FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) provides information on its laws, regulations, and policies to foreign governments, industry, and the global public health community to enhance international understanding of food and cosmetic safety to protect consumer health. Information is disseminated through lectures in conferences, consultations, exchange of information with foreign visitors, proactive training seminars, training videos, Internet programs, and technical cooperation activities. 

The Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition is actively involved in high-visibility endeavors with several academic institutions through its Centers of Excellence (COE) program. These collaborations yield critical information that enhances our on-going efforts to protect the food supply. CFSAN has four COEs, the National Center for Food Safety and Technology (NCFST) with the Illinois Institute of Technology; the Joint Institute for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (JIFSAN) with the University of Maryland; the FDA COE for Botanical Dietary Supplement Research at the National Center for Natural Products Research (NCNPR), University of Mississippi; and the Western Center for Food Safety (WCFS) with the University of California at UC, Davis. In addition, formal agreements with the states for conducting inspections enhance the Center's ability to meet its public health mission.