CHAPTER 6. RIGHT TO ADEQUATE FOOD AND DRINKING WATER OBJECTIVE The objective of this chapter is to underline that prisoners must be provided with wholesome food which is adequate to safeguard their health and strength. They must also have regular access to drinking water. ESSENTIAL PRINCIPLES Adequate food and drinking water are human rights. All prisoners have the right to wholesome and adequate food at the usual hours, with drinking water available whenever needed. BASIS IN INTERNATIONAL INSTRUMENTS Article 11 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights ensures the right to adequate food as a component of the right of everyone to an adequate standard of living. Article 11, paragraph 2, specifically provides that States parties recognize the fundamental right of everyone to be free from hunger. The right to adequate food is further developed by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in its General Comment No. 12 (1999) on the subject,³ which provides: 6. The right to adequate food is realized when every man, woman and child, alone or in community with others, has physical and economic access at all times to adequate food or means for its procurement. The right to adequate food shall therefore not be interpreted in a narrow or restrictive sense which equates it with a minimum package of calories, proteins and other specific nutrients. … … 8. The Committee considers that the core content of the right to adequate food implies: (a) the availability of food in a quantity and quality sufficient to satisfy the dietary needs of individuals, free from adverse substances, and acceptable within a given culture; (b) the accessibility of such food in ways that are sustainable and that do not interfere with the enjoyment of other human rights. ³ Official Records of the Economic and Social Council, 2000, Supplement No. 2 and corrigendum (E/2000/22 and Corr.1), annex V. 52