Safe Food International (SFI) is convening with food safety administrators from around the world at the 2nd Global Forum of Food Safety Regulators in Bangkok, Thailand. The event hosted by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO), runs from October 12-14 and the theme is "Building Effective Food Safety Systems." 

Caroline Smith DeWaal, food safety director at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a non-profit consumer advocacy group in Washington, DC, established the SFI project with support from the NTI Foundation, the WHO and the FAO. SFI has developed a conference room document that has already been submitted and DeWaal will present the SFI project and its objectives to the Bangkok conference participants.  

"This project brings together consumer and public health organizations internationally who want to implement positive changes on the safety of food consumers eat everyday," said DeWaal. "We are hoping through participation at the Global Forum to build support with governments from around the world and new partnerships."

The principal objective of SFI is to involve consumer and public health organizations in developing guidelines for NGOs to evaluate and help strengthen their national food safety programs. A landmark conference at WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, slated for spring 2005, will mark the first formal discussion among consumer organizations about universal standards for strengthening national food safety control services.