The HACCP system implementation in small businesses of Madrid’s community

Modeling critical factors for assessing Indian food safety practices

Purpose

India is in the process to achieve an important place in $2,000bn global food trade. In order to achieve this goal, there is a need to develop a food safety system which is well written down in line with international practices that are highly coordinated based on self-compliance to assure consumer protection. Accordingly, many organizations undergo assessment of their food safety system to verify compliance internally as well as externally. The purpose of this paper is to provide insight on the critical factors and benefits by evaluating the food safety assessment practices.

Design/methodology/approach

A questionnaire-based survey is conducted among 96 Indian food business operators and regulators involved in assessment practices to obtain critical factors for the assessment of food safety practices. The questionnaire captures indicators for motivations or challenges and benefits of food safety assessment to identify critical factors using exploratory factor analysis. Model for the food safety assessment practices was developed based on multiple regression analysis by determining the impact of factors on the benefits of food safety assessment.

Findings

This paper identifies four factors responsible for assessing food safety practices, namely, business-centric approach, legislative needs, technical practices and organization resentment as a combination of reasons and challenges along with two benefits risk: protection and organization reinforcement. The regression analysis indicates that the organization reinforcement gets positively impacted by business and technical practices and negatively by organization resentment. Risk protection has a significant relationship with legislative needs.

Originality/value

This is the first attempt to systematically explore the factors around the assessment of food safety practices in India. This study provides inputs for the practical application of managers and regulators.

Evaluation of an intervention to improve the management of allergens in school food services in the city of Barcelona

BACKGROUND

An intervention to promote the development of an allergen control plan (ACP) and preventive measures for the management of allergens in school food services was implemented in all schools of Barcelona city over a three-year period (2013-2015) by the public health services. The present study aimed to assess changes regarding the management of food allergens in school food services in Barcelona after an intervention conducted by the public health services of the city.

METHODS

School meal operators of a random sample of 117 schools were assessed before and after the intervention using a structured questionnaire. The questionnaire collected general information on the students and their demand for special menus, and included 17 closed questions regarding the implementation of specific preventive measures for the management of allergens. Based on these 17 questions, a food safety score was calculated for each school. The improvement in these scores was evaluated.

RESULTS

The results showed positive increments in the percentage of implementation of 12 of the 17 preventive measures assessed. The percentage of school food services with an implemented ACP increased by 49%. Schools with external and internal food supplies increased their scores by 16.5% and 19.6%, respectively. The greatest improvements were observed in smaller food services and in schools located in districts with low gross household incomes.

CONCLUSIONS

The intervention was effective in improving school food services' management of allergens and in reducing the differences found among food services in the pre-intervention survey. We must also focus efforts on reducing socio-economic inequalities linked to the management of allergens.

Hazard analysis approaches for certain small retail establishments in view of the application of their food safety management systems

Under current European hygiene legislation, food businesses are obliged to develop and implement food safety management systems (FSMS) including prerequisite programme (PRP) activities and hazard analysis and critical control point principles. This requirement is especially challenging for small food retail establishments, where a lack of expertise and other resources may limit the development and implementation of effective FSMS. In this opinion, a simplified approach to food safety management is developed and presented based on a fundamental understanding of processing stages (flow diagram) and the activities contributing to increased occurrence of the hazards (biological, chemical (including allergens) or physical) that may occur. The need to understand and apply hazard or risk ranking within the hazard analysis is removed and control is achieved using PRP activities as recently described in the European Commission Notice 2016/C278, but with the addition of a PRP activity covering ‘product information and customer awareness’. Where required, critical limits, monitoring and record keeping are also included. Examples of the simplified approach are presented for five types of retail establishments: butcher, grocery, bakery, fish and ice cream shop.

Developing a national food defense guideline based on a vulnerability assessment of intentional food contamination in Japanese food factories using the CARVER+Shock vulnerability assessment tool

The awareness of food terrorism has increased following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in New York City, United States, and many measures and policies dealing with this issue have been established worldwide. Suspected deliberate food-poisoning crimes have occurred in Japan, although they are not regarded as acts of food terrorism. One area of concern is that the small- to medium-sized companies that dominate Japan's food industry are extremely vulnerable to deliberate food poisoning. We conducted a literature research on food defense measures undertaken by the World Health Organization and in the United States and Europe. Using the Carver+Shock vulnerability assessment tool, eight food factories and related facilities in Japan were evaluated and we found the level of awareness of food defense to be low and the measures inappropriate. On the basis of this evaluation, we developed a set of guidelines that Japanese food companies can use to help develop their food defense strategies and to serve as a reference in considering specific measures.

Implementation of quality systems by Mexican exporters of processed meat

Requirements of hazard analysis and critical control points (HACCP) are becoming essential for international trade in food commodities as a safety assurance component. This research reports the level of the adoption of ISO 9000 and the HACCP system by Federal Inspection Type (TIF) pork-exporting enterprises. Implementation and operating costs are reported as well as the benefits involved in this food industry process. In Mexico, there are 97 companies classified as TIF enterprises, and 22 are registered as exporters of processed pork with the National Services for Safety and Quality and Animal Health of the Secretariat of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food. Surveys were administered to 22 companies, with a 95.2% response rate. Enterprise characteristics were evaluated, as well as their operating activities. Fieldwork consisted of administering structured questionnaires to TIF exporters. All the surveyed enterprises had implemented HACCP, whereas the ISO 9000 regulation was applied in only 30%. Of total production, 75% is exported to 13 countries, and 25% goes to the Mexican market niche. Results indicate that the main factors for adopting HACCP are related to accessibility to international markets, improving quality, and reducing product quality audits by customers. The results also indicated that staff training was the most important issue. Microbiological testing was the highest cost of the operation. The main benefits reported were related to better access to international markets and a considerable reduction in microbial counts. This study shows the willingness of Mexican pork processors to implement food safety protocols for producing safe and quality products to compete in the international food trade.