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The purpose of this paper is to identify global issues relevant to the strengthening of national food control systems with reference to the hospitality and food service sector. It is the second paper in a themed issue of Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes presenting international food safety management challenges and solutions.

Literature review and semi‐structured interviews with food control officials and academics involved in the strengthening of national food control systems.

This paper finds that similar challenges are experienced by interviews in a range of countries. Food control management and information, education, communication and training are identified as key challenges for food control authorities. In addition, smaller and/or less developed businesses and particularly the hospitality sector, are highlighted as important.

The paper will be of value to practitioners, researchers, policy makers and other stakeholders involved in the food industry.

In this paper, the experiences of individuals involved in the development and implementation of national food control policy are brought together for the first time.

The main purpose of this paper was to evaluate the validation process of food safety control measures.

The validation of control measures has been analyzed at 50 food companies in Serbia. The sample included companies that produce food of both plant and animal origin and have certified food safety management systems. A total of 156 control measures that combat physical hazards (41.6%), followed by microbial hazards (34.0%) and chemical hazards (24.4%), have been analyzed. To enable quantification of the validation protocols, each control measure was assigned a score.

The validation scores showed that the highest level of validation was observed in large companies, as opposed to small and medium-sized companies (p < 0.05). The type of food safety hazards and the food sector did not reveal any statistical differences in-between the scores. The main approach to validating control measures was referring to the technical documentation of equipment used (52.6%), followed by scientific and legal requirements (30.7%). Less than 20% of the analyzed control measures were validated with operational data collected on-site. No mathematical modeling was observed for the sampled food companies. Future steps should include the development of validation guides for different types of control measures and training modules.

This study can serve as an improvement guide for food safety consultants, food safety auditors, certification bodies, inspection services, food technologists and food managers.

This study is one of the first to provide an insight into how food companies validate their control measures to combat microbial, chemical and physical food safety hazards.

The purpose of the research was to investigate how young consumers perceive food safety and if they trust that official food control agencies or other actors of food supply chains ensure a proper level of safety of food in Poland. The purpose of the paper was also to find out if young consumers are currently concerned that a proper level of food safety is not ensured.

The analysis was based on a data set from 650 questionnaires collected in an online survey carried out in October 2020 and addressed to the group of young consumers, students of Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Poland. The analysis was carried out using standard methods of qualitative data analysis (QDA), descriptive statistics, Spearman’s correlation coefficient and Pearson’s chi-square test.

Less than a half of Polish young consumers consider food to be safe and many other do not have an opinion about this matter. Young consumers do not perceive official agencies in charge of food control as the most responsible for food safety, and they either do not trust these institutions or have no opinion about it. Young consumers declare that food producers and food processing businesses are the most responsible for food safety while retailers and consumers are the least responsible ones. The majority of young consumers are not concerned about ensuring proper food safety.

Up-to-date young consumers' perception of the role and trust in official food control agencies and food safety in Poland have not been investigated, which makes this study a novelty. The findings can be valuable to official agencies in charge of food control and consumer education, to improve their functioning. They can also be important as a basis for further studies, as young consumers’ attitudes and trust in official food control agencies can change.

Describes a study to measure the quality of service provided by food‐poisoning surveillance agencies in England and Wales in terms of the requirements of a representative consumer ‐ the egg producing industry ‐ adopting “egg associated” outbreak investigation reports as the reference output. Defines and makes use of four primary performance indicators: accessibility of information; completeness of evidence supplied in food‐poisoning outbreak investigation reports as to the sources of infection in “egg‐associated” outbreaks; timeliness of information published; and utility of information and advice aimed at preventing or controlling food poisoning. Finds that quality expectations in each parameter measured are not met. Examines reasons why surveillance agencies have not delivered the quality demanded. Makes use of detailed case studies to illustrate inadequacies of current practice. Attributes failure to deliver “accessibility” to a lack of recognition on the status or nature of “consumers”, combined with a self‐maintenance motivation of the part of the surveillance agencies. Finds that failures to deliver “completeness” and “utility” may result from the same defects which give rise to the lack of “accessibility” in that, failing to recognize the consumers of a public service for what they are, the agencies feel no need to provide them with the data they require. The research indicates that self‐maintenance by scientific epidemiologists may introduce biases which when combined with a politically inspired need to transfer responsibility for food‐poisoning outbreaks, skew the conduct of investigations and their conclusions. Contends that this is compounded by serious and multiple inadequacies in the conduct of investigations, arising at least in part from the lack of training and relative inexperience of investigators, the whole conditioned by interdisciplinary rivalry between the professional groups staffing the different agencies. Finds that in addition failures to exploit or develop epidemiological technologies has affected the ability of investigators to resolve the uncertainties identified. Makes recommendations directed at improving the performance of the surveillance agencies which, if adopted will substantially enhance food poisoning control efforts.

The Food Safety (General Food Hygiene) Regulations 1995 stipulate the need for the control of food hazards. One such measure which satisfies this requirement is the use of hazard analysis and critical control points (HACCP). Considers some of the problems that occur when HACCP programmes are introduced to catering establishments. Documents risks, hazards and critical control points in the case of a medium‐sized hospital in Northern Ireland. Cites monitoring and control procedures for the control of HACCP and proposes specific recommendations for future education and training.

All food safety management standards require effective control measures of food safety hazards in order to ensure that food is safe at the time of human consumption. Furthermore, ISO 22000:2005 requires a logical approach to be carried out for the selection and categorization of the control measures according to the level of effect on identified food safety hazards. The purpose of this paper is to describe the COntrol MEasures CATegorization (COMECAT) method for the categorization of control measures in food safety management systems (FSMS) in order to assist organizations to prioritize and deploy their efforts and limited resources mainly to control significant hazards.

A thorough clarification of the characteristics of the different control measures used in FSMS has been achieved based on the definitions and the descriptions given by the different food safety standards such as the ISO 22000, the IFS and the BRC standards. The basic approaches for the determination of control measures found in literature and web pages have been examined and the proposed methodology has been implemented in feta cheese production in order to evaluate its applicability.

A decision tree model has been proposed as the most suitable approach for the categorization of control measures in FSMS. The implementation of the proposed COMECAT method in feta cheese production revealed its applicability. The method was able to identify the different risk level of food hazards and prioritize and deploy the organization’s efforts and limited resources for their management accordingly.

In the literature, there is a lack of justified methodologies for the categorization of control measures in FSMS. Most of the approaches concern attempts of private companies operating in the food industry or business consultancies and which can be found in their web pages. This paper describes a well-justified model for the categorization of control measures which is easy to implement and which results in more robust decisions.

The purpose of this paper is to critically examine the perceptions of food business operators (FBOs) in Kirklees Council in relation to the importance of official food inspection of food premises, performed by the local authority.

A semi-structured questionnaire was developed to survey the opinions of FBOs in Kirklees Council in relation to the significance and consistency of official food control. The business types included were retailers, commercial restaurants, schools, care homes, pub, bars and cafes.

Based on the total of 236 respondents, the results show that 45.8% of the respondents opined that official food control has considerably improved their food hygiene practices and that official inspection is their only source of information about the latest food safety legislation. Moreover, another 168(71.2%) believed that the instructions given by the inspectors are clear and easily understandable. However, some respondents, especially the small and medium-sized businesses believed that remedying noncompliance caused them financial burden. In addition, significant positive correlations exist between the bigger FBOs and high frequencies of negotiating noncompliance with the inspectors due to the high cost of capital that will be needed to remedy the spotted noncompliance by an officer during control (Kruskal–Wallis r = 0.034, p < 0.003).

As with most studies, it is important to borne in mind that the design of the current study is subject to limitations and these limitations could be addressed in future research. The self-reported data collection employed in this study is limited by the fact that it rarely can be independently verified. In other words, the self-reported data used in this study might be subject to (1) selective memory: respondents might remember or not able to remember all the details of the inspections that occurred at some point in the past, however, inspections are often documented, and businesses usually have a copy of every inspection reports. (2) exaggeration: respondents might over or underrepresent outcomes of inspections and (3) attribution: respondents might attribute positive events and outcomes to their own agency but attribute negative events and outcomes to external forces. Nonetheless, the strength of this study lies in its large sample size and high response rate which makes it easier to assess the representativeness of the sample and to generalise the results.

The behaviour of the FBOs towards food control and the opinion of the FBOs about food safety may have an important effect on the organisation of official food control in Kirklees Council, but there is no scientific data to back it up. Furthermore, the perceptions of FBOs and the role of food control in food safety in Kirklees Council have not been investigated, which makes this research a novelty.

The purpose of this study is to develop a hazard analysis and critical control point (HACCP)-based approach to control risk factors associated with biscuit manufacturing plant.

Methodology was developed to achieve and implement the food safety and quality requirements. Procedure for hazard analysis and risk assessment was based on ISO 22000:2005 and codex standard. The HACCP Plan was summarized in comprehensive figures and tables. Biological, chemical and physical hazards that could exist in every step of biscuits production were identified. Moreover, the critical control points were selected and the critical limits, monitoring, corrective measures, records and verifications were established using risk analysis and decision tree.

With the implementation of HACCP system, it could be possible to reduce the food safety hazard and provide safe food and increase customer satisfaction. The critical control points were identified in sieving, sugar crushing, baking and detecting metal through the use of risk analysis and decision-making tree to control the biological, physical hazards along with monitoring through the control sheets. Critical limits, monitoring methods and frequency, responsibilities and corrective actions of the processes are also presented. This measuring instrument could be used by a food company as assessment tool and a benchmarking tool.

Applying the HACCP system in food manufacturing can effectively assure food safety and quality, as well as expand the market and improve the manufacturers’ management level. In doing so, suitable strategies can be selected by a food company to allocate resources, increase HACCP effectiveness and improve its product safety.

This study aims to examine the factors shaping food firms’ intentions to control quality safety in the context of government regulation in China.

Based on 180 usable data samples collected via a survey, structural equation modeling and moderated multiple regression analysis were used to examine the research model.

It was found that quality safety capability, corporate social responsibility, collaboration between parties along supply chains and information-sharing among supply chain members have had different impacts on the intentions of food firms to control quality safety. It was also found that government regulation has a positive moderating effect on corporate social responsibility and on collaboration between organizations in a supply chain.

This research is limited to a particular sample: i.e. the managers of food firms from Guangdong Province in China. Thus, the results need to be generalized to encompass wider samples.

Previous studies have not explained well the mechanisms by which quality safety control has been established among China’s food firms. This study builds a theoretical framework for the factors affecting intentions to control quality safety by examining issues from the perspectives of food firms and by taking into account the characteristics of food supply chains. This approach addresses the gaps in current understanding and provides practical support to promote quality safety among food firms in China.

Summarizes legislation which determines specific temperature requirements for refrigerated foods in the United Kingdom pre – and post‐1990. Before 1990 there were relatively few specific national controls, although controls existed for certain animal‐based products such as meat and meat products destined for intra‐Community trade. Post‐1990 came the Food Safety Act 1990 and Food Hygiene (Amendment) Regulations 1990, which have had most effect on the chill chain from production through to retail sale, and in the catering sector. Temperature controls have been strengthened by monitoring and systems of record‐keeping. The other source of legislation has been through the implementation of single European market measures, many of which will come into force on 1 January 1993.