Children under five make up just 9% of the global population, yet they account for nearly a third of all foodborne disease cases. Unsafe food causes an estimated 866 million illnesses and 1.5 million deaths every year, and the youngest bear the heaviest share of that burden.
Published on 4 June 2026 to mark World Food Safety Day, the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) 2026 Foodborne Disease Estimates provide national-level data for the first time and give real weight to this year’s theme: “From burden to solutions: safe food everywhere.”
The South-East Asian region is among the worst affected, with significant variation in the chemical and microbial risks facing individual countries. Lead exposure and methylmercury contamination alone can cause lifelong neurological harm in children. Regional averages obscure these differences. Country-specific responses are needed.
Food safety is everyone’s business. APIYCNA members hold themselves to manufacturing and quality standards that exceed general food safety requirements. We monitor regulatory developments across the region, engage actively in policy consultations, and work to ensure that what the industry knows informs the rules it operates under. Since our founding, APIYCNA has supported the work of Codex Alimentarius in establishing science-based food standards and guidelines, contributing scientific data to risk analysis processes that protect the most vulnerable.
Governments, scientific bodies, and industry cannot afford to work in isolation. When coordination breaks down, it is families and already-stretched healthcare systems that pay the price.
APIYCNA supports exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life, followed by continued breastfeeding alongside safe and nutritionally appropriate complementary foods, consistent with WHO guidance. Where manufactured nutrition products are needed, they must meet the highest safety standards. That is not a caveat. It is the starting point.
Regional governments, regulators, and industry partners now have the evidence they need. We are calling on all of them to use it as the foundation for food control systems built around the actual risks children face, country by country.
About APIYCNA
Established in 2010 and headquartered in Singapore, the Asia Pacific Infant and Young Child Nutrition Association (APIYCNA) is a not-for-profit organisation representing the infant and young child nutrition industry across the Asia-Pacific. Its five member companies share a commitment to improving the nutritional well-being of infants and young children throughout the region.