The Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) is an industry-driven initiative providing thought leadership and guidance on food safety management systems necessary for safety along the supply chain. This work is accomplished through collaboration between the world’s leading food safety experts from retail, manufacturing and foodservice companies, as well as international organizations, governments, academia and service providers to the global food industry.

GFSI is celebrating World Health Day 2015, which focuses on food safety, and getting the word out on the various World Health Organization initiatives in food safety

GFSI’s vision is safe food for consumers everywhere. Its mission is to provide continuous improvement in food safety management systems to ensure confidence in the delivery of safe food to consumers worldwide. The initiative’s objectives are to reduce food safety risks by delivering equivalence and convergence between effective food safety management systems;

Manage cost in the global food system by eliminating redundancy and improving operational efficiency, develop competencies and capacity building in food safety to create consistent and effective global food systems and provide a unique international stakeholder platform for collaboration, knowledge exchange and networking.

GFSI specifies the recognition of food safety management schemes to defined requirements in its guidance document, brings together food safety experts within a global network and drives global change through multi-stakeholder projects on strategic issues (e.g., auditor competence, regulatory affairs and food safety for small suppliers). However, it does not make policy for retailers, manufacturers or food safety scheme owners, undertake any accreditation or certification activities, own any food safety schemes or standards, undertake training or have any involvement outside the scope of food safety, such as animal welfare, the environment or ethical sourcing.

Today, GFSI has developed to become more than a benchmarking organization. Its collaborative approach brings together international food safety experts from the entire supply chain at Technical Working Group and Stakeholder meetings, conferences and regional events. They share knowledge and promote a harmonized approach with a shared vision of “safe food for consumers everywhere.”