The Role of Auditing,Food Safety,and Food Quality Standards in the Food Industry: A Review

Food safety and quality audits are used widely in the food industry for various reasons (to evaluate management systems, obtain certifications to certain food safety and quality standards, assess the condition of premises and products, confirm legal compliance, and so on). Nowadays, the increased interest of consumers on food safety and quality matters, triggered mainly by recent food scandals, has enabled the public and private food sectors to develop a variety of food safety and quality standards. These standards have both advantages and disadvantages and their effectiveness depends on several factors such as the competency and skills of auditors and the standard used in each case. Although the industry continuously invests in developing and improving these systems, the number of foodborne outbreaks per year appears to be quite stable in both Europe and the United States. This may be an indication that additional measures and techniques or a different approach would be required to further improve the effectiveness of the food safety and quality management systems. This article examines the role of audits and food safety and quality assessment systems in the food industry, presenting the results of several studies and briefly describing the main food safety and quality standards currently used in Europe (with particular emphasis on the United Kingdom and Greece), the U.S., Australia–New Zealand, and Asia.     

A review of Canadian and international food safety systems: Issues and recommendations for the future

In January 2019, the Safe Food for Canadians Act/Safe Food for Canadians regulations (heretofore identified as SFCR) came into force across Canada and brought a more streamlined process to food safety practice in Canada. Food trade and production processes have evolved rapidly in recent decades, as Canada imports and exports food products; therefore it is critically important to remain aware of the latest advances responding to a range of challenges and opportunities in the food safety value chain. Looking through the optics of the recent SFCR framework, this paper places the spotlight on leading domestic and international research and practices to help strengthen food safety policies of the future. By shedding some light on new research, we also draw attention to international developments that are noteworthy, and place those in context as to how new Canadian food safety policy and regulation can be further advanced. The paper will benchmark Canada through a review study of food safety best practices by juxtaposing (i) stated aspirations with, (ii) actual performance in leading Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) jurisdictions.     

德国网络食品贸易的行政监管制度及其启示

德国网络食品交易的行政监管制度是德国联邦消费者保护与食品安全局协调建立的,主要由《食品和日用品管理法》及其他相关法律法规、德国网络食品贸易监控中心和"D21倡议"所推行的质量认证体系3个部分组成。通过相关法律法规的制订、统一监管平台的建立以及权威社会机构的质量认证,确保了德国网络食品贸易的食品安全与消费者权益。借鉴德国经验,中国可以通过确立食品安全行政管理部门统一组织和协调的法定职能、构建网络食品贸易的统一监管平台,以及将HACCP认证标准作为网络食品安全质量认证的核心标准等维度,对中国网络食品贸易行政监管制度进行完善性构建。     

Costs of Food Safety Investments in the Meat and Poultry Slaughter Industries

To develop regulations efficiently, federal agencies need to know the costs of implementing various regulatory alternatives. As the regulatory agency responsible for the safety of meat and poultry products, the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service is interested in the costs borne by meat and poultry establishments. This study estimated the costs of developing, validating, and reassessing hazard analysis and critical control points (HACCP), sanitary standard operating procedures (SSOP), and sampling plans; food safety training for new employees; antimicrobial equipment and solutions; sanitizing equipment; third‐party audits; and microbial tests. Using results from an in‐person expert consultation, web searches, and contacts with vendors, we estimated capital equipment, labor, materials, and other costs associated with these investments. Results are presented by establishment size (small and large) and species (beef, pork, chicken, and turkey), when applicable. For example, the cost of developing food safety plans, such as HACCP, SSOP, and sampling plans, can range from approximately $6000 to $87000, depending on the type of plan and establishment size. Food safety training costs from approximately $120 to $2500 per employee, depending on the course and type of employee. The costs of third‐party audits range from approximately $13000 to $24000 per audit, and establishments are often subject to multiple audits per year. Knowing the cost of these investments will allow researchers and regulators to better assess the effects of food safety regulations and evaluate cost‐effective alternatives.     

出口食品生产企业初级农产品原料供应商评价体系的研究与应用

目的探索建立一套适合出口食品生产企业对初级农产品原料供应商的评价体系,以提高出口食品生产企业对原料的自控能力。方法通过对我国初级农产品原料供应商管理现状的分析,应用PDCA的方法对初级农产品原料供应商评价体系的内容进行分析,并应用HACCP方法识别初级农产品原料中的安全危害。结果出口食品生产企业初级农产品原料供应商评价体系应以良好农业规范为基础,将出口生产食品企业原料基地备案要求和出口食品生产企业安全卫生要求中对原料的控制要求相结合,并符合我国的国情,其基本内容应包括:建立质量安全控制准则、体系有效性评价、监测与验证,不合格、纠正与预防措施,文件和记录控制几个方面。结论该评价体系能科学有效地指导出口食品生产企业实施对原料供应商的评价,保证了产品质量。     

The trust paradox in food labelling: An exploration of consumers’ perceptions of certified vegetables

Trust is a key consideration when purchasing and consuming foods. Food certification is an aspect of food labelling, and is used by policymakers and marketers to increase consumers’ trust in food. Equally important, consumers’ trust in the food system and actors in its supply chain influences their overall perceptions of food safety, and which foods they choose and consume. However, the interaction between consumers’ trust in food chain actors, and consumers’ trust in food certification, has yet to be explored. This study addresses this gap by examining consumers’ perception of food certification, two examples of which are organic, and Good Agricultural Practices (GAP), and consumers’ trust in food chain actors. In doing so, we extend the literature on trust in food labelling through the inclusion of social-institutional factors in order to understand variations in trust in food. Data were collected via in-depth, semi-structured interviews and the study employed the social theory of trust as a theoretical framework to guide the analysis. Results show that organic, and GAP food certifications are perceived as a representation of the entire food system. Therefore, its trustworthiness is dependent on consumer perceptions of the food system’s capacity to guarantee organic standards along the entire food chain, which is a manifestation of abstract trust. This study contributes to the trust in food literature by showing that interpersonal trust in food actors, such as retailers or growers, can compensate for a lack of abstract trust in certification. Interpersonal trust is predominantly used to guide consumers’ food choices, particularly in the case where abstract trust in the wider institutional system’s integrity and competence is low.     

日本《食品安全基本法》的立法创新与立法价值及其启示

日本《食品安全基本法》在立法内容上建立食品安全全过程可追溯质量保证体系、构建具有一致性的食品安全监管组织体系及食品安全标准,并对食品安全的有关违法行为实施严厉处罚制度,充分体现了其以国民健康的有效保障为根本、注重食品安全监管的实效和灵活性,以及保证食品安全责任与危害性相匹配等立法价值。对此,可以借鉴日本《食品安全基本法》的立法创新和立法价值,从健全以HACCP体系为中心的强制性质量认证规定,建构统一的食品安全监管机制,加大对食品安全相关违法行为的惩罚力度等途径来完善中国食品安全法律和监管体系。     

超市食品,想说爱你不容易

<正>前一段时间有媒体爆出北京多家超市造假,“育青”、“浦五房”、“天福号”等有着良好声誉、颇受消费者信赖的食品品牌经销人员,居然擅自改变熟食制品保质期,将超过食品保质期的熟食制品“改头换面”,重新摆上柜台,蒙骗消费者。面对公众和媒体的诘问,供货厂家称是销售员的个人行为,超市方面则承认管理上有疏漏,信誓旦旦的保证将严格加强管理。与往常一样,又是公说公有理,婆说婆无奈,气愤的消费者不禁要问:超市食品还靠得住吗?超市食品,想说爱你不容易有关调查显示,连锁超市与其他食品销售渠道尤其是与农贸     

德国的食品质量安全体系

食品质量安全是我国目前研究的热点问题之一，总结借鉴发达国家的食品质量安全体系对构建和完善我国的食品质量安全体系具有重要意义。从管理机构、法律法规、质量认证、包装标识、追溯制度、市场准入、质量安全标准和监测检验八个方面对德国的食品质量安全体系进行了全面系统的介绍。     

Animal welfare assessment at slaughter in Europe: moving from inputs to outputs

Producers, retailers and other food chain actors increasingly recognize that consumer concerns for good animal welfare represent a business opportunity that could be profitably incorporated into their commercial strategies. Therefore, during the last decade, numerous trade groups (producers, processors, retailers and restaurant chains) have developed certification systems with their suppliers which include elements of animal welfare. The Welfare Quality® project has developed an integrated and standardised welfare assessment system based on twelve welfare criteria grouped into four main principles (good feeding, good housing, good health and appropriate behaviour) according to how they are experienced by animals. One of the innovations of the Welfare Quality® assessment system is that it focuses more on outcome measures (e.g. directly related to animal body condition, health aspects, injuries, behaviour, etc.). This paper has the objective to discuss the rationale behind the welfare assessment and to describe the Welfare Quality® assessment of pigs and cattle at the slaughterhouse.     

绿色食品蜂产品生产检查技术

蜂产品是我国传统营养食品也是重要出口产品,我国蜂产品由于无序竞争等原因使产品质量风险较高。绿色食品认证作为提高农产品标准化水平的重要抓手,对于提高蜂产品质量有重要作用。本文将对绿色食品蜂产品生产检查关键点进行分析,以进一步提高生产检查的规范性,提高蜂产品质量。     

首届食品安全师暨师资选拨培训班在京开班

<正>近年来,食品安全已受到社会各界越来越多的关注,同时也引起了政府相关部门对此问题的高度重视。在食品安全备受各界关注与重视的时候,中国食品工业协会为深入贯彻落实《国务院关于进一步加强食品安全工作的决定》精神和国家食品药品监督管理局等八部门《关于加快食品安全信用体系建设的     

百家争鸣:为食品安全出谋划策

<正> 备受瞩目的2009国际食品安全圆桌会议于2009年4月27日至28日在北京顺利举行。来自全球农业及食品业界的领导、专家、企业界人士经过为期两天的深入交流和探讨,为应对全球性的食品安全问题出谋划策,并在会议期间达成协议,即在全球范围内共同推动食品安全领域更为广泛的行业协调与合作。与会的全球业界人士发起成立全球食品安全指导委员会,并约定定期举办全球食品安全论坛(Global Food Security Forum,GFSF),是这一协议的重要成果。这也是全球首个关注食品安全领域的最新发展、整合各国资源的交流平台。     

Consensus categorization of cheese based on water activity and pH—A rational approach to systemizing cheese diversity

Development of science-based interventions in raw milk cheese production is challenging due to the large diversity of production procedures and final products. Without an agreed upon categorization scheme, science-based food safety evaluations and validation of preventive controls would have to be completed separately on each individual cheese product, which is not feasible considering the large diversity of products and the typically small scale of production. Thus, a need exists to systematically group raw milk cheeses into logically agreed upon categories to be used for food safety evaluations. This paper proposes and outlines one such categorization scheme that provides for 30 general categories of cheese. As a base for this systematization and categorization of raw milk cheese, we used Table B of the US Food and Drug Administration’s 2013 Food Code, which represents the interaction of pH and water activity for control of vegetative cells and spores in non-heat-treated food. Building on this table, we defined a set of more granular pH and water activity categories to better represent the pH and water activity range of different raw milk cheeses. The resulting categorization scheme was effectively validated using pH and water activity values determined for 273 different cheese samples collected in the marketplace throughout New York State, indicating the distribution of commercially available cheeses among the categories proposed here. This consensus categorization of cheese provides a foundation for a feasible approach to developing science-based solutions to assure compliance of the cheese processors with food safety regulations, such as those required by the US Food Safety Modernization Act. The key purpose of the cheese categorization proposed here is to facilitate product assessment for food safety risks and provide scientifically validated guidance on effective interventions for general cheese categories. Once preventive controls for a given category have been defined, these categories would represent safe havens for cheesemakers, which would allow cheesemakers to safely and legally produce raw milk cheeses that meet appropriate science-based safety requirements (e.g., risk to human health equivalent to pasteurized milk cheeses).     

Important Regulatory Aspects in the Receipt of Animal Products by Food Services

The aim of this study was to review the current legislation and rules in Brazil that involve quality assurance of animal products during food service reception. Published federal legislation and technical regulations were verified to present a broad general approach to raw material reception. Food service determinations included specifications of the criteria for evaluating and selecting suppliers, verifying the transport system, reception area requirements, and inspecting raw material. For product approval, the packaging, labeling, and temperature should be evaluated. However, periodic microbiological, physicochemical, and sensory support assessment analyses are not required for receiving animal products. For the safety of the raw material, it was concluded that the largest impacts came from the regulation and supervision of the food sector provider because of the challenges of food service and a lack of requirements to use more complex evaluation methods during the reception of raw materials.     

QS认证审核现场存在问题与对策研究

食品质量安全市场准入制度(QS)认证主要针对食品企业的食品卫生状况,食品是否进行强制性检验以及食品进入市场前的管理是否规范进行定期的检查和整改。本文是结合QS现场审核标准对A食品厂提出该食品厂存在的问题,提出了相应的对策。     

The challenges for global harmonisation of food safety norms and regulations: issues for India

Safe and adequate food is a human right, safety being a prime quality attribute without which food is unfit for consumption. Food safety regulations are framed to exercise control over all types of food produced, processed and sold so that the customer is assured that the food consumed will not cause any harm. From the Indian perspective, global harmonisation of food regulations is needed to improve food and nutrition security, the food trade and delivery of safe ready‐to‐eat (RTE) foods at all places and at all times. The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) put forward to transform developing societies incorporate many food safety issues. The success of the MDGs, including that of poverty reduction, will in part depend on an effective reduction of food‐borne diseases, particularly among the vulnerable group, which includes women and children. Food‐ and water‐borne illnesses can be a serious health hazard, being responsible for high incidences of morbidity and mortality across all age groups of people. Global harmonisation of food regulations would assist in facilitating food trade within and outside India through better compliance, ensuring the safety of RTE catered foods, as well as addressing issues related to the environment. At the same time, regulations need to be optimum, as overregulation may have undue negative effects on the food trade. © 2013 Society of Chemical Industry     

中国食品安全的过去、现在和将来

本文从国家食品安全管理体制、食品安全国家标准以及风险分析框架的应用三个方面来回顾中国的食品安全,并展望将来。中国的国家食品安全管理体制从单一部门管理为主,演变为多部门的分段管理,又发展为市场监管总局、海关总署和农业农村部为主。法律层面也从《食品卫生法》发展为遵循风险分析框架的新《食品安全法》(2015年10月实施)。中国的食品安全国家标准也从食品卫生标准发展为食品安全标准,从互不协调、相互矛盾的三套强制性国家标准整合为一套食品安全国家标准,在覆盖面、技术水平、实用性,以及与国际标准接轨方面,都取得了长足的进步。对于国际公认的风险分析框架,从缺乏认识,到增加理解和认真实施,在全面开展风险监测、建立适合国情的风险评估制度、加强风险交流等方面取得了突出的成绩和进步。然而,也应该清醒地看到,中国当前在食品安全方面还存在很多问题。食源性疾病的监测和控制还比较薄弱,食品掺假或欺诈还相当普遍,风险交流面临严峻挑战(消费者对食品安全的过度担心)。为了尽快提升中国食品的质量和安全性,一是要做到从农田到餐桌的全产业链食品安全保障,二是政府要做到全产业链的一体化无缝监管。     

ISO22000认证在我国推行的适用性研究

ISO22000在构筑一个食品安全管理体系框架基础上,与ISO9000等相整合,并同时覆盖了CAC关于HACCP的全部要求。从政府、食品企业、消费者、认证行业分析可以看出,我国需要推行ISO22000认证,但是存在食品企业整体规模小、认证实施混乱的问题,为此,文中提出了相应的政策建议。     

食品安全引发供应链隐患

<正>为顾客提供安全的食品,是整个生产 和供应链中的核心问题。在今年上 半年的苏丹红事件中,百胜餐饮集团旗 下的品牌也深受影响,一夜之间的营业额 就下降了30％～50％。 苏丹红事件的主要问题是上游供应 商原材料使用不当。虽然集团与供应商 之间的合作是非常友好并愉快的,但问