Chinese consumers food purchasing behaviors and awareness of food safety

This study examines consumer food purchasing behavior and awareness of food safety in China. We surveyed a total of 1015 consumers in Nanjing and Beijing and the results showed that consumers with a lower level of education tend to be less concerned about certain food safety factors compared to those with a higher level of education. The respondents with higher food expenditures were also more concerned about food safety than those who spent less money on food. Women, families with children or elderly people were also more concerned. Consumers in the used sample preferred to buy food from a super-market; paid more attention to the expiration date on the food label, food color and the nutritional content of food products. Consumers had little knowledge of who was responsible for food safety in China; therefore educating consumers on who was responsible for food safety in China may help mitigate consumers’ concerns.     

Food safety knowledge,attitudes and practices of street food vendors and consumers in Port-au-Prince,Haiti

This study had the major objective of determining the food safety knowledge, attitudes and practices of vendors and consumers of street food in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Haiti currently has no food safety legislation in place. 160 consumers and 80 vendors from four different communes (Tabarre, Delmas, Pétion-ville and downtown Port-au-Prince) volunteered to participate in the study. In general, consumers and vendors exhibited average food safety knowledge and attitude levels. Gender, training, level of education and location did not have a significant effect (p < 0.05) on the level of food safety knowledge of the consumers. Vendors were determined to have higher levels of food safety knowledge than consumers, whilst trained vendors had better food safety knowledge and attitudes compared to untrained vendors. The majority of vendors and consumers were aware of the importance of washing hands and proper cleaning with regards to the prevention of foodborne diseases. However, some other aspects were of concern. Consumers and vendors did not know that Hepatitis A, Salmonella spp. and Staphylococcus spp. are pathogens responsible of foodborne diseases. They also had difficulties in identifying the groups at risk of foodborne diseases and most were unaware of the importance of reheating food to fight against foodborne diseases. In the observational part of the study, it was found that in 60% of the cases, flies and animals were evident around the stall and 65% did not have access to potable water. The majority served food with bare hands and did not wash their hands after handling money. Additionally, 70% of the vendors did not chill pre-cooked food. The conditions in which street food vendors operate in Port-au-Prince are largely unacceptable from a food safety point of view and an effort should be made to provide them with adequate infrastructure including potable water, toilets and waste disposal facilities. The results of this study should be used to generate part of the impetus towards the development of enforcement of appropriate food safety legislation in Haiti.     

The knowledge and practice of food safety by young and adult consumers

Each year, millions of people worldwide suffer from food-borne diseases and illnesses. Therefore, food-related infection is an important health problem in many countries. The study was conducted in Ankara Province of Turkey to determine food safety and food preparation practices of young and adult consumers. The sampling group was composed of randomly-selected 646 young and 815 adult individuals and questionnaires were applied with face-to-face interviews made between April and December, 2006. It was discovered that food safety knowledge of young consumers is at an insufficient level and their practices are inappropriate. It was also revealed that there is a significantly meaningful difference between the food safety knowledge and food preparation practice scores of young and adult consumers in favor of adult consumers (P < 0.001).     

Food safety knowledge,attitudes and practices of street food vendors and consumers in Ho Chi Minh city,Vietnam

This study had the major objective of evaluating the food safety knowledge, attitudes and practices of consumers and vendors of street foods in Ho Chi Minh City (MCMC), Vietnam. There were three main surveys performed in this study. A total of 120 consumers and 40 street food vendors from four districts [Binh Thanh (BT), Thu Duc (TD), district 3 (D3) and district 8 (D8)] in HCMC contributed to the study on a voluntary basis. The surveyed consumers had adequate levels of food safety knowledge and attitudes. No significant difference (p > 0.05) occurred between the food safety knowledge levels of the consumers on the basis of gender. However, significant differences (p < 0.05) occurred on the basis of age, education level, food safety training status and location. In contrast, the street vendors had poor food safety knowledge and attitude levels. No significant differences (p > 0.05) were observed in the food safety knowledge levels of the vendors on the basis of gender and age. However, significant differences (p < 0.05) were found on the basis of food safety training status and education level. It was also noted that the vast majority (95%) of the vendors had not received any food safety training. With regards to the practices, it was determined that 52.5% of the vending sites were open air stands without any protection from the sun, wind and dust. 52.5% the vending stalls had no direct access to potable water, while 47.5% did not have adequate hand washing facilities and a further 30% lacked proper waste water and food disposal facilities. In addition, 52.5% of the vendors did not separate raw, partially cooked food and cooked food products. These findings highlighted that street food vendors in HCMC generally have poor food handling practices and most are operating under unhygienic conditions. These results should provide the Vietnamese government with even more reasons to increase their current efforts to improve the safety of street foods and food safety awareness of the consumers.     

Urban street foods in Shijiazhuang city,China: Current status,safety practices and risk mitigating strategies

Street foods often reflect traditional local cultures and offer a unique cultural experience to tourists and even to ordinary consumers. With the increasing pace of globalization and tourism, the safety of street foods has become one of the major concerns of public health. There is an urgent need, in China, to establish a national program to raise the food safety awareness and knowledge of street food vendors. The safety and hygiene status of street foods in Shijiazhuang city was investigated. Data on the street food vendors' food safety knowledge and practices, inspectors' regulatory capacity and consumers' purchasing habits were collected. Potential hazards in the preparation and sale of street foods were analyzed and strategies for ensuring the safety of street foods were recommended. The study showed that the street food safety risks are primarily due to the use of unqualified raw materials encouraged by ineffective inspections, poor infrastructure at the street food vending sites and lack of sanitation knowledge among street food vendors. In order to prevent street foods from being contaminated, more stringent and effective routine supervision and food safety practices should be adopted and the environmental conditions and facilities should be improved. Regular training in food processing technology, food safety knowledge and practical food safety evaluation methods should also be strengthened among street food vendors and food safety inspectors.     

浅析输油管道站队的安全管理及策略

在石油的运输过程中,输油管道起着基础性的也是关键性的作用。本文探讨了输油管道站队的安全管理及其运行策略。     

Occurrence,serotypes and virulence genes of non-O157 Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli in fresh beef,ground beef,and beef burger

This study determined the prevalence, serotypes and virulence genes distribution of non-O157 Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli in meat products collected from butchers shops and supermarkets in Mansoura city, Egypt. We have characterized 18 non-O157 STEC strains among the identified 100 E. coli isolates recovered from the examined 87 meat product samples. The prevalence of non-O157 STEC strains in fresh beef, ground beef and beef burger samples were 11.1% (3/27), 16.7% (5/30), and 33.3% (10/30), respectively. The eighteen non-O157 STEC isolated strains were serotyped into seven (38.9%) O111:H8, six (33.3%) O26:H11, two (11.1%) O111:H–, and one (5.56%) for each of O55:H7, O126:H5 and O128:H2. PCR assays for different virulence genes showed that nine (50%), eleven (61.1%), and nine (50%) strains carry stx1, stx2, and eae genes, respectively. The distribution of shiga toxin genes among the isolated strains indicated that seven (38.9%) strains harbored stx1 only, nine (50%) strains harbored stx2 only, and two (11.1%) strains harbored both stx1 and stx2. The eae gene was present in association with five (27.8%), three (16.7%), and one (5.6%) strains that harbored stx1 only, stx2 only, and both stx1 and stx2, respectively. This study concluded that the examined meat products, particularly beef burger, consumed in Egypt are considerably contaminated with a variety of non-O157 STEC serotypes, and hence consumption of such products may constitute a potential health risk for consumers.     

The food safety knowledge and microbial hazards awareness of consumers of ready-to-eat street-vended food

Controlling and ensuring the safety of street-vended foods in many countries is a challenge considering that these foods are often less expensive and readily available. The objective of this study was to determine the food safety knowledge based on microbial hazard awareness of street food consumers in the Johannesburg municipality, South Africa. A cross-sectional survey study was conducted using a structured food safety questionnaire designed for this study. A total of 402 respondents, individuals who buy and consume ready-to-eat street-vended foods were randomly selected at various street-food vending cites in the Johannesburg municipality. Data collection was by means of a face-to face interviews. The majority of respondents were black males younger than 35 years. Individuals of within different gender, race, level of education and monthly income groups significantly (p < 0.05) differed in their responses regarding the frequency of purchasing and confidence in the safety of street-vended food. Better taste followed closely by affordability and accessibility were the most cited reasons for purchasing street-vended food. Although the majority of respondents were aware that certain food borne bacteria can cause diseases that may lead to death, over 70% of them have never heard about Salmonella spp, Escherichia coli, Listeria monocytogenes and Campylobacter jejuni. Although some consumers doubt the safety of street vended foods, they are not deterred from consuming them. Gender, race, the level of education and monthly income affect the way consumers of street-vended foods perceived the safety of street-vended foods and their desire to purchase them.     

Industry’s need and expectations to meet food safety, 5th International Meeting: Noordwijk Food Safety and HACCP Forum 9–10 December 2002

Producing, processing or manufacturing foods which meet consumers’ and society’s expectations is a very complex undertaking. On one hand, we live in a world where the socio-economical situation and infrastructure, the environment, cultural values and regulatory requirements are different; on the other hand, the movement of people, trade of goods and services as well as communication have made food safety a global concern. Furthermore, everyday we are faced with new scientific findings bringing with them new hazards and new challenges. Therefore, ensuring food safety in today’s complex world is a daunting task and is possible only with a concerted effort of all sectors including government, consumer organizations and industry – a concept that the World Health Organisation referred to as the concept of Shared Responsibility. In spite of this, in many countries, in particular in Europe, there is sometimes a feeling of distrust towards the industry. This hampers effective collaboration between different sectors whereas, in today’s complex world, dialogue and partnership are needed more than ever. The present article outlines the needs and expectations of the food industry from other sectors so that it can meet its objectives, i.e. to provide consumers with safe and wholesome food and to contribute to their health.     

The limits of food safety testing: A case study of Escherichia coli testing of beef trim

Beef trim, the primary component of ground beef, is tested by both the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) and meat packers for Escherichia coli O157:H7 under a zero tolerance standard. We compare and contrast the process control and filtering roles of this testing on costs and food safety outcomes. Both of these roles of testing have been alternatively emphasized in recent legislative proposals and policy statements on beef trim testing. In the process control role, test design – including the decisions to increase sample sizes, re-test lots, and change tolerance thresholds – only affects the cost of implementing a targeted food safety standard, but does not directly affect health outcomes. In contrast, in the filtering role, test design influences the likelihood of errors and directly affects health outcomes. Neither role eliminates all risk from this pathogen. More broadly, we discuss the incentives food producers face to increase their frequency of testing and improve food safety processes in response to positive test findings as the process control role emphasizes.     

Factors affecting food safety compliance within small and medium-sized enterprises: implications for regulatory and enforcement strategies

Empirical research assessed the factors affecting compliance with food safety legislation within small and medium-sized enterprises. This showed that whilst some of the barriers identified within other research were present within food businesses (specifically time and money), there were also a number of complex, underlying issues that prevented compliance with regulatory requirements and which have implications for regulatory and enforcement policy. These barriers included the lack of trust in food safety legislation and enforcement officers; a lack of motivation in dealing with food safety legislation; and a lack of knowledge and understanding.     

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.     

Quantification of risks to consumers’ health and to company’s incomes due to failures in food safety

Quality assurance systems are required at each step in the food production chain to ensure safety of food and to show compliance with regulatory and customer requirements. This is a matter affecting food companies too as part of the business activity and a challenge since they are the main beneficiary, i.e. economically, when it offers a safe product and the worst affected otherwise. Thus, failures in food safety endanger not only consumers’ health but also put at risk the company’s profitability. This paper introduces the fundamentals and an example of application of the use of quantitative risk assessment (QRA) to estimate the risk to consumers’ health and the induced company’s economic losses, which can be of great support for the risk-informed decision-making in the food processing context. The information provided by the QRA could be used in this food industry context to prioritize the safety management measures needed according to real importance of the main hazards identified for a particular food processing, which simultaneously would better protect the consumer’s health and be cost effective and efficient for the food industry. The example of application of this QRA on Listeria monocytogenes in raw fish shows that the risk for consumers’ health imposed by the product of this company ranges normal values as compared with the survey in FDA/USDA and the risk for the company due to induced economic losses stays low in average, although an upper bound for such losses over a year period has been found significant due to both direct and indirect costs.     

Food quality management system: Reviewing assessment strategies and a feasibility study for European food small and medium-sized enterprises

Literature indicates a need for a user-friendly food quality management system (FQMS) customized to the requirements of food small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) for improving product and process quality and enhancing customer satisfaction. Application of quality management system within discreet and process industries is evident. However, there are limited studies that focused on the implementation of a quality management system (QMS) among SMEs operating in the food sector. This study explains the results of a feasibility study on FQMS among European Food SMEs. The objective of this study is to diagnose the status of the FQMS, and to find out what motivates and hinders the successful implementation of FQMS in SMEs. The findings show that none of the food SMEs involved in this study implements FQMS in its true form. The size of the company is a significant factor with respect to quality management implementation, as medium-sized companies were more mature in FQMS implementation compared to their small and micro counterparts. The confectionery, chocolate and meat sectors are more advanced than bakery, packaged fruits and vegetables sectors, with respect to the implementation of quality management tools and techniques. The study revealed that the most important benefits of a quality management system were reduction in cost of production and increased productivity. The key barrier to implementation of FQMS was “lack of knowledge and training” among food SMEs.     

Larval migration of the zoonotic parasite Anisakis pegreffii (Nematoda: Anisakidae) in European anchovy,Engraulis encrasicolus: Implications to seafood safety

Anisakid nematodes belonging to the species Anisakis pegreffii are distributed in a wide variety of fishes from the Mediterranean Sea and they are known to cause the human zoonosis anisakiasis. The present study investigated, for the first time, the response of A. pegreffii larvae (identified to species level by allozymes and mtDNA cox2 sequence analysis) to the storage temperature of European anchovies, Engraulis encrasicolus. The larval motility of A. pegreffii was studied in 1300 fish specimens, captured from a highly infested area (FAO 37.2.1, 43°8′N, 14°16′E), maintained under different temperatures (2 °C, 5 °C, 7 °C), and examined at different time intervals (immediately after fishing, 24 h, 48 h and 72 h). Parasitological analysis was carried out with the UV-press method. The results showed that the increase of infection values with A. pegreffii in the fillets of anchovies was statistically positively related to the increase of the temperature (at 5 °C and 7 °C) and time of storage (after 24 h, 48 h, and 72 h). Accordingly, a significant statistical correlation between the increasing of the worm burden in the fillets and a decreasing of A. pegreffii in the viscera was observed. In contrast, those fish constantly maintained at 2 °C showed no statistically significant variation in infection either in the viscera or the fillets, after 24, 48 and 72 h. In the same batches of anchovies, larvae of the non-zoonotic nematode parasite Hysterothylacium aduncum (identified to the species level by ITS rDNA sequences analysis) were found, but they were never observed infecting the musculature of the anchovies. Our results suggest that temperature plays an important role in the post-mortem motility of A. pegreffii larvae in anchovies. In addition, the presence of A. pegreffii in the fillets inspected immediately after their capture indicates that intra-vitam migration may also occur. As a consequence, the importance of the adoption of rules to prevent human anisakiasis, as the deep freezing to −20 °C for 24 h, was underlined.     

Quality, safety and profit

In 1992, Sainsbury's achieved the distinction of becoming the largest retailer in the UK. Sainsbury's is also the largest food retailer in the UK, with well over 300 stores trading under the J. Sainsbury name and another nine hypermarkets trading under the Savacentre name. The sales of the company as a group demonstrated significant growth in the last seven years rising from just under £3 billion in 1984, to over £8 billion in 1991. Group sales for the year ending March 1992 were £9.2 billion.     

Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli in food: Incidence,ecology, and detection strategies

Commensal Escherichia coli are commonly utilized for investigating the genetic and biochemical requirements of microorganisms, and have served in a wide variety of applications. Pathogenic E. coli known as Shiga toxin (Stx)-producing E. coli (STEC) are associated with various food products including ground beef. These pathogens are present in a wide range of environments, and have caused numerous foodborne outbreaks and recalls. These outbreaks and the increased awareness of STEC have led to certain STEC serotypes to be declared adulterants in non-intact raw meat. Various STEC detection methods have been investigated, and numerous cultural and molecular-based detection methods continue to be modified to meet regulatory requirements. However, STEC serotypes may possess certain characteristics that lead to bias in the likelihood of a certain serotype being detected in an assay. Understanding the characteristics of these STEC serotypes will provide means for optimizing the detection platforms, and as a result limit foodborne illness and recalls caused by STEC due to enhanced cultural and molecular detection capabilities.