Each day millions of people become ill and thousands die from a preventable foodborne disease. Proper food preparation can prevent many foodborne diseases.

As part of its global strategy to decrease the burden of foodborne diseases, WHO identified the need to communicate a simple global health message, rooted in scientific evidence, to educate all types of food handlers, including ordinary consumers. The Five Keys to Safer Food message, and associated training materials, were developed to provide countries with materials that are easy to use, reproduce and adapt to different target audiences.