Food Safety Standards

Founded in 1944, NSF International is an accredited, third-party provider of Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI)-benchmarked standards certifications. These standards include Safe Quality Foods (SQF), British Retail Consortium (BRC), International Food Standard (IFS), and Food Safety System Certification (FSSC) 22000, among others. As described on its Web site, "GFSI benchmarks existing food standards against food safety criteria, and also looks to develop mechanisms to exchange information in the supply chain, to raise consumer awareness, and to review existing good retail practices." Part of its charter is to reduce duplication in the supply chain through common acceptance of GFSI benchmarked schemes.