BEIJING—Nestlé opened its new Nestlé Food Safety Institute (NFSI) in Beijing that will help meet China’s growing demand for healthy and safe food, one of the top three concerns among Chinese consumers.
The NFSI will work closely with authorities to help provide the scientific foundation for food-safety policies and standards. Support will include early management of food-safety issues and collaboration with local universities, research institutes and government agencies on food-safety. The institute also will promote scientific communication and help run food-safety training programs.
“The inauguration underlines Nestlé’s commitment to food safety and is also another important highlight in the story of Nestlé's successful and long-standing presence in China," said Nestlé’s Chief Technology Officer Stefan Catsicas. “I am in no doubt that the work of the Nestlé Food Safety Institute will contribute to creating shared value for Nestlé shareholders and for society in China."
The NFSI is located in Nestlé’s existing Research and Development Center in Beijing, part of the company’s global network of 34 R&D and Product Technology Centers. The institute will have experts in risk assessment, early warning and scientific affairs, and it will be linked to Nestlé’s network of 25 Quality Assurance Centers, the final stage of a food-safety assurance system that begins when raw materials arrive in the factories and continues throughout the production process.
Globally, Nestlé has about 5,000 people involved in R&D, as well as numerous research partnerships with business partners and universities. The Nestlé Research Center in Lausanne, Switzerland, employs more than 200 scientists dedicated to food safety and quality and whose facilities include 20 state0-of-the-art microbiology safety labs.