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Food Nutrition and Safety (FNS) Measurements and Methods Consortium
Summary
The Food Nutrition and Safety (FNS) Measurements and Methods Consortium brings together stakeholders to develop and evaluate measurement methods and standards, including reference materials, to support quality and safety for the food testing community. The Consortium’s efforts are intended to advance food measurement capabilities, support the development of food reference materials, and collect data to support the development of best practices and standard methods.
BECOME A MEMBER
- View the Federal Register Notice for the FNS Measurements and Methods Consortium published on May 27, 2026.
- Complete the Consortium Letter of Interest
- Participants are required to sign a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA)
- Applications will be accepted on an ongoing basis. Consortium activities will commence with the first Steering Committee meeting in January 2027.
- Please direct all Consortium questions to foodsafety [at] nist.gov (foodsafety[at]nist[dot]gov)
Description
The FNS Materials and Methods Consortium facilitates collaboration among industry, academia, and government to identify measurement and standards needs and enables members to work with NIST to develop tools to address those gaps. NIST can provide expertise in measurement science, standards development, reference material development and characterization, and technology development. Consortium members will see many benefits, including input into the development of reference materials and insight into objective comparisons of in-house measurements and methods to those of other Consortium members.
CONSORTIUM GOALS
The objective of the Consortium is to develop and evaluate measurement methods and standards, including reference materials, to support quality and safety for the food testing community. The Consortium’s efforts are intended to advance food measurement capabilities, support the development of food reference materials, and collect data to support the development of best practices and standard methods. The Consortium will organize at least one interlaboratory exercise annually based on candidate reference materials and/or commercial products with the goals of
- evaluating the applicability of existing reference materials and developing new reference materials,
- comparing the suitability of current published methods, and
- utilizing common materials to collect reproducibility data in support of standards development.
No proprietary information will be shared as part of the Consortium. Contributions of materials to be used as interlaboratory study samples, such as food ingredients or food products, are highly encouraged.
CONSORTIUM MODEL
- Convenes industry, academia, and government to identify and address measurement and standards needs
- Enables members to work with NIST to develop measurement solutions and standards
- Leverages NIST expertise in measurement science, standards development, reference materials, technology development, and basic research
- Collaborates with related programs at other federal agencies
WHY NIST
- Cross-disciplinary expertise in physical, information, chemical, and biological sciences
- As a non-regulatory agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce, NIST does not impose standards; standards are accepted by consensus
- Neutral convener for industry, standards development organizations, federal labs, universities, public workshops, and interlaboratory testing