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Science and Technology Resources on the Internet
Selected Internet Resources on Food Safety
Marilia Antúnez
Life and Allied Health Sciences Librarian
The University of Akron
Akron, Ohio
mantunez@uakron.edu
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Methods
- Scope
- Resources
- Intergovernmental Organizations
- United States Government
- Consumer Education
- Surveillance, Response and Statistics
- Literature Databases
- Centers, Institutes and Other Institutional Affiliations
- Education and Training
- Non-profit and Advocacy Organizations
- Magazines and Journals
- References
Introduction
Almost on a weekly basis, food recalls and alerts are reported on government web sites, such as Health Canada and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), to inform residents in hopes of removing unsafe foods from distribution, sale, and consumption (Health Canada 2016; U.S. FDA 2017). Food safety consists of protecting food from all contamination and preventing foodborne illnesses. Nonetheless, in recent years, there has been an increase in foodborne illness and foodborne outbreaks - defined as where two or more people suffer the same illness from the same contaminated food or drink worldwide (Denis et al. 2016; Crowe et al. 2012; Keener et al. 2014).
The nature of food safety is varied, complex, and immense. The safety of the food products provided to consumers has been the primary responsibility of food producers, distributors, and vendors (Denis et al. 2016). Food products often travel through global supply chains to reach consumers (Taylor & Hoffmann 2001). The European Union's Rapid Alert Systems for Food and Feed (RASFF), for example, identified almost 3,000 high-risk food products in 2010, half of which were foods produced outside the EU (Zhang et al. 2012). More people are also eating outside their homes. In the U.S., restaurants are the places of preparation for the majority of foodborne outbreaks (Gould et al. 2013). Researchers emphasize the importance of consumers' personal decisions in food selection, preparation, storage, and service to reduce the risk of foodborne illness and disease (Cody 2012; Fraser & Miller 2014).
With the passage of the 2011 Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), stakeholders, including public health departments, food processing plants, and state and federal agencies, incorporated training and implemented changes needed to comply with safety laws and regulations. For the first time, this legislation gave the USDA a legislative mandate to oversee food products (Dey et al. 2013). In addition, at domestic and international levels, there have been calls for governmental organizations and members of the food industry, regulatory, academia, consumer, and trade organizations to work together to prevent foodborne illness (Dey et al. 2013).
In the United States, current key food safety regulation and monitoring responsibilities are shared by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) and the FDA. Other government agencies also play a role in keeping food safe: the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulates pesticides; and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) coordinate monitoring, surveillance, and education programs for the wellbeing of the public. The CDC, FDA, and FSIS form the Interagency Food Safety Analytics Collaboration (IFSAC) to coordinate national food safety analytic efforts and other activities in investigating the sources of foodborne illness (CDC 2017). These federal agencies work with state health departments and local public health organizations to track, monitor, and respond to foodborne illnesses.
At the international level, there is no consensus on food safety standards and regulations from country to country. Some examples of food safety standards include the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code and the U.S. Food Code (Fraser & Miller 2014; Keener et al. 2014). In the European Union, one food safety control measure imposes strict conditions on food imports (European Food Information Council EUFIC 2011). Fortunately, some benchmarking international standards and practices have been developed, such as the international quality standard, an ISO 9000-ISO 9004 (McWilliams 2012). The purpose of this webliography is to provide a curated selection of free informational and educational web sites covering food safety issues intended for students, educators, librarians, and the general public.
Scope
This is a selective webliography that attempts to give a snapshot of the wide and diverse range of online food safety related information. As might be expected, most sites were developed and intended for users in the major industrialized English-speaking countries, such as the United States and the United Kingdom, which have established food safety control programs. The web sites are grouped into categories: Intergovernmental Organizations; U.S. Government; Consumer Education; Surveillance, Response, and Statistics; Literature Databases; Centers, Institutes and Other Institutional Affiliations; Education and Training; Non-Profit and Advocacy Organizations; and Magazines and Journals. Because food safety is a multidisciplinary topic involving knowledge and skills from several disciplines (i.e., environmental health, epidemiology, laboratory, food regulations, public health education, and communications), some categories' content may overlap.
Methods
EBSCOhost and ProQuest database aggregators, as well as the Scopus database and Google Scholar, were searched using the keywords "food safety" AND (resources OR web sites OR sites OR portals). The selection of web sites was based on the authority, accuracy, coverage, objectivity, currency, and appropriateness to the intended audience. Different types of resources were collected, including governmental, educational, non-profit, and professional organizations.
The criteria for inclusion and exclusion are as follows
- Inclusion criteria included: recently updated, all or partially open access sources, English-language (including international sources written in English).
- Criteria for exclusion included: highly specialized focus by geography or topic, such as milk safety, suspected foodborne pathogens (e.g., Salmonella), foodborne illness (e.g., peanut allergies), and vulnerable populations (e.g., pregnant women).
Resources
Intergovernmental Organizations
In addition to the major web sites listed below, official government agency web sites not only inform on current food safety issues but also provide archived reports and other documents pertaining to aspects of food safety.
- European Union: European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)
- http://www.efsa.europa.eu
- EFSA is an independent agency of the European Union that provides food and feed safety information as it pertains to the EU-member community. EFSA also provides scientific advice in the field of food safety and informs the general public through freely available scientific and technical reports published in the EFSA Journal, factsheets, infographics, videos, newsletters, e-mail alerts, and social media. Unique to this site is the Health Claims Made database in which selected foods and their authorized/non-authorized claims and conditions of use are registered. The web site is available in English, French, German, and Italian.
- Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO): Food Safety and Quality
- http://www.fao.org/food/food-safety-quality/home-page/en/
- The United Nations FAO Food Safety and Quality unit web site provides information to implement programs and projects, as well as a portal to disseminate publications. It includes an emergency prevention and response system and other resources and tools to safeguard food in the international community. Downloadable factsheets and other training materials in multiple languages are available. Eligible individuals from FAO member countries can apply to be included in the FAO Food Safety Expert Roster database.
- World Health Organization (WHO): Food Safety
- http://www.who.int/foodsafety/en/
- The WHO Food Safety section is a gateway to member nation's information pertaining to food safety programs, projects, documents (e.g., the Codex Alimentarius Commission), media, and several databases. It includes downloadable factsheets, information by geographic region, and technical information such as the International Food Safety Authorities Network (INFOSAN). INFOSAN is used to share information during food safety emergencies among network members. Web pages were available in six major languages and statistics information is also available.
United States Government
- National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA): Food Safety
- https://nifa.usda.gov/topic/food-safety
- NIFA is an agency within the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) that administers federal funding to address the agricultural issues through research, education, and extension programs in the land-grant university system and other partner organizations. This searchable NIFA web site provides users with webinars, press releases, full-text reports, announcements, funding opportunity and program information, events, and other food safety-related issues. Users can refine their searches further with limiters, and most pages are available as PDF handouts. Information is grouped into: Topics, Programs, Grants, Newsroom, Impacts, and Resources. One unique tool is the USDA Current Research Information System (CRIS) searchable database, which provides brief and full records of USDA-funded programs, projects, and extension activities, particularly NIFA-funded grant programs. Another unique tool is the Data Gateway, which provides the ability to filter and export data on how NIFA uses its funding.
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries: Seafood Inspection Program
- http://www.seafood.nmfs.noaa.gov/
- NOAA is part of the U.S. Department of Commerce (USDC), and it is responsible for conducting voluntary inspections for seafood products including shellfish. The NOAA Seafood Inspection Program web site includes surveillance information such as program services (e.g., description of product inspection and grading), publications (e.g., Inspection Commodity Codes), training courses for the food industry, the NOAA Handbook, certification validation, and news and notices. Advice on purchasing seafood and a list of U.S. establishments approved for sanitation and for producing USDC-inspected fishery products are also available. The site links to the FishWatch database (http://www.fishwatch.gov), which provides species-specific information and other facts.
- U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Environmental Health Services
- http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/ehs/topics/foodsafety.htm
- The Environmental Health Services Branch is part of the CDC's National Center for Environmental Health (NCEH). The Environmental Health Services (EHS)'s Food Safety section compiles resources useful for individuals developing food safety intervention programs, those working in the food industry, researchers, educators, consumers, and students. With a focus on environmental factors that contribute to foodborne illness outbreaks, the web site includes tools and guidance (e.g., study findings in plain language, assessments), research (e.g., reports on the status of food borne issues including recommended practices in food safety), training (i.e. free CDC online courses), and investigations/publications on related foodborne outbreaks.
- U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Food Safety
- http://www.cdc.gov/foodsafety/
- The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) oversees and directs public health prevention efforts against foodborne and waterborne diseases by investigating, reporting, and collaborating with other domestic and international agencies. The main Food Safety page of the CDC web site provides extensive food safety information (e.g., reports, recalls, statistics), including foodborne illnesses data. Users can search by keyword or browse an A-Z list. The site includes a food safety image library and provides explanations on the process of investigating outbreaks. Information is categorized for different users (e.g., consumers, health professionals, health departments, and the food industry) on the home page.
- U.S. Department of Agriculture: Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS)
- http://www.fsis.usda.gov
- As the agency within the USDA responsible for regulating U.S. food safety laws through monitoring and inspecting commercial supplies of meat, poultry, and processed egg products, the FSIS web site offers comprehensive coverage for a variety of users on many aspects of food safety issues. Information is tailored to the audience: consumers, FSIS employees, media and constituent groups, scientists and researchers, processing plants, and students and teachers. The web site provides useful factsheets (e.g., annual livestock inspected, number of meat and poultry plants), recalls, news, regulations, published risk assessments, research articles and other food safety educational materials including FSIS statistics by state and reports. The site offers convenient ways to get assistance for different users: Ask Karen, used to ask for food safety related questions for the general public, and Ask FSIS, to ask for inspection-related queries. Users can search for FSIS-inspected establishments and also search for food label information on the Label Submission and Approval System.
- U.S. Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service (FNS): Office of Food Safety
- http://www.fns.usda.gov/food-safety/food-safety
- The Office of Food Safety's web site offers white papers, school food safety inspection reports submitted by state agencies, educational resources for school nutrition employees (e.g., Food-Safe Schools Action Guide: Creating a Culture of Food Safety), and links to the USDA State Emergency Notification System and child nutrition centers and research institutes (e.g., Institute of Child Nutrition at the University of Mississippi).
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration: Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN)
- http://www.fda.gov/AboutFDA/CentersOffices/OfficeofFoods/CFSAN/default.htm
- The Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) is part of the FDA's Office of Foods and Veterinary Medicine. CFSAN has the pivotal role of carrying out the mission of the FDA by regulating food safety of domestically produced and imported foods. The web site provides users with internal information about the FDA and its responsibilities in food safety including the progress of its programs and projects, ways to contact CFSAN, and employment opportunities.
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration: Food
- http://www.fda.gov/Food/default.htm
- The FDA's section on Food is an essential gateway for all interested users to a wide variety of tools and resources on food safety, such as food recalls, outbreak investigations, regulations, food labeling, food defense, prevention information, and training resources. Users can select from several categories such as the most common topics (e.g., recent food recalls) to topics relevant to food businesses. In addition, the tailored categories, located at the bottom of the page, can facilitate access to the wide spectrum of information (e.g., advisory committees, training and continuing education, and federal, state, and local officials). Unique to the FDA web site are educational resources, such as the downloadable handbook, Bad Bug Book: Foodborne Pathogenic Microorganisms and Natural Toxins, and a strong social media presence (e.g., CFSAN-produced YouTube videos).
Consumer Education
- EatRight:Home Food Safety
- http://www.eatright.org/resources/homefoodsafety
- EatRight.org is the official web site of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, the primary professional organization of U.S. dietitians. Their Home Food Safety web site promotes home food safety practices through educational materials (e.g., short reviewed articles), online videos, infographics, and other downloadable documents. This national education program also includes an FAQ page, a short glossary, and a free mobile application, Is My Food Safe?.
- FightBac!: Partnership for Food Safety Education: FightBac.org
- http://www.fightbac.org/
- This web site provides access to a national consumer food safety education program headed by the Partnership for Food Safety Education which consists of not-for-profit and for-profit health and food safety-related organizations, as well as federal agencies. The web site offers a wealth of materials for food safety educators and focuses on the message of four steps to help reduce the risk of foodborne illness in American homes: clean, separate, cook, and chill. Overviews of foodborne illnesses, causes and symptoms, pathogens, and myth busters, as well as tips on handling produce, refrigerating, and microwaving food, are included. The Kids page has curricular materials (arranged by grade level), links to the Perfect Picnic app, activity sheets, Educator's guides, videos, free publications (e.g., Science and Our Food Supply: Teacher's Guide for High School Classrooms), flyers, and brochures. Users can select webinars, see event information (e.g., Consumer Food Safety Education Conference), photos, logos, and Spanish-language materials. Users can access a blog, mailing list, contact information, and access information on Board of Directors.
- FoodSafety.gov
- http://www.foodsafety.gov
- A comprehensive U.S. government portal, this web site is used to communicate the latest food safety information to the general public including food recalls, contact information for reporting a problem with food, describing the process of how government agencies respond, and a useful table with the causes and symptoms of food poisoning as well as their long-term effects. Users will find general guides to at-risk populations, news on food safety and nutrition programs and activities for educators, consumer advocates, government officials, and industry representatives. The site provides options to set up alerts (via e-mail or social media), a Food Safety Alerts & Tips widget (allowing users to view food safety recalls and alerts on their selected web site or blog), and the FoodKeeper app (available for Android and Apple devices), which provides advice on keeping food safe. The site links to federal partner web sites and includes multimedia, such as a blog, videos/public service announcements, and infographics. Users can also click on the Language Assistance Services link for contact information in 16 languages. Limited pages are available in Spanish.
- MedlinePlus.gov: Food Safety
- https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/foodsafety.html
- MedlinePlus is the premier consumer health web site maintained by the U.S. National Library of Medicine and National Institutes of Health. MedlinePlus has a Food Safety health topic page, which is a gateway to recommended resources pertaining to food safety arranged by categories (e.g., prevention and risk factors, find an expert). Additionally, each category links to detailed information and resources. On the side of the page, users will see direct links to MedlinePlus Encyclopedia relevant articles, and other related health topics. The option of registering for e-mail updates is available. The web site is available in English and Spanish.
- Seafood Health Facts
- http://www.seafoodhealthfacts.org/
- The web site provides easy-to-find seafood safety information including guidelines for consumers, commercial seafood product information, nutrition information, and the U.S. seafood supply developed through news articles, overviews, statistics, guidelines, and links to publisher web sites of peer-reviewed journal articles. Unique to this site are buyer advice, nutrient composition, and product information with accompanying references. The Seafood Q&A page gives an overview with links to the most commonly asked questions regarding seafood safety. The home page gives users the option of selecting issues related to seafood products that are of interest to them, and most pages are available in PDF. The web site is a collaborative project among six universities and the Community Seafood Initiative, a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Integrated Food Safety Initiative.
Surveillance, Response, and Statistics
- CDC Vital Signs: Food Safety
- http://www.cdc.gov/vitalsigns/food-safety.html
- The Food Safety topic page on the CDC Vital Signs monthly report web site provides easy access to consumer-friendly information including key statistics, summaries of food safety related information (e.g., basic prevention information), factsheets, and infographics. The site links to the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report and social media tools (e.g., CDC Vital Signs button). Some materials are available in Spanish.
- European Commission: Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF)
- http://ec.europa.eu/food/safety/rasff/index_en.htm
- The European Commission's Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) is a searchable database of reported notifications on food recalls from 1979 to the present. RASFF is used to communicate serious health risks from food or feed to the EU-member countries and organizations. There are four types of notifications: alert notifications, information notifications, border rejections, and relevant news. The degree of the risk decision affects whether notifications are published in the RASFF Consumers' Portal, which allows users to easily retrieve notifications by country.
- FoodNet: Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network
- http://www.cdc.gov/foodnet/index.html
- FoodNet is a surveillance system used to track trends for infections transmitted commonly through food. Specifically, this collaboration between the CDC, the FDA, the USDA FSIS, and 10 state health departments provides national trends information on laboratory-confirmed cases of foodborne illness caused by nine known pathogens (e.g., salmonella, shigella). With surveillance and epidemiologic studies coverage beginning in the 1990s, the web site provides statistics of outbreak and no-outbreak cases, including the latest reported preliminary data on incidence and trends. It also provides survey atlases beneficial to stakeholders (e.g., regulators and other public health officials, consumer advocates, and the food industry). The preliminary data is published and forms the foundation of an annual surveillance report published in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Overviews of FoodNet's laboratory surveillance program, its 10-member participating state sites, and surveys of food exposure to all clinical laboratories, residents, and physicians practicing within the surveillance area are also available.
- Foodborne Outbreak Online Database (FOOD Tool)
- https://wwwn.cdc.gov/foodborneoutbreaks/
- The CDC's database provides tabular or graphic views of state-specific outbreaks, illnesses, hospitalizations, and deaths about foodborne outbreaks reported to the CDC, from 1998 to the most recent year of finalized data. Users can search by year, state(s), location of preparation, food/ingredient (including water), and etiology; all data is downloadable. When available, the tabular view option provides other variables of the outbreak: genus species, serotype or genotype, etiology status, food vehicle, and contaminated ingredient.
- U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Estimates of Foodborne Illness in the United States
- http://www.cdc.gov/foodborneburden/index.html
- The CDC's web site brings together surveillance systems, an overview of estimates of foodborne illness, and explanations on attribution of foodborne illness including featured publications and quick links. The home page is divided into two main sections: the Burden of Foodborne Illnesses and the Attribution of Foodborne Illness. A useful aspect of the Attribution of Foodborne Illness page is the Questions & Answers section which addresses four common questions and provides explanations and resources. The Methods and Data Sources pages include explanations of how surveillance is collected and analyzed including sources used. Included on the site are featured publications and links to full-text journal articles (e.g., Emerging Infectious Diseases, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report).
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: Environments and Contaminants: Chemicals in Food
- https://www.epa.gov/ace/environments-and-contaminants-chemicals-food
- The EPA, in collaboration with other federal agencies and the drinking water industry, oversees drinking water quality, and assists states in protecting and monitoring drinking water quality. This web site provides sections of the statistical online book, America's Children and the Environment. This web site also provides measures of contaminants, body burdens, and illnesses of children in the U.S. including 25 key environmental indicators (e.g., pesticide residues in food commonly eaten by children like apples). The data are from an analysis of pesticide residues in foods conducted each year and users can download tables in PDF.
Literature Databases
- U.S. Department of Agriculture: Economic Research Service (ERS)
- http://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/food-safety.aspx
- ERS is part of the USDA and its focus is on literature relevant to economic and policy issues. The Food Safety topic page of the ERS web site links users to full-text reports, articles, data and other background information on food safety related issues. Another way to locate relevant information is by selecting "Food Safety" from the drop-down menu on the Data and Publication tabs located at the top of the web site. The Data tab provides statistical information while the Publications heading provides relevant government reports and articles by USDA-affiliated authors. Most publications are available full-text and can be downloaded.
- U.S. Department of Agriculture: The Food Safety Research Information Office (FSRIO)
- http://fsrio.nal.usda.gov/
- FSRIO is part of the Food Safety Information Center at the USDA's Agricultural Research Service (ARS) National Agricultural Library; it was created by congressional mandate to inform researchers about food safety issues. The FSRIO database provides unique access to food safety research project records that were funded by U.S. and international governmental agencies as well as non-governmental organizations. FSRIO also provides limited access to the full-text of some peer-reviewed food safety publications authored by USDA and FDA affiliates. This searchable database also allows users to access relevant reports, news, and events (e.g., the Food Safety Summit).
- U.S. Department of Agriculture: Nutrition Evidence Library (NEL)
- https://www.cnpp.usda.gov/nutritionevidencelibrary
- Maintained by the USDA Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion, NEL provides access to full-text summaries and worksheets of NEL-produced systematic reviews on specific food safety subtopics (e.g., cleaning/washing, cook/chill). The purpose of the site is to inform researchers, policy stakeholders, and other nutrition specialists at the federal level in decision-making processes.
Centers, Institutes and Other Institutional Affiliations
Institutions of higher education continue to play an important role in maintaining, creating, and educating professionals and the general public about food safety at the local and state levels. For example, in the U.S. many land-grant institutions provide research and education programs on food safety for farmers and consumers through their cooperative extension services (Cornell Cooperative Extension 2015; USDA n.d.).
- National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL): Environmental Health Legislation Database
- http://www.ncsl.org/research/environment-and-natural-resources/environmental-health-legislation-database.aspx
- The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) is a non-governmental organization that supports state legislatures through research and other activities (e.g., legislative research reports, webinar series) and tracks state legislation in its Environmental Health Legislative Database. Users can search by keyword or limit their search to the "food safety" topic to find brief information of bills introduced in U.S. states related to food safety (e.g., status, authors, links to official state legislative web sites). Users can also limit their search by other topics, year, bill number, status (e.g., pending, enacted), author, and state. Coverage is from 2009 to present, and the status of bills listed is usually updated every week.
- Oregon State University: The Seafood Network Information Center (SeafoodNIC)
- http://seafood.oregonstate.edu/
- This web site is a compilation of organized links focusing on seafood safety. The sources are intended to help the seafood industry and regulators with applying Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP), a tool used to identify specific hazards and measures for their control to ensure the safety of food. The Seafood HACCP Alliance page includes downloadable sanitation control procedures for processing fish and fishery products. Other pages direct users to consumer seafood information (e.g., home preservation, recipes, purchasing and preparation, sustainable seafood information) and guidelines and regulations information.
- University of Arkansas: The National Agricultural Law Center
- http://nationalaglawcenter.org/research-by-topic/food-safety/
- The National Agricultural Law Center is housed at the University of Arkansas and is partner of the USDA National Agricultural Library. The Food Safety topic page is a convenient way to locate relevant national and international legal information pertaining to food safety. Information is divided into categories (e.g., Case Law, Regulations) and the web site is searchable. Users are provided an overview of food safety, and access to full-text of documents from most links.
- University of Maryland: Center for Food Safety and Security Systems (CFS3)
- http://cfs3.umd.edu/
- The Center for Food Safety and Security Systems (CFS3) collects and coordinates the University of Maryland's "research, education, and outreach capabilities" to make improvements in "food protection by being a source of innovative laboratory and field research on systems-thinking approaches to solving regional, national, and international food safety and security concerns." CFS3 research project information includes research abstracts, posters, news, fee-based webinars, and links to partner web sites (i.e., university-wide, federal, and non-profit organizations). CFS3 provides access to downloadable bibliographies. Citation databases covering microbial food safety topics (e.g., risk assessment, HACCP), which are updated on a quarterly basis, are hosted on FoodRisk.org (see Education and Training). After downloading the databases, users can search and create reports.
Education and Training
Education or training in the area of food safety is usually offered by academic institutions for affiliates of food-related industry, government, or non-governmental organizations (FAPTC 2011).
- CIFOR: Council to Improve Foodborne Outbreak Response
- http://www.cifor.us/
- CIFOR is a U.S. multi-partner working group whose goal is to increase collaboration and to reduce foodborne illness at all levels of the food chain; partners include the Association of Public Health Laboratories and the FDA. CIFOR's official web site includes news, updates on food safety, and training materials including webinar recordings and PowerPoint slides intended for individuals involved with foodborne and enteric disease outbreak response. The web site provides access to full-text CIFOR-developed products such as CIFOR Guidelines for Foodborne Disease Outbreak Response and the CIFOR Toolkit. Users can also search for the records or links of food safety resources and tools in the Food Safety Clearinghouse page.
- International Food Protection Training Institute (IFPTI)
- http://www.ifpti.org/home
- The International Food Protection Training Institute (IFPTI) is a non-profit organization that collaborates with the FDA and other food protection organizations to coordinate national regulatory food safety training and education programs. The IFPTI web site highlights food safety and related course information for U.S. and international public and private sector food safety professionals. Users will find selected full-text scholarly articles, an overview of professional competencies in the Interactive National Curriculum Standard (INCS) page, news, annual reports, information on how to apply to the IFPTI Fellowship, and how to become an IFPTI Subject Matter Expert. Using the catalogue, users can browse and register for fee-based and free courses offered by IFPTI partners. The web site is available in 103 languages.
- FoodRisk.org
- http://foodrisk.org/
- This web site provides a wealth of resources and tools including food safety risk assessment tools, data sets, tutorials, webinars, some full-text documents, and links to web sites, with the purpose to assist professionals in food training programs regionally, nationally, and internationally. Consumer resources are available, and users can access a compilation of relevant databases (e.g., Food Animal Residue Avoidance Databank) in the Exclusives page; statistics and epidemiology software are also available. FoodRisk.org is produced by the Joint Institute for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (JIFSAN), a partnership between the University of Maryland and the FDA.
- Texas A&M University: International HACCP Alliance
- http://www.haccpalliance.org/sub/index.html
- The International HACCP Alliance is housed within the Department of Animal Science at Texas A&M University. The web site offers a gateway to food safety training program opportunities inside and outside the U.S. such as registration and course objective information. Potential students for the training programs are coordinated by or affiliated with representatives from academia, government, the food and beverage industry, and other private and non-profit organizations worldwide. Users can also access the full-text of documents including news and reports from different sources.
- University of Maryland: Joint Institute for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (JIFSAN)
- http://jifsan.umd.edu/
- With a focus on multidisciplinary educational and research opportunities in food safety and applied nutrition at the state, national, and international levels, the University of Maryland's JIFSAN program web site provides extensive information on fee-based international food safety training courses. Users can register for online courses on the JIFSAN Training Portal page. The scope of the training programs includes risk analysis and some programs (e.g., Good Agriculture Practices) provide free access to publications without registering. On the JIFSAN Research Portfolio page, users can access records of publications and projects. JIFSAN's training programs are designed for nutrition and dietetics professionals including practitioners, students, and related professionals. JIFSAN is jointly administered by the FDA and the University of Maryland, and develops partnerships with governmental, academic, for-profit and non-profit organizations.
Non-Profit and Advocacy Organizations
- Center for Food Integrity (CFI)
- http://www.foodintegrity.org/
- CFI is a non-profit organization advocating for building consumer trust and confidence in the food system. CFI partners with several member organizations (e.g., restaurants, supermarkets) and its members includes farmers, universities, and food companies. The CFI web site include webinars (requires a free registration), newsletters, and other CFI-conducted resources (e.g., survey results).
- Center for Food Safety (CFS)
- http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/
- CFS is a non-profit environmental advocacy organization with the purpose of "challenging harmful food production technologies and promoting sustainable alternatives." The CFS web site provides downloadable factsheets on related topics (e.g., bee-toxic pesticides to avoid), reports, news, legal cases, videos, tips, and policy comments and testimony on food safety issues for consumers and researchers. Unique to the web site is a searchable inventory of about 300 food products that use nanotechnology materials, providing the name of the nanotechnology material, country of origin, and company/producer. The site has a strong social media presence.
- Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI)
- http://www.cspinet.org/foodsafety/
- CSPI is a non-profit organization in the U.S. and Canada advocating for the production and availability of safe food. The Food Safety page of the CSPI web site provides downloadable factsheets (including infographics) and reports including news articles, videos, and other sources about food safety issues (e.g., antibiotic resistance in retail chicken). There are also links to food outbreaks, restaurant grading, and in-depth information on selected topics (e.g., food additives). CSPI's Nutrition Action Healthletter is available via subscription only.
- European Food Information Council (EUFIC)
- http://www.eufic.org/index/en/
- The European Food Information Council (EUFIC) is a non-profit organization that provides information about food safety and nutrition to consumers. On the EUFIC home page, the Food Safety & Quality header links users to relevant pages: Safe Food Handling, Food Contaminants, Risk Communication, Farm to Fork, Food Additives, Animal Health, and Food Allergy & Intolerance. These pages provide users with food safety related articles categorized as Science Briefs, FAQs, and EUFIC's newsletter articles, Food Today. The web site is easy to navigate and includes an advanced search function. The site has a strong social media presence, and it is available in 13 languages including Arabic and Turkish.
- Food Marketing Institute (FMI)
- http://www.fmi.org/food-safety
- Even though it is tailored for Food Marketing Institute members, which includes food retailers, wholesalers, and providers, the FMI Food Safety page includes many free resources: downloadable publications (e.g., Listeria Action Plan for Retailers), webinars, best practices information, and other resources (e.g., posters). The web site of this trade organization also links to recalls, regulatory information, committees, fee-based online training programs, and other links for food safety education programs.
- Institute of Food Research (IFR)
- http://www.ifr.ac.uk/
- The Institute of Food Research (IFR) is a non-profit organization largely funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), a UK government agency; IFR receives additional funding from other government entities, the EU, and the food industry. Users can access publications and educational resources that examine diet and health, food quality, and food safety, with a geographic focus on the UK and Europe. Resources available include full-text BBSR-funded peer-reviewed articles on IFR's Scientific Publications Library, news, some free in-person workshops, educational videos of IRF community outreach activities, and fact-sheets on selected topics. Users can also find information about ongoing IFR research projects, training, IFR's centers, programs, and research laboratories, including the Food Safety Center, which conducts research in the areas of food microbiology, and the Gut Health and Food Safety Research Programme, which involves researchers and other academics in food safety research. The IRF web site links to a wealth of relevant information and open-access food microbiology quantitative software tools (e.g., ComBase).
- International Food Information Council (IFIC) Foundation: Food Insight
- http://www.foodinsight.org/
- FoodInsight.org is the official web site of the International Food Information Council (IFIC) Foundation, a U.S. non-profit foundation whose mission is to "effectively communicate science-based information about food safety and nutrition." The Food Safety topic page of the web site provides related information on current food safety issues targeting health and nutrition professionals, government officials, educators, and the general public. Newsletter articles usually include a link to the original research article discussed in the newsletter article. Other information is available through videos, blog entries, reports, e-mail updates, and factsheets. IFIC-sponsored survey summaries and educational webinars are also available. Users can sign up for free e-newsletters.
- International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
- https://www.ifpri.org/program/food-and-water-safety
- The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) is an international non-profit organization involved in sustainable agricultural development including improving food safety. Based in the U.S., IFPRI is supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). This searchable web site has a Food and Water Safety program page where users can access the full text of discussion papers, data sets, blog articles, and program and project information on broad food safety issues. Unique to IFPRI is its focus in developing countries, one of its strategic areas in promoting healthy food systems. The intended audience is professionals.
- Organic Consumers Association: Food Safety
- https://www.organicconsumers.org/categories/food-safety
- The Organic Consumers Association (OCA) is a non-profit U.S. organization representing consumers and food businesses that promote organic foods. OCA's Food Safety page contains consumer-oriented alerts, selective full-text periodical articles, links to recommended resources, a buying guide, and videos. Some articles give users the option to send an e-mail to legislators/businesses. Users can sign up to receive an e-newsletter and use the language translation tool.
Magazines and Journals
- Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety (ISSN: 1541-4337)
- http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1541-4337
- Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety is a free peer-reviewed scientific journal that publishes review papers in the broad field of food science or food safety. The journal is published by the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT), the professional society of food science and technology.
- Food Quality & Safety (ISSN 1092-7514)
- http://www.foodqualityandsafety.com/
- This free online trade magazine is designed for food and beverage industry professionals. Information is categorized into topics (e.g., Regulatory) and by subtopic (e.g., FSMA). Users have free access to full-text articles, white papers, webcasts, event information, and a blog. The latest recall and industry news are also included on the home page. Users must create a free account to download papers.
- Food Safety Magazine (ISSN: 1084-5984)
- http://www.foodsafetymagazine.com
- This free online magazine offers a wide variety of food safety information including news, issues, ideas, and trends. The home page gives users easy access to full-text articles, free webinars, blog, bimonthly e-newsletter, and product and event information. The web site is also categorized by specific subtopics (e.g., regulatory, food types, contamination control, regulatory control). Designed for food safety and quality assurance professionals worldwide, the web site is also available in mobile platforms.
- Journal of Food Science Education (ISSN: 1541-4329)
- http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1541-4329
- The Journal of Food Science Education (JFSE) is a free peer-reviewed scientific journal that publishes research and review articles covering a wide range of topics in food science education at all levels. The target audience is food scientists, food technologists, and personnel in related fields such as the food industry and government. The journal is published by the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT), the professional society of food science and technology.
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