What if we told you that not every major foodborne outbreak is caused by bacteria? Every year, the World Health Organization estimates that around 1.5 million people become infected with Hepatitis A, while Hepatitis E causes approximately 20 million infections worldwide, many linked to contaminated food and water. Yet these viruses are rarely part of everyday food safety conversations.

That's why World Hepatitis Day matters. Observed every year on July 28, this global awareness day, themed "Hepatitis: Let's Break It Down," calls on us to break down the barriers to prevention, awareness, and access to care. For the food industry, it also means breaking down a common misconception: food safety isn't just about controlling bacteria. It's equally about preventing viral hazards like Hepatitis A and E before they enter the food chain.

Why Do We Observe World Hepatitis Day?

Every year on July 28, the world comes together to raise awareness about viral hepatitis and the millions of lives it continues to affect.

The date honors the birthday of Dr. Baruch Samuel Blumberg, the Nobel Prize-winning scientist who discovered the Hepatitis B virus and contributed to the development of the first Hepatitis B vaccine. His work transformed the understanding of liver disease and laid the foundation for one of the most successful vaccination programs in modern medicine.

Recognizing the global burden of hepatitis, the World Health Organization (WHO) established World Hepatitis Day to encourage awareness, improve access to testing and treatment, and support the goal of eliminating viral hepatitis as a public health threat.

While healthcare systems focus on diagnosis and treatment, food businesses contribute in another equally important way: preventing foodborne hepatitis before it begins.

What Is Hepatitis and Which Types Are Foodborne?

Hepatitis simply means inflammation of the liver, an organ responsible for filtering toxins, processing nutrients, producing proteins, and supporting digestion. When the liver becomes inflamed, these essential functions are affected, sometimes leading to serious illness.

Not all hepatitis has the same cause. It may result from alcohol misuse, certain medications, autoimmune conditions, or viral infections. Among the five main hepatitis viruses, however, only two are commonly linked to food safety.

Foodborne hepatitis viruses

Hepatitis A

• Spread through contaminated food and water
• Often linked to poor hand hygiene and unsafe sanitation

Hepatitis E

• Spread primarily through contaminated water
• In some regions, associated with undercooked pork, wild game, and shellfish

Not spread through food

• Hepatitis B: Blood and body fluids
• Hepatitis C: Blood-to-blood contact
• Hepatitis D: Occurs only alongside Hepatitis B infection

Understanding this distinction helps food businesses focus preventive efforts where they matter most.

How Do Hepatitis A and E Enter the Food Chain?

Unlike bacteria, these viruses don't grow in food. Food simply becomes the vehicle that carries them from one person to another.

The most common route of transmission is the fecal-oral route, where microscopic traces of contaminated fecal matter enter food or water through poor hygiene or unsafe environmental conditions.

Common contamination sources include:

• Infected food handlers with inadequate hand hygiene
• Unsafe water used during irrigation, washing, or food processing
• Raw or undercooked shellfish harvested from contaminated waters
• Fresh fruits and vegetables exposed to contaminated water
• Cross-contamination during food preparation

One of the greatest challenges is that symptoms often appear weeks after exposure. By then, the contaminated product has usually been consumed, making investigations and traceability far more difficult.

Why Are Hepatitis A and E Different from Other Foodborne Pathogens?

Unlike bacteria such as Salmonella or Listeria, Hepatitis A and Hepatitis E are viruses, and they behave very differently in food. Bacteria can multiply when conditions such as temperature, moisture, and nutrients are favorable. Hepatitis viruses cannot. They require living human cells to replicate, so they do not grow in food. Instead, contaminated food and water simply act as vehicles that carry the virus to the next host.

Another key difference is their ability to survive in the environment. Hepatitis A, a non-enveloped virus, is particularly resilient and can remain infectious on food, hands, and food-contact surfaces, even under refrigeration or freezing. Coupled with a long incubation period of several weeks, outbreaks are often detected only after contaminated products have been consumed, making traceback investigations more challenging.

For food manufacturers, this means that preventing contamination is far more important than controlling microbial growth. Strong hygiene practices, safe water, effective sanitation, and preventive food safety systems remain the best defense against foodborne Hepatitis A and E.

Also read: 6 Myths About Foodborne Hepatitis A & E

How Can Food Businesses Prevent Hepatitis A and E?

The encouraging news is that the same preventive principles used to control other food safety hazards are also effective against foodborne hepatitis.

Food businesses should prioritize:

• Hand hygiene: Ensure proper handwashing and clear employee illness reporting procedures.
• Safe water: Verify the microbiological quality of water used for irrigation, cleaning, and processing.
• Cleaning and sanitation: Maintain validated cleaning and sanitation programs for equipment and food-contact surfaces.
• HACCP and preventive controls: Identify contamination risks before they occur and establish appropriate control measures.
• Food safety culture: Build awareness so employees understand the impact of everyday hygiene practices.
• Digital food safety management: Use digital systems to manage inspections, sanitation records, supplier approvals, traceability, corrective actions, training, and audit documentation.

How Can a Digital Food Safety Management System Help Prevent Foodborne Hepatitis?

Foodborne Hepatitis A and E are preventable, but prevention depends on consistency. Every hygiene check, sanitation activity, supplier verification, and corrective action must be carried out at the right time, every time. Even a single missed step can create an opportunity for contamination.

A Digital Food Safety Management System (FSMS) helps transform these preventive practices into a connected, proactive process by enabling food businesses to:

• Standardize hygiene, sanitation, and HACCP activities across operations.
• Monitor food safety tasks and critical controls in real time.
• Strengthen traceability and corrective actions to respond quickly to potential risks.
• Centralize training, supplier management, and compliance records in one place.

By improving visibility, accountability, and consistency, a digital FSMS helps food businesses prevent contamination before it becomes an outbreak, protecting both public health and consumer trust.

That's the idea behind Smart Food Safe. By digitizing your food safety processes and bringing them together in one platform, we help you turn everyday preventive actions into lasting protection for your products, your business, and the people who trust your food.

Key Takeaway

World Hepatitis Day is not merely a date marked on a calendar. It is a reminder of a deeper truth: food safety and public health are inseparably woven together.

The viruses we cannot see can still leave a visible impact on lives, families, and communities. By understanding how Hepatitis A and Hepatitis E move through the food chain and strengthening preventive food safety practices, the food industry has the power to interrupt that journey before illness begins.

Because behind every sanitation check, every verified supplier, every trained employee, and every preventive decision is not just a compliance requirement, but a commitment to protect the people who place their trust in the food we produce.

Every decision made to keep food safe is ultimately a decision to safeguard public health.