Monitoring nutritional status and food safety events

Nutrition and Food Safety

The Nutrition and Food Safety (NFS) Department is addressing the burden of disease from physical, chemical and microbial hazards in food and unhealthy diets, maternal and child malnutrition, overweight and obesity.

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Monitoring Nutritional status and Food safety events (MNF)

The Monitoring Nutritional status and Food safety events (MNF) Unit defines indicators and nutrition surveillance systems, hosts and maintain nutrition databases, monitors nutrition trends and measures the impact of country food and nutrition policies. The Unit manages INFOSAN and collaborates with WHE for the management of major food safety events including PHEICs.

News

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26 September 2025

Departmental update

Countries and global leaders recognized for their action to tackle the obesity crisis

22 August 2025

Joint News Release

Famine confirmed for first time in Gaza

28 July 2025

Joint News Release

Global hunger declines, but rises in Africa and western Asia: UN report

Our work

Groups / Initiatives

FAO/WHO International Food Safety Authorities Network (INFOSAN)

Foodborne Disease Burden Epidemiology Reference Group (FERG)

Strengthening national nutrition information systems (EC-NIS project)

Technical Advisory Group on Gestational Weight Gain (TAG-GWG)

Technical Expert Advisory Group on Nutrition Monitoring (TEAM)

Databases

Nutrition and Food Safety Databases

The Global Health Observatory Data on foodborne diseases

Tools and toolkits

Child growth standards

Growth reference data for 5-19 years

Global targets tracking tool

Micronutrient Survey Analyser and other tools

Addressing nutrition in emergencies

Assessing microbiological risks in food

Establishing global nutrient requirements

Measuring child growth through data

Monitoring progress towards global food safety targets

Promoting safe food handling

Assessing chemical risks in food

Establishing global nutrient requirements

Estimating the burden of foodborne diseases

Monitoring micronutrient status in populations

Strengthening foodborne disease surveillance

Strengthening nutrition surveillance

Events

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Ad hoc Joint FAO/WHO Expert Consultation on Risk Assessment of Food Allergens – reference dose(s) for cereals containing gluten or gluten

3 – 7 November 2025

Webinar: Innovations in foodborne disease surveillance and food contamination monitoring

28 October 2025 14:30 – 16:00 United Arab Emirates Time

Annual general meeting of the WHO Alliance for Food Safety

28 – 30 October 2025

Call for

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10 October 2025

Call for authors

Call for authors - Systematic reviews on dietary approaches apart from RUTF for managing severe wasting and nutritional oedema in infants and children

1 September 2025

Call for consultation

Call for comment on the scope of the WHO guideline on optimal intake of animal-source foods

31 July 2025

Call for data

Food Additives: One hundred and second meeting - Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA)

Publications

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Global nutrition targets 2030: topical briefs on maternal, infant and young child nutrition

Recognizing that the world is not on track to meet all of the 2025 global nutrition targets, WHO Member States, during the 78th World Health Assembly in...

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Global nutrition targets 2030: child wasting brief

Wasting, or being too thin for one’s age, is defined as a weight-for-height that is more than two standard deviations below the World Health Organization...

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Global nutrition targets 2030: low birth weight brief

Low birth weight is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as weight at birth less than 2500 g (5.5 lb). Low birth weight continues to be a significant...

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Documents

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This document was prepared in support of the publication "WHO reference protocol for measuring fatty acids in foods, with emphasis on monitoring trans-fatty...

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