The United Nations Food Systems Summit defines a healthy diet as a combination of foods that are health-promoting and disease-preventing. However, when food is unsafe or contaminated, we can expect the opposite effect. Unsafe foods that harbor harmful bacteria, viruses, parasites or chemical substances are responsible for more than 200 different diseases and 420,000 deaths every year globally. Although foodborne illnesses disproportionately burden low-income populations, when people avoid fresh foods for fear of poisoning or illness, consumption of nutritious foods decreases for everyone. Addressing food safety issues is key to improving people’s health, but especially that of women.