Safe Food International (SFI) has published a set of Guidelines for Consumer Organisations to Promote National Food Safety Systems. The Safe Food International Guidelines cover eight elements necessary for an effective national food safety programme.
Safe Food International is a project of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a not-for-profit group based in Washington D.C. The project treats food safety issues on a global scale and sees such issues as increasingly relevant across the world due to incidents of e.g. mad cow disease and avian flu. SFI aims to bring together and focus the efforts of national consumer organisations to ensure safer food supply.
In cooperation with the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and consumer organisations, the SFI aims to build common platforms for advocacy on better food standards.
The Safe Food International Guidelines are the product of SFI’s efforts and a conference held at the WHO in Geneva where 32 representatives from consumer organisations met and assisted in creating the guidelines.
The eight essential elements outlined in the guidelines are:
Food Laws and Regulations
Foodborne Disease Surveillance and Investigation Systems
Food Control Management
Inspection Services
Recall and Tracking Systems
Food Monitoring Laboratories
Information, Education, Communication and Training
Funding and Affordability of the National Food Safety Programme
The Guidelines also contain an Appendix which provides questions to evaluate national food safety programmes, assisting consumer organisations in monitoring the food safety programmes in their respective countries.
The Guidelines are available in English, French and Spanish at SFI’s website.
