“The world has become more vulnerable to outbreaks of disease caused by contaminated food because of growing global trade, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Thursday,” Agence France-Presse reports. WHO officials say that “[i]nvestigating these outbreaks has also become more difficult because food can contain ingredients from around the world and is transported through a complex global supply chain,” according to AFP. Speaking “at a conference in Singapore on improving preparedness against global health threats,” WHO Director-General Margaret Chan said, “Problems nowadays can arise from any link or kink in a convoluted food chain” and governments worldwide are faced with the challenge of how to “reduce the health and economic consequences of foodborne diseases,” the news service writes (10/13).