The Pressing Issue of Food Safety for Infants and the Role of the Pediatrician

Food safety is a prominent concern among various public health issues due to its multidisciplinary and multi-sectoral nature. Public health programs addressing food safety are complex, presenting both advantages and disadvantages. These complexities result in a combination of voluntary and mandatory approaches, unparalleled in other initiatives. In this regard, the healthcare sector emerges as a pivotal player, with scientific societies carrying a crucial role in ensuring food safety. Scientific societies can indeed take on a fundamental coordination role, bringing together stakeholders from government, industry, and consumer groups. This article, authored by members of the working group on food safety of European Pediatric Association, Union of National Pediatric Societies and Associations (EPA-UNEPSA), underscores the importance of comprehensive quality monitoring systems. We outline how scientific societies can facilitate close collaboration among healthcare professionals, governmental agencies, industry representatives, and communities to ensure the safety of infant food. Specifically, we aim her to raise awareness of the ongoing need to mitigate risks associated with various hazards in food for infants and children, highlighting the central role that pediatricians, on the frontline of children's care, can play in shaping and executing local as well as national preventive programs in food safety. This requires active collaboration and integration with governments, as well as local, state, and global public health institutions and agencies, to ensure that infants and children have access to nutritious and safe food.