Food hygiene are the conditions and measures necessary to ensure the safety of food from production to consumption. Food can become contaminated at any point during slaughtering or harvesting, processing, storage, distribution, transportation and preparation. Lack of adequate food hygiene can lead to foodborne diseases and death of the consumer. 

Food safety encompasses actions aimed at ensuring that all food is as safe as possible. Food safety policies and actions need to cover the entire food chain, from production to consumption. Foodborne diseases take a major toll on health. Millions of people fall ill and many die as a result of eating unsafe food. Deeply concerned by this, WHO Member States adopted a resolution in 2000 to recognize food safety as an essential public health function.

Food sanitation is the practice of following certain rules and procedures to prevent the contamination of food, keeping it safe to eat. Many jurisdictions around the world have specific food sanitation laws, along with lists of regulations created by public health agencies. The practice of food sanitation is recommended at every step of the supply chain within the food industry, from workers in crop fields to waiters at restaurants. The term "food sanitation" typically refers to rules and procedures within the food industry, whether during production, packaging, transporting or serving. At the consumer level, such as in a home kitchen, practices designed to ensure that food is uncontaminated and safe to eat are often referred to using the term "food hygiene."