What best describes food safety in a One Health lens, and which bodies regulate it?

• A. Preventing foodborne illness across production to consumption; regulated by public health, veterinary, agriculture, and food safety authorities.
• B. Only ensures nutrition labeling; regulated by consumer protection agencies.
• C. Focuses on animal welfare; regulated by wildlife authorities.
• D. Is unrelated to cross-sector collaboration; regulated by hospital infection control.

Answer: (A)

In a One Health view, food safety means preventing illness from foods across the entire chain—from farm to fork—through coordinated action among human health, animal health, and environmental sectors. It involves surveillance for hazards, risk assessment, and rapid response that cut across production, processing, distribution, and consumption. Regulation reflects this cross‑sector approach and typically involves public health authorities (for human health risks and outbreaks), veterinary/animal health authorities (for diseases and safety of animal-origin foods), agricultural regulators (to govern farming practices and supply chains), and dedicated food safety agencies that set standards, conduct inspections, and enforce compliance. Internationally, Codex Alimentarius helps harmonize these standards to facilitate safe trade.

The other descriptions are too narrow for One Health: nutrition labeling alone addresses consumer information rather than safety across the supply chain; focusing on animal welfare centers on welfare rather than food safety mechanisms; and hospital infection control operates within clinical settings, not the broad regulatory framework governing food safety across sectors.