FAO/WHO International Food Safety Authorities Network (INFOSAN)
An increasingly interconnected global food supply means that risks posed by unsafe food have the potential to rapidly evolve from a local problem to an international emergency. Ensuring food safety is an essential component for achieving global health security and national food safety authorities must be able to share information quickly and efficiently worldwide.
About

91%

of network members

report that participating in INFOSAN has been a valuable experience (2019 survey)

120+

Member states

alerted through INFOSAN about contaminated food exported to their country in 2020

125+ international

food safety events

communicated through INFOSAN in 2020

600+ members

from 190 Member States participate in INFOSAN

INFOSAN Community Website

INFOSAN-G

Access to the website is granted to officially designated INFOSAN members.

If you have questions about access to the Community Website or about INFOSAN in general, please contact the INFOSAN Secretariat, infosan@who.int.

 

Publications

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INFOSAN members’ guide: web annex: template for INFOSAN/IHR communication
8 December 2020

INFOSAN members’ guide: web annex: template for INFOSAN/IHR communication

The following text can serve as a starting point for the development of a national protocol for information sharing among various stakeholders involved...

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INFOSAN activity report 2018-2019
9 September 2020

INFOSAN activity report 2018-2019

Highlights from 2018 and 2019INFOSAN was active during 162 global food safety events, involving countries and territories across all regions in 2018...

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INFOSAN members’ guide
18 August 2020

INFOSAN members’ guide

The new International Food Safety Authorities Network (INFOSAN) Members’ Guide has been developed taking a participatory approach and includes...

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INFOSAN advisory group, 1 July 2020
6 August 2020

INFOSAN advisory group, 1 July 2020

INFOSAN Advisory Group members bring unique knowledge, skills and experiences to complement the knowledge and skills of the Secretariat to more...

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External publications

A mixed-method exploration into the experience of members of the FAO/WHO International Food Safety Authorities Network (INFOSAN): study protocol

BMJ Open 2019; 9:e027091

Exploring the Experiences of Members of the International Food Safety Authorities Network: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis

Journal of Food Protection, Volume 84, Issue 10, October 2021

Exploring the International Food Safety Authorities Network as a Community of Practice: Results from a Global Survey of Network Members

Journal of Food Protection, Vol. 84, No. 2, 2021, Pages 262–274

Global perspectives on food fraud: results from a WHO survey of members of the International Food Safety Authorities Network (INFOSAN)

npj Science of Food 3, Article 12 (2019).

Looking Inside the International Food Safety Authorities Network Community Website

Journal of Food Protection, Vol. 83, No. 11, 2020, Pages 1889–1899

The FAO/WHO International Food Safety Authorities Network in Review, 2004–2018: Learning from the Past and Looking to the Future

Foodborne Pathogens and Disease. Volume 16, Issue 7, July 9, 2019; 480-488.

The utilisation of tools to facilitate cross-border communication during international food safety events, 1995–2020: a realist synthesis

Globalization and Health 17, Article number 65, 2021