New directions for tackling food safety risks in the informal sector of developing countries

Informal food markets are important sources of affordable, nutritious food for millions of people in low- and middle-income countries. However, a large part of the public health burden of foodborne disease is associated with foods that are handled and sold by informal food processors and vendors.

In most low- and lower middle-income countries, informal food markets will remain important for food and nutritional security for the foreseeable future. And, under a ‘business as usual’ scenario, we might even expect the problem of unsafe food in this sector to worsen rather than improve over time.

To be more effective in addressing unsafe food in informal markets, there is a need for a shift in mind-sets, and a very different, multi-sectoral, multi-dimensional and spatially focused approach which deals with the complex capacity- and incentive-related constraints associated with informal markets.