.

 But while deaths and illnesses from unsafe food hit countries worldwide, the incidences of these illnesses and lost lives are disproportionately high in Africa.

 Across the continent, tainted food kills about 140 000 people every year, and leaves 91 million more suffering from diarrhoea, tapeworm, hepatitis and even dysentery and typhoid.

 This is on course to become even worse as income growth and urbanization in Africa are enabling better, more diverse diets.

 Ironically, these healthier foods – such as dairy, eggs, meat, fruits and vegetables – are more likely to be contaminated.

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