INFOSAN - Global Food Safety
Good partnerships and the multi-lateral exchange of information are indispensable for effective actions when food safety is under threat. INFOSAN links food safety authorities in order to reduce food-related risks world-wide.
- What is INFOSAN?
- What are the objectives of INFOSAN?
- Who does what at INFOSAN?
- How does INFOSAN work?
What is INFOSAN?
The International Food Safety Authorities Network in short INFOSAN is a global network of national food safety monitoring authorities that was developed and founded in 2004 by the World Health Organization (WHO) in cooperation with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Until now, about 190 states have joined INFOSAN.
What are the objectives of INFOSAN?
Similar to the European "Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed" (RASFF) INFOSAN enables the government authorities of the network members to rapidly exchange information in the event of incidents regarding food safety; for example, to prevent the spreading of food products that pose a serious public health risk from one country to another. INFOSAN also supports the exchange of experience and proven solution approaches in order to optimize measures for the protection of consumer health.
In addition, INFOSAN aims at fostering the spirit of partnership and cooperation between the countries and networks and helps countries to strengthen their capability to cope with emergencies in the area of food safety.
Source: © INFOSAN Flyer/ BVL
Who does what at INFOSAN?
Two world-wide organizations are at the core of INFOSAN: INFOSAN is jointly operated by the WHO and FAO, while most operative functions are handled by the Secretariat at WHO. Each member state has national, specialized contact points, the so-called “INFOSAN Focal Points”, for example for health, fisheries management, or agriculture. In emergency cases, the “INFOSAN Emergency Contact Points” may be contacted. In order to recognize incidents in the area of food safety, the INFOSAN Secretariat monitors a large number of information sources which cover food chains.
Source: © infosan members guide 2019
The structure of INFOSAN aims at promoting the interdisciplinary cooperation. To this end, the member states established, among other things, the so-called INFOSAN Focal Points for the exchange of expert information. These are specific contact points within the authorities for food safety, health, agriculture, or trade and commerce.
In cooperation with the network members, the INFOSAN Secretariat assesses and verifies information on incidents and supports their collection and distribution.
In urgent transnational cases, the INFOSAN Secretariat will send alerts to the INFOSAN Emergency Contact Points of the concerned network members so that these may take the necessary measures and, if applicable, carry out further investigations.
In Germany, the BVL both acts as an emergency contact point and as the hub for a rapid transfer of information to the competent authorities in the German federal states and/or to the INFOSAN Secretariat. On the other hand, a focal point for food-borne outbreaks of diseases was established.
How does INFOSAN work?
If a food safety incident that concerns imported or exported food products was identified by an INFOSAN member, the corresponding information will be forwarded to the INFOSAN Secretariat.
In Europe, government authorities use the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) for the exchange of information. Therefore, notifications on dangerous products that also concern third countries will be forwarded to the European Commission by the competent authority in one federal state via the BVL. The BVL will then forward any information relevant for third countries to the INFOSAN Secretariat. Information from third countries will reach the BVL via the European Commission which in turn informs the authorities in the federal states. Any piece of information received will be compiled and assessed by the INFOSAN Secretariat.
Among other things, the assessment also examines the risk posed by the food product and the related consequences for the public health. In addition, the actual or potential international product distribution and the question whether cases of sicknesses were suspected or confirmed will be examined. If necessary, the INFOSAN contact points of the affected countries will be requested to contribute further information.
The examination results will then be published by the INFOSAN Secretariat on the network's internal website (ICW, INFOSAN Community Website) and the concerned member states will be informed.
While the exchange of information is usually limited to the countries that are immediately affected by the incident, larger or more complex incidents or crises may warrant communication on a larger scale and will then be communicated to the entire network in the form of so-called INFOSAN Global Alerts.
Each incident is unique and varies in type, geographic distribution, and length. Accordingly, the involvement of the INFOSAN Secretariat will vary and may range from the relatively simple verification of information to the complex coordination of incidents and provision of technical assistance.
IHR:
The International Health Regulations (IHR, 2005) are an agreement among 196 countries, among them all WHO member states that cooperate to ensure global health safety. In the IHR, the countries agreed to expand their capacities for the detection, assessment, and reporting of incidents in the field of public health. The WHO has assumed the lead role and, together with its partners, helps the countries to expand its capacities. The IHR also comprise specific measures in ports, at airports, and at border crossings, in order to limit the spreading of health risks to neighboring countries and to prevent unjustified travel and trade restrictions so that traffic and trade disruptions are reduced to a minimum.
INFOSAN Community Website:
In 2012, the INFOSAN Secretariat established the INFOSAN Community Website (ICW) - a secure online platform allowing INFOSAN members to connect and share information with each other. Since its launch, the ICW has been the key instrument for spreading information on food safety to the members in emergency situations. Furthermore, the ICW offers the members a forum for discussing current issues of food safety with experts from all over the world and a chat feature that allows real-time communication with other members, including the INFOSAN Secretariat. In addition, the ICW serves as the storage place for documents on food safety that are interesting to world-wide experts in the field of food safety who are engaged in emergency prevention and response.
Outbreak of listeriosis in Europe in connection with internationally marketed frozen vegetables from Hungary
In June 2018, a lengthy outbreak was reported to the INFOSAN Secretariat that comprised 47 cases of invasive listeria monocytogenes in five member states of the European Union (EU) in connection with frozen maize (corn) and other frozen vegetables that had been processed in one single plant in Hungary. The frozen maize and the other frozen vegetables had been processed into several other products. The affected products had been extensively distributed within the EU. In addition, there had been a secondary and tertiary distribution to the receiving countries. In total, more than 120 countries received the products affected.
Due to the wide and complex distribution of the affected products, the INFOSAN Secretariat issued a so-called Global Alert notifying all INFOSAN members of the current outbreak and the subsequent distribution in order to inform them whether or not they had received the products affected or to allow them to take the corresponding risk management actions.