The Food Safety Information Council Ltd

There are estimated to be 4.1 million cases of food poisoning each year in Australia and much of that is sourced with consumers.

Food poisoning can be as minor as stomach ache all the way through vomitting and diarrhoea to a day or so off work through to days in hospital to long term medical conditions to death. There are around 200 deaths a year linked to food poisoning and it  is mainly the high risk groups in our community which are most at risk.

Research by FSIC in 2018 shows that 1 in 3 people in our community are either in one of the four high risk groups (elderly, young, immune compromised or pregnant women) or live with someone who is.

With one in six of us getting food poisoning each year and one in three being either high risk or in close contact with someone who is, food poisoning is one of the major health issues for this country.

The problem is that most people do not see food poisoning as anything really serious, but in some cases people who have had it will have long term health issues and may need things like kidney transplants.

The Food Safety Information Council Ltd (FSIC) was started in 1997 when it was realised by the Commonwealth and state / territory governments that there was a need for a specific independent body to provide food safety information for consumers.

Since then the FSIC has been leading  the annual Food Safety Week in the second week of November as well as becoming a trusted source of interviews and information for the media in Australia.

The FSIC is committed to only providing scientifically correct food safety information in a way that makes it easy for consumers to understand.

Like many community related health charities in this country the work is all done by volunteers, who are experts in their fields.

There is much information available for use by both consumers and businesses alike on the website – www.foodsafety.asn.au