Food safety modernization act: A quality management approach to identify and prioritize factors affecting adoption of preventive controls among small food facilities

The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) was signed into law in the United States in 2011, shifting the existing food safety focus from a reactive to a preventive approach. According to literature, legislative requirements of FSMA can be challenging for small food facilities affected by the regulations immediately or in near future. Thus, the purpose of this research was to utilize quality management tools to identify and prioritize major challenges faced by small food facilities in adopting the preventive controls' component of the FSMA legislation. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews of food industry representatives and academic professionals from the Midwest region of the United States. An affinity diagram was used to identify the set of challenges that emerged from the interviews, following which a weighted multi-voting survey was used to prioritize the identified challenges. Major identified challenges included: understanding of the FSMA law, cost of implementation, timeline for implementation, employee preparedness, absence of quality culture, and employee willingness. Furthermore, a difference was observed in how industry representatives and academic professionals rank ordered the above-listed challenges.     

Indian perspective in food traceability: A review

India is the second largest producer of fruit and vegetables in the world. Fruit production in India has increased 89% in the last decade. In the present paper It is exposed the necessity for a proper traceability in the Indian food industry, because the sector is demanding an adequate system due to the precarious nature of existing supply chain, and to reduce the numerous cases of food safety incidents and fraudulence. This work also presents the existing traceability techniques in India which include RFID, Holograms, Barcode, Nuclear techniques and other tracking media to monitor production process. Furthermore it is revealed the initiatives implementation from APEDA and its association with GS1 India in the form of Anarnet, Peanut.net, Meat.net, and Grapenet for the Indian farming products, as well as several ICTs initiatives that are actively working in many states of India.However the development of an effective food traceability system is affected by a numbers of factors like restrictive government marketing standardization, insecure policies and unstable actions for food safety, underdeveloped and unorganized infrastructure in market area and the supply chains, from the farmers to non-existent cold chain facilities and small local stores, and inadequate agricultural practices with large number of small and medium industries and famers. Therefore an effective food traceability system is not only an important tool to manage food quality and safety risks, but also to promote the development of effective supply chain management in India.     

A comparison of food safety programs using the Customizable Tool for Online Training Evaluation

Food safety training for restaurant and food service employees is essential to reduce the risk of foodborne illness. With the large variety of food safety training programs available, it is critical to have an objective evaluation tool, which will allow managers, supervisors or purchasing agents to assessment strengths and weakness among multiple programs. The objective of this study was to use a newly created evaluation tool, the Customizable Tool for Online Training Evaluation (CTOTE) to assess and compare four online food safety training programs currently available to the food service industry. Through a comparison of the objectives of each training programs, a delivery method for training to front-line employees was identified. The preferred training approach was a blended method, which uses multiple delivery methods in a single training module to reinforce of the material being taught. The food safety training program containing the highest overall rating among respondents uses this blended delivery method and was taught at a middle school reading level. Results from this study show supervisors that front-line employees want clear, easy-to-follow instructions, the ability to check their progress, save their work and continue at a later time and include relevant examples and scenarios. Additionally, based on these results, retail employers and food processors can employ the most preferred food safety training methods for their employees.     

Evaluation of food safety training on hygienic conditions in food establishments

Food handlers' training is fundamental in order to ensure the safety of the foodstuff. However, the success of training programs that provide only information is unclear and changes in improper food practices are not usually achieved. Food training programs based on theoretical as well as practical activities have been revealed as an important tool in which food handlers can put information into practice. Thus, the objective of this study was to assess the influence of food safety training, based on both theoretical and practical approaches, on the microbiological counts of food contact surfaces, food tools, food equipment surfaces and hand washing in canteens and cafes of one university campus. After food safety training, total plate counts decreased about 60% in the case of canteens and almost 45% in cafes while moulds and yeasts decreased approximately 65% in canteens and 55% in cafes. In terms of location, the microbiological reductions observed were higher for food equipment in canteens and for food tools in cafes. The microbiological counts of food handlers' hands decreased after both food safety training and disinfection. Food safety training influenced the reduction of overall microbiological parameters. Parametric t-tests (after vs before training) indicated that reductions were statistically significant before and after disinfection for total plate counts. The decrease observed for total coliforms and Enterobacteriaceae, were statistically significant only before disinfection. The food safety programs cannot be based entirely on a theoretical approach but also on adequate training which includes a practical approach. The success of the microbiological reductions in the study was associated to the practical lessons which let the handler put into practice the knowledge acquired in the theoretical part.     

Application of Bayesian Networks in the development of herbs and spices sampling monitoring system

Knowing which products and hazards to monitor along the food supply chain is crucial for ensuring food safety. In this study, we developed a model to predict which types of herbs and spices products and food safety hazards should preferentially be monitored at each level of the supply chain (suppliers, border inspection points, market and consumers). A Bayesian Network method was used to develop a model based on notifications reported in the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed and the database of the Dutch national monitoring program for chemical contaminants in food and feed over the period 2005–2014. The model was constructed by randomly selecting ca. 80% of the 3126 data records and validated using the remaining ca. 20% of the records. Model validation showed that the prediction accuracy was higher than 85%. Results showed that the sampling plan is closely related to the place where the products are checked along the supply chain, the products and the country of origin. Our approach of integrating different data sources and considering the entire supply chain can support industry and authorities at border inspection points and at all control points along the herbs and spices supply chain in setting priorities for their monitoring program.     

Knowledge of food safety and food handling practices amongst food handlers in the Republic of Ireland

Food safety concerns have existed for a long time, as millions of people across the globe suffer from food borne disease every year. Contamination of food owing to limited knowledge of food safety practices primarily increases the risk of food borne illnesses. In the present study, quantitative research was carried out to gauge the level of food safety knowledge amongst people living in Ireland. A total of 1069 participants from all over the Republic of Ireland contributed to the survey (of which 821 were included in this research). Results showed that the residents of Ireland overall had an average level on knowledge of food safety practices (67.0% passing rate). They had an average level of knowledge in food storage (52.8% passing rate), usage and maintenance of the kitchen facilities (59.0% passing rate), and personal hygiene (61.0% passing rate). Conversely, they had a critically low level of knowledge in food handling (10.8% passing rate) and food poisoning (20.1% passing rate). The results of the present study also showed that, the level of knowledge of food safety practices varies amongst the residents based upon their gender, age, place of residence, education level, and marital status, while no significant difference in the knowledge level was observed based upon their per capita income. The study thus, highlights that there is scope for improvement for the residents to advance their knowledge of food safety practices. Therefore, it can be recommended that researchers, educators, food safety communicators, and the media can engage in educating the population, to help the residents advance their food safety knowledge to safer food practices.     

Food safety pre-warning system based on data mining for a sustainable food supply chain

In recent years, the food safety incidents happened frequently in china, and then the problems related to food quality and safety have attracted more and more social attention. Considering the concern with regard to quality sustainability in food supply chain, many companies have developed a real time data monitoring system to ensure products quality in the supply chain network. In this paper, we proposed a food safety pre-warning system, adopting association rule mining and Internet of Things technology, to timely monitor all the detection data of the whole supply chain and automatically pre-warn. The aim of pre-warning system is to help managers in food manufacturing firm to find food safety risk in advance, and to give some decision support information to maintain the quality and safety of food products. A case study of a dairy producer was conducted, and the results showed that the proposed pre-warning system can effectively identify safety risks and accurately determine whether a warning should be issued, depending on the expert analysis when an abnormality is detected by the system. In addition, implications of the proposed approach were discussed, and suggestions for future work were outlined.     

Food safety organisations in Saudi Arabia – Organisational,historical and future analysis

Food safety organisations around the world are increasingly seeking to develop public policies to protect society, improve the economy, and ensure food safety and quality, by reducing the risks of food-borne illnesses, commercial adulteration, and food fraud. These risks present real threats to the food industry worldwide. The development of these organisations often revolves around reform of their systems, focussing on law, regulations, and improving the performance of enforcement officials. This article analyses the historical development of food safety organisations in Saudi Arabia, including the structures and functions of government and non-government organisations. It focuses on the official decisions contributing to public policy leading to the growth and expansion of these organisations, their roles and their functions. The Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA), a central authority, has recently been established in order to unify enforcement and legislative roles in food safety previously carried out by different Saudi government organisations. Several current and future challenges to food safety in Saudi are identified and discussed.     

Economically motivated food fraud and adulteration in China: An analysis based on 1553 media reports

Based on 1553 media reports on food safety scandals and concerns, we conducted an aggregated analysis on economically motivated food frauds and adulterations in China. A systematic approach is used to analyze the country's food safety concern in terms of fraud type, implicated foods, adulterants, contaminants and abnormal conditions, and concerned food sources. This study indicate that economically motivated food fraud and adulteration was an emerging and serious food safety problem in China. The results of the study can be used not only to analyze food safety risks but also to prioritize target areas for food policy-making and enforcement of food safety regulation.     

Activities,motives and external factors influencing food safety management system adoption in Malaysia

This study was conducted in the northern region of Peninsular Malaysia to examine the characteristics of food companies, their food safety improvement activities, motives and external factors that influenced their decision on implementing the Malaysian food safety system (MeSTI). The study employs a survey questionnaire which was distributed to the respondents during food safety seminars, workshops and meetings. A total of 89 completed questionnaires were returned. The results indicated that the main motive for adopting a food safety system was to improve product quality, while external factors influencing food safety adoption was consumer awareness of food safety and the intension of industry to increase customer confidence. The results of the study suggest that, compared with perceptions toward food safety, there is significant difference in the motives to improve product quality, lowering the risk of compromising food safety and extending their market to foreign country among different groups in the food industry. The external factors influencing food safety adoption exhibit significant differences among the groups of perceptions in increasing customer confidence.     

Seafood safety and quality: An analysis of the supply chain in the Sultanate of Oman

The globalization of trade in fish has created many challenges for the developing world specifically with regard to food safety and quality. International organisations have established a good basis for standards in international trade. Whilst these requirements are frequently embraced by the major importers (such as Japan, the EU and the USA), they often impose additional safety requirements and regularly identify batches which fail to meet their strict standards. Creating an effective national seafood control system which meets both the internal national needs as well the requirements for the export market can be challenging. Many countries adopt a dual system where seafood products for the major export markets are subject to tight control whilst the majority of the products (whether for the local market or for more regional trade) are less tightly controlled. With regional liberalization also occurring, deciding on appropriate controls is complex. In the Sultanate of Oman, fisheries production is one of the countries' chief sources of economic revenue after oil production and is a major source of the national food supply. In this paper the structure of the fish supply chain has been analysed and highlighted the different routes operating for the different markets. Although much of the fish are consumed within Oman, there is a major export trade to the local regional markets. Much smaller quantities meet the more stringent standards imposed by the major importing countries and exports to these are limited. The paper has considered the development of the Omani fish control system including the key legislative documents and the administrative structures that have been developed. Establishing modern controls which satisfy the demands of the major importers is possible but places additional costs on businesses. Enhanced controls such as HACCP and other management standards are required but can be difficult to justify when alternative markets do not specify these. These enhanced controls do however provide additional consumer protection and can bring benefits to local consumers. The Omani government is attempting to upgrade the system of controls and has made tremendous progress toward the implementation of HACCP and introducing enhanced management systems into its industrial sector. The existence of strengthened legislative and government support, including subsidies, has encouraged some businesses to implement HACCP. The current control systems have been reviewed and an SWOT analysis approach used to identify key factors for their future development. The study shows that seafood products in the supply chain are often exposed to lengthy handling and distribution process before reaching the consumers, a typical issue faced by many developing countries. As seafood products are often perishable, they safety is compromised if not adequately controlled. The enforcement of current food safety laws in the Sultanate of Oman is shared across various government agencies. Consequently, there is a need to harmonize all regulatory requirements, enhancing the domestic food protection and to continue to work towards a fully risk-based approach in order to compete successfully in the global market.     

Risk-based food safety and quality governance at the international law,EU, USA,Canada and France: Effective system for Lebanon as for the WTO accession

Following the establishment of the Lebanese food safety authority (LFSA) in the food safety draft law, this study aims to find the appropriate food safety governance system in Lebanon in accordance with the risk analysis and the clauses of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Agreement. It describes the regulatory and institutional food safety governance system developed in USA, EU, Canada and France using inventory approach and in-depth interviews at institutional level to profit from their previous experience in this field. The findings indicate that Lebanon showed compliance with the clauses of the WTO but it will not be for the interest of Lebanon to join the WTO before it strengthens its infrastructure capacity at the institutional and stakeholders level through harmonization of the Risk Assessment (RA) and Risk Management (RM) at the institutional level and at all stages of the food chain. Lebanon should rely on bilateral and multilateral agreements by carrying out equivalence that fits his socio-economic situation based on RA. As it was shown in the studied countries, power given to the food safety authority depends on the willing of the country to adopt the political democratic approach or political scientific approach and RM and RA were not always functionally and institutionally separated. Lebanon within his political and socio-economical situation will meet constraints if he relies only on scientific justification, he should adopt the political democratic approach and ensure collaboration among RA agencies and RM at different levels.     

Food hygiene practices in different food establishments

The aim of this study was to investigate three dimensions of food hygiene in three European cities - Belgrade, Thessaloniki and Porto. The first dimension of the survey was to evaluate the level of hygiene in different food establishments supplying food direct to consumers. A total of 91 food businesses were included in the survey with 30 food businesses from Belgrade and Porto, and 31 from Thessaloniki. In parallel with scoring the premises, the second dimension of the study was to examine the opinion of managers of these food establishments regarding food hygiene rating. Finally, in order to justify the importance of food hygiene, the research covered consumers' perception regarding food safety and hygiene practices in the three European cities. A total of 600 respondents were interviewed in the survey, 200 respondents per city.This study confirmed that HACCP as a concept is important and major differences in the level of food hygiene in food establishments are based on HACCP status rather than type and size of food establishment. The analysis revealed hygiene and food preparation as the predominant in low ranking of food hygiene and safety procedures, followed by inadequate layout as predominant factor in evaluating structural requirements. Also, the obtained results indicated greater level of hygiene in food establishments in Thessaloniki and Porto, than in Belgrade. Managers' opinion confirms their belief that a transparent food hygiene rating of all food establishments could lead to improved business. Finally, respondents in all cities confirmed their awareness of the importance of food hygiene and indicated kitchen related statements as the most influential.     

Early signals for emerging food safety risks: From past cases to future identification

During the last decades multiple unexpected and wide spread food safety incidents have occurred. The aim of this study is to learn from the past by studying the early emergence of historic food safety risks and apply these lessons for future early identification of emerging food safety risks. Information on the early signals preceding the emergence of thirteen diverse food safety incidents was collected, categorized and evaluated. It was found that in all cases early signals did precede the actual emergence of the incidents. The time interval between early signal and emergence varied between some months to multiple decades. Almost all early signals identified originated from two textual data sources: science and food safety authorities. It is concluded that in order to detect early signals semantic relationships between three key hazard concepts (food, substance and adverse health effect) must be extracted primarily from these data sources. A conceptual emerging food hazard model to visualize the concepts and relationships is proposed. When new information or a change in information is found for the hazard concepts a new food safety hazard may be emerging. Furthermore, we present the design of the Emerging Risk Identification Support system (ERIS) to support the risk manager with the identification of emerging risks. Some key factors for identifying emerging hazards (or risks) and the requirements of information systems to support this are discussed. With a functional system at hand and using science based information, the risk manager will be able to develop scenarios and, subsequently, the risk manager can initiate measures pro-actively to influence the development of the emerging risks.     

Food safety knowledge of foodservice workers at a university campus by education level,experience, and food safety training

Food safety knowledge of university foodservice workers was evaluated and the relationship between food safety knowledge and education level, length of employment, and food safety training was assessed using a 40-item food safety questionnaire. Each knowledge question was scored as “1” for a correct answer and as “0” for an incorrect answer. The relationships between the level of education and food safety knowledge scores and length of employment in the foodservice industry and food safety knowledge scores were determined using bivariate correlation analysis. A total of 63.5% of the respondents had limited knowledge, 79% were well-informed about hygiene practices, while 33.9% of persons knew of correct time-temperature control measures. Kendall's tau = 0.067; p = 0.294 revealed a lack of strength of the relationship between education level and food safety knowledge. The relationship between length of employment and food safety knowledge was Kendall's tau = −0.133; p = 0.121. No mean differences (p = 0.426) were observed for mean knowledge scores between groups of food safety trained and untrained persons. Neither education level, nor the length of employment in the foodservice industry had a significant impact on food safety knowledge. The authors recommend that in order to improve food safety knowledge, attention should be given to the planning, implementation, monitoring, and evaluating food safety education programs.     

EU legislation on cereal safety: An update with a focus on mycotoxins

Cereals are still by far the world's most important source of food, both for direct human consumption and indirectly, as inputs to livestock production. FAO's latest forecast for world cereal production in 2011 stands at nearly 2313 million tonnes. Total EU-27 grain production forecast was 283 and 272 million tonnes for 2011 and 2012, respectively. Cereal contamination has an important impact on human and animal health. The European Union has established the most comprehensive regulations for food and cereal safety to facilitate world trade and protect consumer health. This paper reviews the existing legislation associated with cereal safety, with a focus on mycotoxin contamination. Regulations and Directives were classified into the following topics: general food legislative framework, official controls (sampling and analysis), maximum levels for contaminants, prevention and reduction. To give the reader a rapid first approach to the topic of his interest, a synoptical presentation of all laws related to the above-mentioned topics is given, and the main points of each law, cited in conjunction with its effect on previous laws (repeal, modification, amendments, replacement, related acts), are reported in tables. Moreover, data regarding the worldwide occurrence of mycotoxins in cereals were reported.     

Definition and usage of food safety margins for verifying compliance of Food Safety Objectives

Over the last decade, risk analysis has gradually been introduced as a tool to make decisions about food safety policies. In this framework, the ALOP (Appropriate Level of Protection) concept, which can be seen as a statement of the degree of public protection that should be attained in a country, was introduced. In addition, FSO (Food Safety Objectives) was introduced to provide a link between the ALOP and target points/goals in the supply chain. Historically, ALOP and FSO decisions have been based on the ALARA (As Low As reasonably Achievable) approach. Since an ALARA approach is based on the status of current technology, it is likely that the ALOP is attainable, provided a substantial portion of the industry complies with technological requirements or adopt “best practices” that will achieve the FSO. Food managers must control and government agencies must enforce and monitor the fulfilment of FSO. Once FSO has been established and adopted by the food industry, a major concern is to evaluate the results of the implementation of FSO in order to verify compliance. This paper introduces the concept of food safety margin (FSM) and its formulation based on classical and probabilistic approaches, which are intended to be used as a tool to measure the degree of compliance with FSO. For a better understanding of how food safety margins perform, FSM are estimated for Listeria monocytogenes in three different products, (semi-soft cheese, heat treated meat and cold smoked salmon). The results obtained, adopting both classical and probabilistic approaches, are discussed.     

HACCP development and regulatory assessment in the United States of America

Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) is internationally recognized as the best method of assuring product safety by controlling foodborne safety hazards. Currently, within the USA, the FDA has mandated HACCP for fish and fishery products and is proposing mandating HACCP for fruit and vegetable juices. The USDA has mandated Pathogen Reduction/HACCP requirements for meat and poultry processing, and the NMFS Seafood Inspection Program operates a voluntary HACCP program for seafood plants. The requirements for mandatory implementation and proposed regulations represent a significant change in the manner in which foods are regulated for food safety and necessitate a new understanding of the different roles and responsibilities between the food industries and the regulatory agencies within the USA. Each agency will approach the evaluation process differently given their unique legislative authorities and programmatic operations. Nevertheless, each agency agrees that HACCP is the best food control system of choice and is committed to improve food safety requirements.     

Positioning food safety in Halal assurance

Muslims follow the religion of Islam and the food they eat should be Halal, meaning lawful or permissible. Muslims are allowed to eat halal and wholesome food that has been provided for them. However, some of the main prohibitions are swine flesh, blood, carrion, animals not slaughtered according to Islamic laws and alcoholic drinks. At present Halal assurance is in a complicated state, with various Halal standards differing from each other without gaining mutual acceptance. The world is starting to understand the need for an influential globally accepted standard that would open doors to global markets and gain consumer confidence. This paper discusses issues mainly related to food safety in Halal assurance. The aim was to discover and describe the approach to food safety requirements in Halal food provision and how this is incorporated in the Halal assurance systems. The position of food safety regulation within Halal requirements or Halal standards’ requirements for food safety is still unclear. This review also considers whether current Halal standards include criteria in common with internationally accepted food hygiene standards and emphasizes the potential of using the HACCP system for Halal assurance.     

Retraining effectiveness in FOODSAFE trained food handlers in British Columbia,Canada

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of food handler retraining. The food safety knowledge of handlers who had been previously certified by the FOODSAFE training programme in British Columbia, Canada was compared prior to and nine months following FOODSAFE retraining. The previously FOODSAFE trained food handlers were selected from participants of a 2009 survey. Food safety knowledge scores were compared between (1) previously FOODSAFE trained food handlers who received retraining (the intervention group), (2) previously FOODSAFE trained food handlers who did not receive retraining (the control group), and (3) untrained food handlers (the untrained group). Data gathered in a telephone survey demonstrated knowledge scores were significantly higher in the intervention group when compared with the control group, and when compared with the untrained group. No differences in food safety knowledge scores were found based on English as a first language or receiving food safety training other than FOODSAFE. These results support a requirement for periodic recertification of trained food handlers and demonstrate a need for education of untrained food handlers with a food safety training programme.