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Submitted by Juergen Voegele On Mon, 12/09/2013In the lead up to the holidays, much will be written about how we, as consumers, can safely prepare food to ensure that friends and family remember a wonderful holiday meal and not the bout of food poisoning that landed a loved one in the emergency room.But it often strikes me that other major threats to food safety – those that lie undetected in farms and factories and other vulnerable points along the food supply chain – are not part of the conversation until tainted food surfaces in grocery stores and on dinner plates, making millions sick and even killing people along the way.As global headlines have illustrated – packaged salads in the United States, sprouts in Germany, milk and infant formula in China – food safety is a serious issue that affects all of us: individuals, nations, and businesses.  No country is immune, and as global agri-food value chains become more integrated, food safety hazards that were once geographically confined can now span countries and continents with ease.The human and economic toll exacted by these hazards is significant.  In the United States alone, around 48 million cases of foodborne diseases occur each year, resulting in 128,000 hospitalizations and 3,000 deaths. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 200 diseases – many of them deadly – are spread through food. Diarrhoeal disease alone, which is mainly caused by contaminated food or water, kills an estimated 1.5 million children every year.Read the post on Voices (Worldbank blog)