The impacts of the food traceability system and consumer involvement on consumers' purchase intentions toward fast foods

This study aims to ascertain whether or not the Food Traceability System (FTS) can decrease an individual's perceived uncertainty and strengthen his/her purchase intention regarding fast foods. A website-based questionnaire study was conducted in Taiwan and a total of 435 valid subjects collected. The empirical results of structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis indicate that when a fast food store adopts FTS then consumers' perceived uncertainty can be reduced because both their perceived information asymmetry and fears of seller opportunism are also reduced, which in turn strengthen their purchase intentions regarding fast foods. In addition, with FTS, not only are both consumers' perceived product diagnosticity and informativeness are increased but consumers' trust in the farmer's records kept for this system is also increased, which in turn mitigate both consumers' perceived information asymmetry and fears of seller opportunism. Finally, the higher the degree of involvement an individual has and the more FTS mitigates his/her perceived uncertainty, the higher his/her purchase intention regarding fast foods than otherwise. Based on the findings from this study, attempts are made to provide some suggestions to the public health sector and the fast food marketers to promote FTS.     

FMECA approach to product traceability in the food industry

The traceability system in the farming and food supply chain can be described as the documented identification of the operations which lead to the production and sale of a product. Its objective is to identify the actors involved and trace the relevant flows, precisely characterizing the material and processing or management operations that contribute to the production of the final items. The traceability system must be efficient and effective, accurately collecting the necessary information and enabling a rapid and correct reuse of this information.This paper presents an application of the industrial engineering tool ‘Failure Mode Effect and Criticality Analysis’ (FMECA) to the production process in the farming and food industries, as this tool is aimed at detecting the possible critical points of its traceability system (whether in use or undergoing implementation), and at proposing improvements.     

An improved traceability system for food quality assurance and evaluation based on fuzzy classification and neural network

Currently, the food safety incidents happened frequently in china and the customer confidence declined rapidly, then the problems related to food quality and safety have attracted more and more social attention. Considering the concern with regard to food quality assurance and consumer confidence improvement, many companies have developed a traceability system to visualize the supply chain and avoid food safety incidents. In this paper, we proposed an improved food traceability system which can not only achieve forward tracking and diverse tracing like the existing systems do, but also evaluate the food quality timely along the supply chain and provide consumers with these evaluating information, to mainly enhance the consumer experience and help firms gain the trust of consumers. For the food quality evaluation, the method of fuzzy classification was used to evaluate the food quality at each stages of supply chain while the artificial neural network was adopted to derive the final determination of the grade of food quality according to all the stage quality evaluations. A case study of a pork producer was conducted, and the results showed that the improved traceability system performed well in food quality assurance and evaluation. In addition, implications of the proposed approach were discussed, and suggestions for future work were outlined.     

Development and evaluation on a RFID-based traceability system for cattle/beef quality safety in China

Beef has become a kind of important food in China because of its nutritional value perceived by consumers. With increasing consumers' awareness and governments' regulations on beef quality and safety, traceability is becoming a mandatory requirement in cattle/beef industry. This paper developed and evaluated a cattle/beef traceability system that integrated RFID technology with PDA and barcode printer. The system requirements, the business flow of the cattle/beef chain, and the key traceability information for the system were identified through a survey. Then a conceptual model was proposed to describe the process of traceability information acquisition, transformation and transmission along the supply chain. Finally, the system was evaluated and optimized in the sampled supply chain.The results show that the major benefits gained from the RFID-enabled traceability system are the real-time and accurate data acquisition and transmission, and the high efficiency of information tracking and tracing across the cattle/beef supply chain; the main barriers for implementing the system are the inapplicable method of inputting information, the inefficient sequence of data input and communication mechanism associated with RFID reader, and the high implementation cost.     

Reporting of traceability and food safety data in the culinary herb and spice chains

Reporting of information is crucial to enable backward and forward tracing of food along the chain, which is of main importance in case of non-compliance with legal obligations on food safety. Thus, food business operators in the European Union (EU) must enable tracing of any foodstuff one step forward and one step back. However, flux of information relevant for traceability and food safety can be a challenge in the supply chains of dried culinary herbs and spices.Results of a survey among herb/spice businesses – either located within the EU or exporting dried herbs/spices to the EU – showed the widespread use of electronic systems for recording and processing of traceability/food safety data. However, automated capture of transaction data and automated read-out/processing of reported data were rare. The survey indicates that besides electronic documents, typed paper documents are often exchanged between businesses. For data delivery along the chain, paper documents filled in by hand are still used – even in the EU or upon import to the EU. The document type as well as the forms varied, particularly in case of incoming herbs/spices. The forms used for reporting by the survey participants or by their suppliers covered mostly individual/company-specific forms. Standardised forms provided by herb/spice associations were rarely shared between these businesses. The extent of reporting of traceability data upon import to the EU and within the EU appears to be sufficient. Some additional traceability data that promote product tracing, such as the country of harvest, were frequently reported. Same was true for information on food safety hazards.     

An intelligent value stream-based approach to collaboration of food traceability cyber physical system by fog computing

Good advanced food traceability systems help to minimize unsafe or poor quality products in food supply chain through value-based process. From the emerging technologies forthcoming for industry automation, future advanced food traceability system must consider not only cyber physical system (CPS) and fog computing but also value-added business in food supply chain. Accordingly, this study presents a novel intelligent value stream-based food traceability cyber physical system approach integrated with enterprise architectures, EPCglobal and value stream mapping method by fog computing network for traceability collaborative efficiency. Furthermore, the proposed intelligent approach explores distributive and central traceable stream mechanism in assessing the most critical traceable events for tracking and tracing process. Successful case study, software system design and implementation demonstrated the performance of the proposed approach. Furthermore, experiment shows the better results obtained after the simulation execution for intelligent predictive algorithm.     

Yield and amplificability of different DNA extraction procedures for traceability in the dairy food chain

Seven DNA extraction procedures were compared for their ability to produce good quality DNA if applied to outputs of the dairy food chain. The efficacy and the efficiency of the protocols were tested. PCR and Real-time PCR specific amplification with appropriate bovine primers were used to assess the quality of the genomic DNA extracted with the compared procedures. The results were also evaluated from the economical point of view, in order to determine which of the seven protocols was the simplest, the most reliable and the most affordable for molecular traceability within this important food chain in order to protect producers from unfair competition and consumers from frauds and adulterations.     

Seafood traceability issues in Chinese food business activities in the light of the European provisions

Over the years, the European Union has developed a comprehensive legal framework to ensure seafood traceability. In fact, in this sector, where the complexity of the marketing patterns has reduced the efficiency of controls, frauds are becoming widespread. Moreover, the rapid growth of Chinese communities has led to an increase of importations from Asia, which sometimes do not fully respect rules on traceability. In this study, we performed a survey on seafood products collected from the market of the Chinese community of Prato (Italy), to assess the frequencies and types of non-compliance in the light of the requirements established by the European traceability legislation on fisheries and aquaculture. Examination of labels and contents of Chinese seafood products imported to Italy found that 83% did not meet EU requirements for traceability.Overall, this survey put into light the difficulties of the ethnic communities to conform to the European rules, the need to adapt the control system to the fast developing trade reality at all levels of the chain and the advisability to create standards that could be adopted worldwide.     

Barriers and benefits to the adoption of a third party certified food safety management system in the food processing sector in Shanghai,China

Despite the recent passing of legislation by the National People's Congress of China in 2009, many food businesses in China have yet to implement a third party certified food safety management system (FSMS). While the extent literature identifies a number of internal and external barriers and benefits, the extent to which these impact on the business is thought to be dependent upon how much progress the firm has made on its journey towards quality assurance and the environment within which the firm operates. To test this proposition, the barriers and the benefits accrued from the implementation of a third party certified FSMS were explored by segregating the participating firms into three distinct groups; (i) those that have yet to implement a third party certified FSMS; (ii) those that were in the process of adopting a third party certified FSMS; and (iii) those that were already operating under a third party certified FSMS. Contrary to expectations, in what is a highly competitive market, those firms which were operating under a third party certified FSMS were more likely to question the benefits they had derived than those firms that were either in the process of adoption or had chosen not to adopt a third party certified FSMS. Irrespective of the stage of adoption, the major constraint to the implementation of a third party certified FSMS was the need for the organisation to focus on more immediate issues and the lack of any strategic long-term planning.     

Testing improvements in the chocolate traceability system: Impact on product recalls and production efficiency

The primary aim of food traceability is to increase food safety, but traceability systems can also bring other benefits to production systems and supply chains. In the literature these benefits are extensively discussed, but studies that quantify them are scarce. In this paper we propose two hypothetical improvements of the traceability system within the chocolate production system and supply chain and we illustrate the resulting benefits by using a case study. Based on the case study, we quantify the influence of these improvements on production efficiency and recall size in case of a safety crisis by developing a simulation tool. These results are aimed to illustrate and quantify the additional benefits of traceability information, and could help food industries in deciding whether and how to improve their traceability systems.     

Knowledge,attitude and practices of food safety amongst food handlers in the coastal resort of Guangdong,China

In order to identify risk factors contributing to foodborne disease outbreaks in Guangdong province, China, the present study evaluated the knowledge, attitude, and practices (KAP) of food safety among food handlers in a coastal resort area that has a high incidence of foodborne disease outbreaks from Vibrio parahaemolyticus. The KAP of 171 food handlers from 22 food establishments—including seven food establishments in which outbreaks had occurred and 15 in which outbreaks had not occurred—were evaluated.A self-administered questionnaire designed to access the KAP of food safety was completed by the food handlers. The majority of respondents didn't know the maximum stored time at room temperature and the most common agent of foodborne disease in seafood. Most of the respondents' attitudes about food safety and training were positive. When asked about the practices undertaken, about one-fifth of the respondents admitted they had mixed food (raw and cooked) containers in varying degrees. There was significant variance among different food establishments, different ages, and different times of training. Training programs may achieve good results, but training should be more selective, educate the trainees to realize food safety is more important than fresh seafood, target how to cook seafood and lower the risk of microbiology in food, and conduct particularly focused training among managers and newcomers.     

Performance assessment of food safety management system in the pork slaughter plants of China

The aim of this study was to investigate the status of food safety management system (FSMS) implemented at the pork slaughter plants in China, based on a detailed profile of both announced assessments carried out in 60 companies and unannounced assessments in 25 ones, with the checklist covered 29 indicators. The results from the study indicated several factors had an effect on the status of FSMS, associated with company size, location, target market, and valid certificates. The results also revealed a weakness of FSMS on good manufacture practices, including contamination control, pest control, clean and disinfection, facility environment and personal hygiene. In order to precisely measure implementation performance and better identify insufficiency, unannounced assessment was shown to be more efficient than announced assessment.     

Anti-counterfeit code for aquatic product identification for traceability and supervision in China

There are not or weak anti-counterfeit functions in the current traceability system. As a result, the counterfeiters could imitate this system easily. This phenomenon had a large impact on the traceability system construction and on consumer trust in the traceability information. The aim of our research was to construct an anti-counterfeit code for aquatic product identification, for traceability and supervision of aquatic enterprises in the domestic market. The aquatic products batch code (APBC) was in the form of a segmented combination encoding an enterprise identification code, a product code and a check code, which implements a combination of traceability and supervision. An encryption algorithm based on the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) was designed for decimal anti-counterfeit code based on the unique identification of the aquatic trace units. Simulation tests indicated that a diffusion rate of greater than 90% was achieved when the encryption was run four or more times, thereby leading to the implementation of an anti-counterfeiting technique for aquatic traceability, known as “one time, one code”. The anti-counterfeit code combined with GS1 was used in a product label, and the method has a high level of security and is used for supervision and tracing of aquatic products in China.     

Implementation of HACCP system in China: A survey of food enterprises involved

The paper reports the results of the study on HACCP implementation in China based on analyzing the findings of a survey on 27 food enterprises involved. The results indicate that large- and medium-sized food enterprises dominate over the implementation of HACCP system in China. The product types produced by food enterprises in China that implement HACCP system are those with a hold in international market. China’s food enterprises take the implementation of HACCP system as a strategy to gain market competition advantage. The top incentives for China’s food enterprises implementing HACCP system are that HACCP system can provide them more chances to access to new markets, improve product quality and increase market share, showing that the major incentives of HACCP implementation in China are market-oriented.     

热电厂烟气脱硫系统的应用及问题分析

对银川热电厂一期烟气脱硫系统脱硫情况进行了分析,对其工艺流程及系统运行中出现的一些问题进行了阐述。     

On the linkages between traceability levels and expected and actual traceability costs and benefits in the Italian fishery supply chain

EC Regulation 178/2002 introduced mandatory traceability for all food operators, but they can choose the level of traceability. We propose a model incorporating three indices of traceability – breadth, depth and precision – that affect costs and benefits. We empirically test the model by regression analyses, using data collected on a sample of Italian fish processors. While higher precision corresponds with larger perceived benefits, an increasing traceability breadth raises costs. A measure of the extent of the discrepancy between expected and actual costs and benefits is also established. Implications are discussed in light of future uptake of continuously advancing traceability technologies.     

A real-time agro-food authentication and supervision system on a novel code for improving traceability credibility

Counterfeiting products and abusing labels lead to less credibility for traceability system in China recently. Authentication and supervision agencies driven by government departments play an important role for ensuring the quality safety in the case of lacking the willingness and credit of enterprises. A complete authentication and supervision flow framework was constructed based on an identification code (IdC) for authenticated origin base, which linked two actors of the agencies and the enterprises, and three subsystems of On-line Authentication Subsystem (OAS), Safety Production Management Client (SMC) and Mobile Supervision Application (MSA). IdC consisted of longitude and latitude of origin base as position code, production code and authentication type code. With a relative position partition method on 6 zones every 27° for China map and a coordination transformation algorithm, an absolute longitude and latitude value was converted into a relative position value and a zone mark value. IdC and packaging date code formed initial traceability code (TC). 8 digits packaging date code was reconstructed into 3 digits relative time value and 1 digit period mark according to a relative time period partition method with a period of 999d as time intervals and four periods form a cycle. Validation code was generated integrating the zone mark value, period mark value and authentication type code. Therefore, transformed 20 digits TC with the characters of shorter code length and stronger encryption was formed with IdC, relative time value and validation code. Three subsystems for different actors which provide the main function such as origin base registration, agency authentication, QR code generation, data uploading and product verification, were developed. The system has been used in Tianjin city from 2012. 213 enterprises were audited through OAS and used SMC. Through investigating 8 supervision agency staffs, 30 origin base owners, and 50 customers, it is shown that the positive effects are approved by most of the investigators and two negative effects for enhancing the costs and doubting the authentication reliability are laid by 17 enterprises and 12 customers. Furthermore, 4 typical cases for counterfeiting and abusing the labels were exampled and can be solved to a certain extent with the system. However, except for the technology itself, a management measures fitting the supervision flow and system need to draft in order to improve the system application well in the future.     

Reservoir differences and formation mechanisms in the Ke-Bai overthrust belt,northwestern margin of the Junggar Basin,China

There are some differences in reservoir quality of clastic rock between the hanging wall and the foot wall of the Ke-Bai overthrust belt,northwestern margin of the Junggar Basin,western China,which affect the effi cient petroleum exploration in this highly mature exploration area. Based on a large number of thin-sections,cast thin-sections,and physical property analysis of cores,we systematically discuss the Permian-Jurassic reservoir differences between the hanging wall and the foot wall of the Ke-Bai over...     

Knowledge,attitudes and practices of food handlers on food safety in food service operations at the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia

This study was conducted to determine the level of knowledge, attitudes and practices of food handlers in food service operation at the main campus of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) regarding food safety. Data were collected from 112 food handlers through questionnaires which consisted of questions about knowledge, attitudes and practices. The results showed that there was significantly positive correlation among the three levels and respondents possess good scores for knowledge (19.68 ± 3.87) about personal hygiene, foodborne diseases and temperature control of food; for attitudes (89.26 ± 8.66) on safe food handling, and for practices (90.02 ± 8.23), specifically for appropriate hand washing, use of gloves in food preparation and prevention of food hazards. About 73.2% of respondents never attend any training related to food safety and majority show poor knowledge of pathogens associated with disease-causing agents as well as critical temperatures for storage of ready-to-eat foods. Therefore, effective and ongoing training on food safety and hygiene must be given to all food service employees to ensure the safety of food provided.