TY - JOUR

T1 - Exploring the experiences of members of the International Food Safety Authorities Network

T2 - An interpretative phenomenological analysis

AU - Savelli, C.J.

AU - Simpson, J.

AU - Mateus, C.

PY - 2021/10/31

Y1 - 2021/10/31

N2 - 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 (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) that aims to facilitate the rapid exchange of information during food safety incidents. A three-phase study of INFOSAN was launched in 2019 to characterize and examine the network as a functional community of practice and determine its value systematically and rigorously from its members’ perspectives. The first two phases of the study involved analyzing the INFOSAN Community Website and surveying of all of its members. The main objective of this third and final phase of the study was to understand the experiences of a small group of INFOSAN members as they relate to various dimensions of membership. A qualitative methodology was used to provide a deeper understanding of members’ experiences and supplement the results from the first two quantitative study phases. Interviews were conducted with 10 INFOSAN members from 10 geographic regions, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. The results offer an understanding of INFOSAN members’ experiences in the context of what participation in this global network means to them and relate to five themes concerning trust, learning, health protection, sense of community, and future potential. The findings suggest that focusing on outreach to sustain personal interest, training to improve technical capacity, and advocacy to obtain political buy-in are ways in which the INFOSAN Secretariat could enable participation and create value at the individual, organizational, and national level, respectively. Such engagement could translate into more effective international communication during urgent food safety incidents and fewer cases of foodborne illness worldwide.

AB - 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 (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) that aims to facilitate the rapid exchange of information during food safety incidents. A three-phase study of INFOSAN was launched in 2019 to characterize and examine the network as a functional community of practice and determine its value systematically and rigorously from its members’ perspectives. The first two phases of the study involved analyzing the INFOSAN Community Website and surveying of all of its members. The main objective of this third and final phase of the study was to understand the experiences of a small group of INFOSAN members as they relate to various dimensions of membership. A qualitative methodology was used to provide a deeper understanding of members’ experiences and supplement the results from the first two quantitative study phases. Interviews were conducted with 10 INFOSAN members from 10 geographic regions, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. The results offer an understanding of INFOSAN members’ experiences in the context of what participation in this global network means to them and relate to five themes concerning trust, learning, health protection, sense of community, and future potential. The findings suggest that focusing on outreach to sustain personal interest, training to improve technical capacity, and advocacy to obtain political buy-in are ways in which the INFOSAN Secretariat could enable participation and create value at the individual, organizational, and national level, respectively. Such engagement could translate into more effective international communication during urgent food safety incidents and fewer cases of foodborne illness worldwide.

KW - Food safety

KW - In-depth interviews

KW - International collaboration

KW - International Food Safety Authorities Network

KW - Qualitative methods

KW - World Health Organization

KW - Article

KW - awareness

KW - burnout

KW - catering service

KW - clinical article

KW - controlled study

KW - disease surveillance

KW - female

KW - food poisoning

KW - food safety

KW - human

KW - interview

KW - listeriosis

KW - male

KW - phenomenology

KW - prophylaxis

KW - public health

KW - qualitative analysis

KW - risk management

U2 - 10.4315/JFP-21-171

DO - 10.4315/JFP-21-171

M3 - Journal article

VL - 84

SP - 1683

EP - 1697

JO - Journal of Food Protection

JF - Journal of Food Protection

IS - 10

ER -