The countries with the best food safety in the world have realized the importance of nutrition and health for its citizens. Estimates suggest that there is currently enough food being produced in the world to feed every one of the 7 billion people currently in the world. However, most countries overconsume food while also wasting large amounts of food, which is why there are approximately 850 million hungry people in the world.
Some countries, especially those in Europe, have realized the importance of food and have ensured that their citizens have proper access to healthy food. These countries have ensured that the quality of food remains impeccable and that its citizens live long and healthy lives, which is in stark contrast to the 25 countries with the worst food safety in the world, whose citizens live impoverished lives where every day is a struggle to attain healthy food. Kind of makes our desire for junk food seem extremely silly in comparison doesn’t it?
When searching this topic I have seen multiple reports that claimed that Canada had the best food safety performance in the world. The Conference Board of Canada claimed that Canada and Ireland are ranked number 1, followed by France, United Kingdom, and Norway. The study covered only 16 countries. We found these results a little bit convenient, so we decided to search for broader studies that covered more countries and used different methodologies.
Oxfam International hosted a study to determine the ranking of the food systems in the world. We have used this study and selected the criteria of access to safe water and nutritional diversity in the food to determine 25 countries with the best food safety in the world. Using multiple criteria to facilitate our rankings helps to cancel out the biases which are inherently present in various criteria. Hence, it allows for a more accurate ranking which can withstand the test of time, or more importantly in this case, a Google search.
25. Malta
Score according to nutritional diversity: 19
Ranking according to nutritional diversity: 27
Score according to access to safe water: 0
Ranking according to access to safe water: 1
Arseniy Krasnevsky/Shutterstock.com
23. Portugal
Score according to nutritional diversity: 17
Ranking according to nutritional diversity: 24
Score according to access to safe water: 0
Ranking according to access to safe water: 1
23. Italy
Score according to nutritional diversity: 17
Ranking according to nutritional diversity: 24
Score according to access to safe water: 0
Ranking according to access to safe water: 1
20. Norway
Score according to nutritional diversity: 16
Ranking according to nutritional diversity: 22
Score according to access to safe water: 0
Ranking according to access to safe water: 1
20. United Kingdom
Score according to nutritional diversity: 16
Ranking according to nutritional diversity: 22
Score according to access to safe water: 0
Ranking according to access to safe water: 1
20. Greece
Score according to nutritional diversity: 16
Ranking according to nutritional diversity: 22
Score according to access to safe water: 0
Ranking according to access to safe water: 1
19. United States of America
Score according to nutritional diversity: 3
Ranking according to nutritional diversity: 3
Score according to access to safe water: 2
Ranking according to access to safe water: 15
photo.ua/Shutterstock.com
18. Finland
Score according to nutritional diversity: 14
Ranking according to nutritional diversity: 18
Score according to access to safe water: 0
Ranking according to access to safe water: 1
Oleksiy Mark/Shutterstock.com
17. Czech Republic
Score according to nutritional diversity: 12
Ranking according to nutritional diversity: 17
Score according to access to safe water: 0
Ranking according to access to safe water: 1
Veronika Galkina/Shutterstock.com
14. Canada
Score according to nutritional diversity: 10
Ranking according to nutritional diversity: 16
Score according to access to safe water: 0
Ranking according to access to safe water: 1
14. Hungary
Score according to nutritional diversity: 10
Ranking according to nutritional diversity: 16
Score according to access to safe water: 0
Ranking according to access to safe water: 1
14. France
Score according to nutritional diversity: 10
Ranking according to nutritional diversity: 16
Score according to access to safe water: 0
Ranking according to access to safe water: 1
Ioan Panaite/Shutterstock.com
9. New Zealand
Score according to nutritional diversity: 9
Ranking according to nutritional diversity: 13
Score according to access to safe water: 0
Ranking according to access to safe water: 1
9. Cyprus
Score according to nutritional diversity: 9
Ranking according to nutritional diversity: 13
Score according to access to safe water: 0
Ranking according to access to safe water: 1
Debu55y / Shutterstock.com
9. Germany
Score according to nutritional diversity: 9
Ranking according to nutritional diversity: 13
Score according to access to safe water: 0
Ranking according to access to safe water: 1
9. Sweden
Score according to nutritional diversity: 9
Ranking according to nutritional diversity: 13
Score according to access to safe water: 0
Ranking according to access to safe water: 1
Oleksiy Mark/Shutterstock.com
9. Denmark
Score according to nutritional diversity: 9
Ranking according to nutritional diversity: 13
Score according to access to safe water: 0
Ranking according to access to safe water: 1
5. Spain
Score according to nutritional diversity: 7
Ranking according to nutritional diversity: 8
Score according to access to safe water: 0
Ranking according to access to safe water: 1
5. Luxembourg
Score according to nutritional diversity: 7
Ranking according to nutritional diversity: 8
Score according to access to safe water: 0
Ranking according to access to safe water: 1
Marcin Krzyzak/Shutterstock.com
5. Belgium
Score according to nutritional diversity: 7
Ranking according to nutritional diversity: 8
Score according to access to safe water: 0
Ranking according to access to safe water: 1
5. Austria
Score according to nutritional diversity: 7
Ranking according to nutritional diversity: 8
Score according to access to safe water: 0
Ranking according to access to safe water: 1
4. Australia
Score according to nutritional diversity: 5
Ranking according to nutritional diversity: 4
Score according to access to safe water: 0
Ranking according to access to safe water: 1
3. Netherlands
Score according to nutritional diversity: 3
Ranking according to nutritional diversity: 3
Score according to access to safe water: 0
Ranking according to access to safe water: 1
2. Switzerland
Score according to nutritional diversity: 2
Ranking according to nutritional diversity: 2
Score according to access to safe water: 0
Ranking according to access to safe water: 1
1. Iceland
Score according to nutritional diversity: 0
Ranking according to nutritional diversity: 1
Score according to access to safe water: 0
Ranking according to access to safe water: 1
With a perfect score of 0 in both categories, Iceland tops the ranking of the 25 countries with the best food safety in the world.
Filip Fuxa/Shutterstock.com
