Global Initiative for Food-related Scientific Advice (GIFSA)
What and Why? For over 50 years WHO and FAO have been the
international source of scientific advice on matters related to
the safety of food. This advice provides the evidence base for a
linkage between substances in food and disease, or the
prevention of disease. This evidence base is necessary to define
the best preventive measures to avoid foodborne disease and
promote human health as it links to our daily food. It also
enables both national and international solutions to these
problems, a necessary pre-condition in the present period of
increased international food trade. Therefore it is important
that the FAO/WHO scientific advice provides the basis for food
standards, guidelines and codes of practice developed by the
FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius Commission. WHO and FAO devote
significant resources to the provision of scientific advice in
relation to food. However, there has been an increase in the
demand for scientific advice. More and more link