World Health Organization, Nutrition and Food Safety, Avenue Appia 20, 1211, Geneva, Switzerland (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5929-7249 [C.J.S.]).
Faculty of Health and Medicine, Division of Health Research, Lancaster University, Bailrigg, Lancaster LA1 4YW, UK.
J Food Prot. 2021 Feb 1;84(2):262-274. doi: 10.4315/JFP-20-313.
The International Food Safety Authorities Network (INFOSAN) is a global network of national food safety authorities from 190 countries, managed jointly by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the World Health Organization, which facilitates the rapid exchange of information during food safety incidents. Until now, INFOSAN has not been characterized or examined as a functional community of practice, and its value, as understood from the perspective of its members, has not been determined in a systematic or rigorous way. The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the experiences and opinions of INFOSAN members to better understand the role of the network in improving food safety and mitigating the burden of foodborne illness globally. There were four main research questions: (i) How is the INFOSAN Community Website being used to support network activities? (ii) What are the barriers to active participation in INFOSAN? (iii) Do INFOSAN members believe that participation in the network prevents foodborne illness and saves lives? and (iv) Does participation in INFOSAN create value for members, and if so, through what mechanisms does this occur? To answer these questions, an online questionnaire was developed and adapted from English into French and Spanish before being disseminated to INFOSAN members. Responses were received from 239 INFOSAN members in 137 countries over a 10-week period between August and October 2019. This study represents the first to explore and describe the experiences of INFOSAN members with respect to their participation in network activities to improve global food safety and prevent foodborne diseases and to describe the characteristics of INFOSAN as a community of practice. The results suggest that INFOSAN is a valued tool, used globally to reduce the burden of foodborne illness and save lives. The INFOSAN Secretariat could use the results to prioritize future activities to further strengthen the network and support participation of members.
国际食品安全当局网络（INFOSAN）是一个由来自 190 个国家的国家食品安全当局组成的全球网络，由联合国粮食及农业组织和世界卫生组织共同管理，旨在食品安全事件发生时促进信息的快速交流。到目前为止，INFOSAN 尚未被描述为一个功能性实践社区，其价值也没有以系统和严格的方式从成员的角度来确定。本研究旨在探讨和描述 INFOSAN 成员的经验和意见，以更好地了解该网络在改善全球食品安全和减轻食源性疾病负担方面的作用。主要有四个研究问题：（i）INFOSAN 社区网站如何用于支持网络活动？（ii）积极参与 INFOSAN 的障碍是什么？（iii）INFOSAN 成员是否认为参与该网络可以预防食源性疾病并拯救生命？（iv）参与 INFOSAN 是否为成员创造价值，如果是，通过什么机制实现？为了回答这些问题，开发了一个在线问卷，并从英文翻译成了法文和西班牙文，然后分发给 INFOSAN 成员。在 2019 年 8 月至 10 月的 10 周内，来自 137 个国家的 239 名 INFOSAN 成员回答了问卷。这是第一项探讨和描述 INFOSAN 成员参与改善全球食品安全和预防食源性疾病的网络活动的经验，并描述 INFOSAN 作为实践社区的特征的研究。研究结果表明，INFOSAN 是一个有价值的工具，在全球范围内被用来减轻食源性疾病的负担和拯救生命。INFOSAN 秘书处可以利用这些结果来确定未来的优先活动，以进一步加强网络并支持成员的参与。
