Search results

Almost every country around the world has been focusing on food safety in intense and multifaceted ways. The use of Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP) is widely accepted as a food safety management system. This paper investigates the success factors of HACCP practices with reference to the domains of food production, processing and delivery. A literature review of food safety and management articles was conducted. Using the keywords search, the online Emerald Database was used and a total of 102 journal articles were identified between 1994 and 2007. The study examined a list of 20 success factors. Results show that “food regulations”, “role of the industry”, “government policies and interventions”, “training on food safety and hygiene”, and “food contamination and/or poisoning” share the spotlight as being the most critical factors for HACCP practices in organisations. Future research could investigate a holistic paradigm that incorporates the success factors and aligns HACCP measures for attaining safety performance goals.

Up until recent years, all agricultural production in Norway was strictly regulated through spatial policy (location), production quotas and other price and market regulations. Prices and products were handled by the farmers’ cooperatives. International (e.g. WTO agreements) and domestic pressure has gradually loosened the governmental regulation of chicken and eggs. Economic (e.g. new ownerships), technological (innovations throughout the whole chain), political and institutional (liberalization) and cultural (e.g. in consumption and farming) changes have reconfigured the landscapes of chicken meat production, opening up new opportunities for the chicken industry. Chicken therefore makes a particularly good case for exploring recent major changes in the agri-food system. In this chapter, we investigate evolving rules, risks, challenges and opportunities in and around chicken meat value chains. Empirically, we build on interviews, document studies and statistics on the structural development of the chicken industry and we discuss how these changes are developing in other parts of the Norwegian agri-food system.

Frequent food safety incidents caused widespread consumer concerns. Even though food safety is one of the weakest links in the fresh food supply chain and influences consumer food choice in ways different from the quality dimension, this factor is hardly proposed as one of the key traditional supplier selection criteria (e.g. quality, delivery, and price) in the literature. The purpose of this paper is to develop a business process decision model to assess the non-compensating food safety sub-criteria in order to disqualify fresh food suppliers that cannot reach the minimum threshold for low probable food safety failure. The preferred fresh food suppliers can minimize the risk of food safety failure and the associated huge food safety failure costs spanning from private consumer anguish to social distress that cause unbearable costs of sales loss and damage to brand image in business.

This study proposes a novel approach that combines several well-established multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) techniques, including fuzzy AHP (FAHP), TOPSIS, and ELECTRE, and innovatively apply to analyze supplier performance and prioritize potential fresh food suppliers. This hybrid business process model can enforce compliance to all the five non-compensatory sub-criteria of food safety. Since ELECTRE is a non-compensatory MCDM method, it is therefore particularly applicable for disqualifying high risk fresh food suppliers from further full scale supplier performance evaluation by FAHP and TOPSIS. This hybrid business process decision model is able to capitalize on the strengths of these MCDM methods and offset their deficiencies.

This study uses data of an international supermarket chain to validate feasibility of the proposed model. Results indicate that this model is able to assess the non-compensating food safety sub-criteria via the ELECTRE method in order to disqualify fresh food suppliers that cannot reach the minimum threshold for low probable food safety failure. Only the preferred suppliers with the required food safety capability can proceed to the second stage of the supplier selection process. Assessment via the TOPSIS method reveals the ranking order of those top performing suppliers according to their relative scores along all the supplier selection criteria. The TOPSIS ranking results with the selection of the suppliers C, E, A, and F are robust and consistent across all the different scenarios.

Application to the fresh food industry is possible with the aid of the MCDM methods. The contribution to the body of knowledge in this teaching and research field demonstrates the importance of first identifying the order qualifier for disqualifying those suppliers that do not satisfy the food safety requirements via the ELECTRE method. The proposed assessment procedure complies with the regulatory policy on food safety, and would influence public policy in applying the best practice of food safety regulation. Without first qualifying the potential suppliers on the basis of food safety, wrong decision can be made to select those high food risk suppliers that have relatively higher overall scores in other supplier selection criteria. Using the assessment results has positive economic and commercial impact on the purchasing managers to formulate appropriate purchasing and supplier development strategy to enhance supplier’s food safety performance, whilst maximizing the overall supplier portfolio performance. The improved supplier’s food safety performance will certainly benefit the society’s quality of life as well.

Based on the analytical MCDM methods of FAHP, TOPSIS, and ELECTRE, purchasing managers can operationalize the Hill’s framework of order qualifier and winner that has primarily been used in the literature and manufacturing industry. This study represents the first move to innovatively apply the FAHP, TOPSIS, and ELECTRE methods to operationalize the Hill’s framework of order qualifier and winner that has primarily been used in the literature and manufacturing industry. Application to the fresh food industry to validate the feasibility of the proposed model has been conceived and implemented in this study. Analysis of the data inputs of a supermarket chain via the three MCDM methods generate the results that fulfill the purpose of achieving the research objective of identifying and managing the supplier base that can deliver the best supplier performance, conditional on first passing the fresh food safety test.

Quality assurance (QA) standards are considered to be a proven mechanism for delivering quality of product and service. This paper seeks to analyse critically how effectively this mechanism has been implemented in the integrated food supply chain.

This paper focuses on the development of QA standards and organisational business models. The research included a literature review and evaluation to determine the mechanisms currently in place with particular emphasis on poultry meat.

Historically private quality assurance schemes have been developed to demonstrate compliance with a set of extrinsic quality standards or “pre‐requisites”. These have often included qualitative rather than quantitative measures of quality. In order to demonstrate to external stakeholders and the consumer that QA schemes actually deliver tangible benefits, quantitative measurements should be included in QA models especially as these measures can improve intrinsic product quality, drive business performance and supply chain efficiency and compliance with legislative requirements.

This paper analyses the current status of QA in the food supply chain and is of relevance to a cross‐section of the industry.

The purpose is to analyse the interaction between corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategies and consumer social responsibility (C_NSR) and then contribute to theory‐building by developing an interaction model.

The research included a literature review and the development of a CSR/C_NSR interaction model for the food supply chain.

CSR is an organo‐centric response to a series of supply chain drivers, which in a competitive market promotes corporate/product differentiation and more effective use of resources. CSR is however of limited value to the organisation if there is a lack of, or a change in, consumer engagement. Recent economic drivers have influenced C_NSR behaviour with the consumerism component rather than the caring component of C_NSR playing a lead role. However, this is not the case with all food products and C_NSR can be a solo, product‐centric purchasing decision within the shopping basket. Organisations need to recognise that their CSR activities must remain congruent with C_NSR in order that they maintain or improve market share and customer loyalty.

This research is of academic value and of value to policy makers and practitioners in the food supply chain. The results show that organisations need to consider the influence of the nature of consumer social responsibility associated with their products and services in the development and refinement of CSR strategies.

This paper is intended to be the first in a series addressing food safety in the fresh produce chain, with particular emphasis on the contributing factors that lead to farm‐based safety breakdowns.

A desktop study of recent outbreaks and recalls that have occurred in the USA and EU was undertaken with a view to determining the produce items implicated and factors causing the emergence of outbreaks. The question “A call for HACCP on farms?” is explored.

Minimally processed fresh‐cut produce represents a particular challenge to food safety. The research has highlighted the need to mitigate risk at all stages but with specific emphasis at the pre‐farm gate stage. A more comprehensive and integrated approach to risk management is arguably needed. A call for HACCP on the farm or farm food safety management system may be warranted in future if fresh produce outbreaks continue to rise. However, further research is needed to establish the guidelines of HACCP adoption at the farm level. At present, the rigorous adoption of GAP as a pre‐requisite and the practice of HACCP‐based plans is a good indicator of the importance of pre‐harvest safety.

This paper is of government (policy), industrial (application) and academic concerns value.

Global food supply is developing within a commercial environment with an aim to source ever‐cheaper food, i.e. to move production to the least cost producer. Quality management systems are designed primarily to ensure compliance with third party and retailer standards. Food safety management systems principally control the specific food safety hazards associated with the product and ensure compliance with food safety legislation. This paper, seeks to identify the issues for an organization if their management system is focused primarily on minimizing quality costs rather than producing safe, wholesome food.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the current status of the poultry meat supply chain.

The research included a literature review and evaluation of financial performance data to determine the market conditions that have impacted on both individual organisations and supply chains.

The financial data has demonstrated, for the transnational corporations (TNC) studied, a significant reduction in financial performance over the last 12 months. This is due in part to the influence of avian influenza, but also to the over supply of poultry meat and increased production costs. The ongoing management of risk within this context needs to not only address traditional risk factors, but also in publicly traded organisations address the effective management of investment risk to ensure continued shareholder confidence and organisational viability.

This research is of academic value and of value to those working in the food supply chain.

Aims to highlight how food contamination, whether accidental or deliberate, can have far‐reaching impact on individuals, organisations and the food supply chain.

This paper focuses on the use of agents such as foreign animal disease (FAD). The research included a literature review and evaluation to determine the mechanisms currently in place to counter‐act bioterrorism in the food supply chain with particular emphasis on poultry.

Food terrorism, where the contaminant is a FAD, would cause severe economic disruption by direct costs due to the culling of livestock and the compensation paid to growers. It could also lead to consequential loss to the local or national economy, loss of consumer confidence in the food supply chain and loss of political confidence and support following the mass culling of livestock, with some agents having the ability to impact directly on human health.

This paper analyses the current state of preparedness for food terrorism in the food supply chain and is of relevance to a cross‐section of the industry.

Public concerns with issues including animal welfare and environmental management and stewardship have required organisations within the food supply chain to formally demonstrate their commitment to ethical issues. This has led to the development of corporate social responsibility strategies and the use of ethical risk assessment models. The purpose of the study is to review both qualitative and quantitative methods of assessment.

This paper begins with a discussion on ethical issues. This is followed by an evaluation of current mechanisms for determining both scientific‐ and value‐based approaches to ethical food policy.

Legislation defines governmental policy but it does not define what is “good” or “right” and this is the role of ethics. In order to have ethic reasoning embedded in food policy either at governmental or at organisational level, policy makers must be able to understand and evaluate moral arguments, be fair‐minded and make well‐reasoned decisions. Consumers need to trust that both policy makers and those manufacturing and supplying food make decisions and provide information which is accessible, accurate and affords reasoned choice when purchasing food products.

This paper provides a review of ethical methodology and mechanisms for assisting in ethical decision making and will be of interest to academics and to industry.