Chinese consumer's attitudes, perceptions and behavioural responses towards food fraud

Study on the Influences of Inter-Governmental Information Flow and Interdepartmental Collaborative Supervision on Pork Quality: A Case Study in China

To study the influences of the degree of interdepartmental collaborative supervision on the behavioral strategy selection of pig farmers, pig slaughterers, and pork processing manufacturers in the pork supply chain system, this study established a three-party evolutionary game model involving pig farmers, pig slaughterers, and pork processing manufacturers based on the social co-governance framework by focusing on the interdepartmental information sharing mechanism and cooperative governance. Here, we examined how the degree of collaborative supervision among government departments influences the behavioral strategy selection of these parties by focusing on key mechanisms such as information sharing and interdepartmental collaborative governance. Our findings revealed that within a social co-governance system, the strategic choices of the three entities in the pork supply chain closely correlate with the coordination level of collaborative supervision among government departments, particularly through information-sharing mechanisms. Additionally, the strategies are influenced by market-based contract supervision among entities, consumer reporting intensity, and the collaborative governance capabilities of the government, market actors, and consumers. Higher levels of social co-governance are associated with fewer risky links in the pork supply chain and reduced overall risk. Key factors affecting the behavioral strategy selection of the subjects in the pork supply chain include interdepartmental collaborative governance among government departments (e.g., optimizing random inspection frequencies, adjusting economic penalties, and disclosing enterprise market credit information via information sharing mechanisms), consumer complaint probabilities, and the intensity of mutual supervision among enterprises. Therefore, to enhance pork supply chain quality and mitigate risks, it is crucial to enhance the coordination of collaborative supervision among government departments, encourage consumer reporting, and improve market-based mutual supervision mechanisms among upstream and downstream subjects in the supply chain.

The role of corruption in global food systems: a systematic scoping review

BACKGROUND

Corruption exists at all levels of our global society and is a potential threat to food security, food safety, equity, and social justice. However, there is a knowledge gap in the role and impact of corruption within the context of the global food system. We aimed to systematically review empirical literature focused on corruption in the global food system to examine how it is characterized, the actors involved, its potential impacts, and the solutions that have been proposed to address corruption in the food system.

METHODS

We used a systematic scoping review methodology. Terms combining corruption and the food system were searched in Scopus, PubMed, Web of Science, PsycInfo and Econlit, in October 2021. Two screeners applied a priori selection criteria to screen the articles at the title and abstract and full-text levels. Data was extracted into a charting form and thematically synthesized to describe the types of corruption in the food system, the actors involved, how corruption impacts the food system, and potential solutions. Sankey diagrams and narrative summaries were developed to summarize the included studies and findings.

RESULTS

From the 238 included records, five main types of corruption were identified in the global food system: bureaucratic corruption, fraud, bribery, organized crime, and corporate political activity. These different types of corruption spanned across various food system areas, from policy and governance structures to food environments, and involved a wide range of actors. More powerful actors like those in public and private sectors tended to instigate corruption in the food system, while community members and primary producers tended to be impacted by it. The impacts of corruption were mostly negative and corruption was found to undermine food system governance and regulatory structures; threaten health, safety, and food security; and lead or contribute to environmental degradation, economic loss, erosion of trust, social inequities, and decreased agricultural productivity. While solution-oriented literature was limited, the essential role of strong governance,  use of technology and predictive modelling methods to improve detection of corruption, and organizational approaches to problem solving were identified.

CONCLUSION

Our review findings provide researchers and policymakers with a comprehensive overview of corruption in the global food system, providing insights to inform a more holistic approach to addressing the issue. Addressing corruption in the food system is an essential element of supporting the transition to a more healthy, equitable and sustainable global food system.

Prevention of food fraud and fraud emulation among companies in the supply chain based on a social Co-governance framework

This study develops a three-party evolutionary game model among upstream raw material producers, midstream food producers, and downstream distributors in the food supply chain, and investigates food fraud and fraud emulation among companies in the same group based on a food safety social co-governance framework. Moreover, the equilibrium points are divided into four scenarios according to the number of groups of companies committing fraud in the supply chain and whether companies in the same group emulate each other's fraudulent behavior. The stability conditions of these scenarios are also discussed and verified by numerical simulation in MATLAB. The results show that the behavioral strategy choices of different groups of food companies in the supply chain are closely related to the level of social co-governance involving the government, market, and consumers. Government regulation, supervision between companies, and consumer reporting can all change companies' behavioral strategies. Although the level of fraud emulation among companies in the same group does not change their behavioral strategy choice, it affects the time it takes for their behavioral strategy to evolve to a stable state. Moreover, the level of social co-governance directly affects companies' behavioral strategy choices at different emulation levels.

Consumer brand and category switching behaviors after food safety incidents: Factors and mechanisms

The excessive mold found in Three Squirrels' nuts and the clenbuterol abuse of Shuanghui are two infamous food safety incidents in China. We adopted push-pull-mooring theory to conduct a model and examined the factors influencing consumer short-term or long-term brand-switching or category-switching behaviors following the two food safety incidents. We employed multinomial logistic regression and structural equation modeling as tools to analyze 1027 valid questionnaires. The results, for the first time, revealed that perceived risk, alternative selectivity, alternative attractiveness, controllability attribution, and habits were key push, pull and mooring factors influencing Chinese consumers' brand and category switching from food brands under food safety crisis, and most importantly, that their influential paths differed greatly under the two food safety incidents, suggesting a different influential mechanism across two product categories (i.e., utilitarian food and hedonic food). These findings throw light on the predictors and mechanisms that affect consumer brand and category switching from food brands under food safety crisis and help associated food businesses develop more targeted and powerful crisis management and public relations strategies.

Consumers' Preferences for Apple Production Attributes: Results of a Choice Experiment

Various food safety and environmental problems in China have raised consumer awareness of food safety issues and negative environmental impacts in various supply chains. This research assessed consumer preferences and willingness to pay (WTP) for food safety and ecosystem delivery attributes associated with apples, demonstrated through the application of different traceability systems. Research participants were recruited in Beijing (N = 384) and Shanghai (N = 320). Choice experiment methodology was applied. The data were analyzed using conditional logit, random parameter logit, and latent class models; the results indicated significant consumer preferences for traceability information, including in relation to lower pesticide usage and application of organic fertilizer during primary production. The results also indicated that participants in this research had a significant willingness-to-pay premium for apple products that had production information traceability, had reduced pesticide use, and were grown with organic fertilizers. The models demonstrated heterogeneous preferences among participants such that consumers could be divided into three classes: non-price-sensitive (53.5%), pesticide-sensitive (21.7%), and price-sensitive (24.8%).

Food Fraud Vulnerability Assessment in the Chinese Baijiu Supply Chain

As a representative of Chinese alcoholic drinks, baijiu has developed into a mass-consumption commodity. Its simple industrial chain makes it a suitable target for fraudsters. In order to understand the differences and potential factors of fraud vulnerability among groups at various levels, this study constructed a food fraud vulnerability assessment system for the Chinese baijiu supply chain based on routine activities theory. We examined the fraud vulnerability in the baijiu supply chain with data from 243 producers and 45 retailers by using the safe supply of affordable food everywhere (SSAFE) food fraud vulnerability assessment (FFVA) tool. The results indicate that fraud factors related to opportunities have an overall medium vulnerability, while those related to motivations and control measures have an overall medium-low vulnerability. In addition, there are significant differences in the perceived vulnerability of fraud factors across the supply chain. Moreover, retailers have overall higher fraud vulnerability in terms of opportunities and control measures than producers. The main reasons for the frequent occurrence of fraud in the baijiu industry are numerous technical opportunities, strong economic drivers, and insufficient control measures.

Food Safety Governance in the Age of COVID-19: How Does Employees' Attitude on Public-Private Governance System Affect Their Willingness to Blow the Whistle on Food Violations?

Online food delivery increases dramatically during the COVID-19 era and has grown into a global marketplace worth more than $150 billion dollars, necessitating a more effective and responsive governance system. Public-private governance systems with whistleblowing to the public are seen as an effective tool for addressing the formidable challenges of food security in modern society. Accordingly, this study aims to explore the determinants of whistleblowing intentions and to propose policy policies for the whistleblowing system to fully utilize the advantages of public-private governance systems. Through empirical research, this paper finds that employees' perceived effectiveness of government authorities, as well as their familiarity with whistleblowing systems, positively affect their intentions to blow the whistle. However, the whistleblowing intent of restaurant employees is adversely affected by the online platform's focus. The root cause lies in the employee's trust in both the government sector and corporate sector. This study thus argues that a suite of measures to promote individual trust in public-private governance systems is desired and that this is an effective means of better mitigating food safety governance challenges in terms of capacity and resources.

Credible pigeon permissioned blockchain traceability platform integrated with IoT based on HACCP

The pigeon food production industry from breeding to processing into food for market circulation involves many stages and people, which is prone to food safety issues and difficult to regulate. To address these problems, one possible solution is to establish a traceability system. However, in traditional traceability systems, a number of stages involved and each of them provides their own data accumulated in the database. Therefore, complex traceability data are compose of too many stages easily result in confusing information for customers. Besides, centralized data storage makes data vulnerable to be tampered with. To solve these problems, hazard analysis and critical control points (HACCP) principles have been utilized in our work which is a comprehensive traceability system. In this work, we analyze the pigeon food production industry through HACCP principles and determine some critical control points (CCPs), including incubation, breeding, transportation, slaughtering, processing, and logistics. With the help of these CCPs, we are able to build a traceability system with critical and abundant data but not too complicated for users. To further improve the system, there are different kinds of techniques integrated into it. Firstly, a permissioned blockchain, Hyperledger Fabric, is selected as blockchain module to enhance trustworthiness of data. Secondly, the system contains various IoT devices for automatically collecting environmental parameter data with the aim of reducing human interference. Besides, it is worth mentioning that the proposed information management device can decrease the data entry burden. Consequently, the implementation of the traceability system increase consumers' confidence in pigeon food production. To summarize, it is a new application of modern agricultural information technique in food safety and a bold experiment in the field of poultry, particularly pigeons.

An Accurate and Rapid Way for Identifying Food Geographical Origin and Authenticity: Editable DNA-Traceable Barcode

DNA offers significant advantages in information density, durability, and replication efficiency compared with information labeling solutions using electronic, magnetic, or optical devices. Synthetic DNA containing specific information via gene editing techniques is a promising identifying approach. We developed a new traceability approach to convert traditional digitized information into DNA sequence information. We used encapsulation to make it stable for storage and to enable reading and detection by DNA sequencing and PCR-capillary electrophoresis (PCR-CE). The synthesized fragment consisted of a short fragment of the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) gene from the Holothuria fuscogilva (ID: LC593268.1), inserted geographical origin information (18 bp), and authenticity information from Citrus sinensis (20 bp). The obtained DNA-traceable barcodes were cloned into vector PMD19-T. Sanger sequencing of the DNA-traceable barcode vector was 100% accurate and provided a complete readout of the traceability information. Using selected recognition primers CAI-B, DNA-traceable barcodes were identified rapidly by PCR amplification. We encapsulated the DNA-traceable barcodes into amorphous silica spheres and improved the encapsulation procedure to ensure the durability of the DNA-traceable barcodes. To demonstrate the applicability of DNA-traceable barcodes as product labels, we selected Citrus sinensis as an example. We found that the recovered and purified DNA-traceable barcode can be analyzed by standard techniques (PCR-CE for DNA-traceable barcode identification and DNA sequencing for readout). This study provides an accurate and rapid approach to identifying and certifying products' authenticity and traceability.

Food safety risk-assessment systems utilized by China, Australia/New Zealand, Canada, and the United States

Ensuring the chemical, physical, and microbial safety of food and ingredients underpins the international trade of food items and is integral to building consumer confidence. Achieving this requires effective systems to support the safety of food across the supply chain. Differing risk-assessment approaches are utilized globally for establishing food safety systems, and bench marking these approaches against international food safety standards can assist in the development of country-specific systems. This China-Australia collaborative review examined similarities and differences in the food safety risk-assessment systems of China, Australia/New Zealand, Canada, and the United States, with the view to identify areas that could support improvements to the Chinese system. Key differences include the level of cohesiveness among stakeholders and the level to which each country promotes the international harmonization of standards. The evidence highlights a need for greater capacity-building in risk assessment in China that may support greater stakeholders' cohesion, improve hazard identification, and allow regulators to more readily keep abreast of changes to international standards. This review may help the Chinese food industry to replicate the same level of food safety risk assessment currently applied by other key countries, and reflects the determination, government prioritization, and active strengthening of China's National Centre for Food Safety Risk Assessment currently underway.

Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices of the Lebanese Community toward Food Adulteration

Food adulteration is the purposeful act of decreasing the quality of food goods offered for sale, whether by adding or replacing inferior substances or by the removal of some valuable ingredient. A limited number of studies have explored the knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAPs) concerning food adulteration in Lebanon. The objectives of the present study were to determine the knowledge, attitudes and practices of identifying adulteration in the process of food purchase by Lebanese adult consumers, and to identify factors associated with food adulteration. An online survey (n = 499) was administered among Lebanese adults aged 18 years and above. Results showed that the majority had a low food adulteration knowledge score (73.1%). During shopping, fewer than half of the participants checked the ingredients (42%) and nutrition facts label (33.9%). Regression analyses showed that six predictors were significantly associated with participants’ knowledge scores including gender, age, marital status, education (undergraduate and master degree) and employment status (student). The results of this study show that knowledge and practices of identifying adulteration in the process of food purchase by consumers are lacking among most respondents. Increasing knowledge, awareness and motivation to identify food adulteration products during food shopping will empower consumers to improve buying practices, especially for the public with a lower level of education.

Investment Decision of Blockchain-Based Traceability Service Input for a Competitive Agri-Food Supply Chain

Competitive agri-food supply chain (hereafter, AFSC) is an important component of AFSC. In a competitive environment, more and more AFSCs use blockchain-based traceability services (hereafter, BBTS) to improve the traceability level of agricultural products. The investment rules concerning BBTS and the coordination rules in an AFSC are vital issues for many firms who want to adopt BBTS. To explore these laws, we constructed two competitive AFSCs, each of which included a supplier and a retailer. Considering the new changes in consumers’ perception of product quality and safety after using the BBTS, the demand function was modified. Then we built the income functions of chain members under three situations of investment. The research found that: (1) the improvement of customers’ perceived quality by using the BBTS can increase their benefits; (2) when decision-makers want to invest in the BBTS, they should pay attention to consumers’ perceived quality safety factor for their competitive products; (3) when the investment cost is greater than its threshold value, two competitive AFSCs should invest in the BBTS together.

Beliefs, values, and sociocultural patterns related to food safety in low- and middle-income countries: A synthesis of the descriptive ethnographic literature

Foodborne disease is intimately connected to nutrition and causes considerable harm to health and economic wellbeing. Consumers play a key role in food safety, making it essential to understand the motivations, beliefs, and practices that shape their decisions. Ethnographic research methods are well suited to understanding such topics but have rarely been applied to food safety. This paper presents an evidence synthesis of ethnographic studies, with an emphasis on food safety beliefs, values, and related socio-cultural information, and a focus on consumers' purchasing behaviors. Vendor perspectives are also briefly considered. Key findings include the importance of trust, strategies to reduce risk, the effects of economic status and gender, and broader cultural concepts about foods that influence food purchasing. The synthesis demonstrates that there are numerous social and cultural factors that influence decision making related to food safety, offering insights for the design of interventions to reduce exposure to foodborne disease and improve nutrition.

Theoretical framework for the determinants and management of food safety problem: A case study of the waste cooking oil issue in China

The public health issue of illegal waste cooking oil in China had become a well-known food safety problem since 2010, resulting in indigestion and stomach aches when they ate them unconsciously. The Chinese government has promulgated relevant food safety regulations to prevent this public health issue from worsening. Meanwhile, Chinese researchers have already conducted corresponding research and recommended several associated policy implementations; however, this illegal waste cooking oil issue persists more than 10 years later. Hence, a systematic and comprehensive analysis of the determinants and management of the waste cooking oil issue is needed to be reassessed. Unlike previous research based on first-hand data and the principles of grounded theory analysis, this novel research is the first attempt to employ second-hand data from 152 court judgments collected from the China Judgments Online official database by engaging the grounded theory analysis to develop a new theoretical framework. The results demonstrate that legal loopholes, food hygiene inspectors, and consumer self-protection consciousness are the three crucial determinant factors in this China's public health issue. As well, offender crime patterns and case characteristics play an essential role in leading to the final food safety. Furthermore, the demographic profiles of these public health criminals are also validated in the discussion part, including the criminals' age, educational background, the average judgment amount, and the sentencing span specific type of crime. Based on the findings, we propose three management guidelines for Chinese legislation: redefining the waste cooking oil issue, raising the hot pot restaurant sanitation permission threshold, and improving overall food safety awareness and education in communities. Importantly, our research outcomes could provide a new theoretical basis for China's waste cooking oil and other public health issues in China and even worldwide.

Consumers’ Brand Preferences for Infant Formula: A Grounded Theory Approach

In recent years, the market pattern of infant formula in China has changed dramatically. The market share of domestic infant formula has exceeded that of imports. The essence of the market share change of domestic and foreign brands is the change of consumers’ brand preferences. To explore which factors affected consumers’ brand preferences, our study conducted a qualitative research method based on the grounded theory, through in-depth interviews with 60 mothers in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, systematically identifying the factors which affect consumers’ brand preferences for infant formula, which allowed us to establish a theoretical model for them. We found that product characteristics and external environmental factors could directly affect the formation of consumers’ brand preferences, or indirectly through the two intermediary factors of buyers and users. In addition, in the consumption of infant formula, buyers and users were separated, and infants, as actual users, were an important factor that could not be ignored in brand preference.

Food Traceability as an Element of Sustainable Consumption-Pandemic-Driven Changes in Consumer Attitudes

A conscious approach to the issue of food traceability on the part of consumers is essential for making rational food purchases, which in turn contributes to sustainable consumption and globally, is an element of sustainable development. The study aims to assess the changes in consumers' buying behaviors in the context of food traceability before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the impact of sociodemographic factors on those changes. Therefore, an online survey was conducted on a sample of 1000 respondents who were Polish food consumers. The study covered aspects related to the traceability of food by consumers before and during the pandemic. The results allowed for positive verification of the H1: Polish consumers attitudes related to food buying process changed during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results didn't allow for fully positive verification of the H2: Sociodemographic factors significantly influence Polish consumers attitudes to the food shopping during COVID-19 period compared to pre-pandemic period. The significant influence was supported in almost all (in 6 out of 8) analyzed aspects in case of age, education, and place of residence. However, in case of gender it was confirmed only in terms of two out of eight aspects: choosing product of national origin and using the online form of ordering purchases.

Unfolding Media Source Characteristics Regarding Food Fraud Misinformation: A Comparative Study of the Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS) in China

BACKGROUND

The ongoing rumors and fake news regarding food fraud, adulteration, and contamination are highly visible. Health risk information circulating through media and interpersonal communication channels has made health crisis an important research agenda.

OBJECTIVE

This study explores the issue of food fraud and the effect of rumors, incidents, and misinformation. Further, it studies whether and how these issues have provided evidence-based interventions for food handlers and regulators to mitigate food fraud misinformation.

METHODS

The Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS) was adopted for collaborative study in China, after which a cross-sectional survey with door-to-door interviews was performed. Participants from Beijing and Hefei were selected using multistage sampling of adults during May, 2017. Based on four government surveillance reports on food rumors and safety incidents, a descriptive, correlation, and multivariate variance analysis was applied to the data.

RESULTS

A total of 3,090 results were gathered and analyzed. An average of 83.6% (n = 2,584) respondents heard at least one food rumor. Learning about food fraud is correlated with interpersonal connections (e.g., doctors or health specialists) for accessing food health information. Overall, Chinese citizens with a higher level of interpersonal connection were more likely to be concerned about food incidents with the statistical difference (P< .001). The Interpersonal connection was the highest frequency of communication sources (n = 698, 55.7%), followed by traditional media (n = 325, 25.9%) and Internet portal (n = 144, 11.5%). There was a significant relationship between media use and media category in Beijing (P<.001) and in Hefei (P<.001). Overall, Beijing's responses to the food fraud and incidents risks were lower than in Hefei (P < .01). The respondents in Beijing were confronted more frequently by food rumors (range 346-1253) than those in Hefei (range 155-946). The urban dwellers in Beijing and their rural counterparts in Hefei also differ in terms of perceiving different levels of food risk from different media sources. The food rumor narratives examined the conspiracy belie finds that social media play a more important role in influencing attitude against misinformation for users in Hefei, rather than in Beijing.

CONCLUSIONS

A media complementarity and food fraud information acquisition examined food fraud rumors and incidents with intent to harm, mainly done for economic gain. The HINTS China reports that around 73.6% out of 2,584 Chinese respondents prefer to go to their physicians for quarrying food health information first; however, when asked where they actually went and got access to food rumors, up to 36.6% of out of 1,462 Beijing respondents and 55.6% out of 1,122 Hefei respondents reported going online first. This study extends beyond local food products to foreign countries that import conspiracy beliefs with fake food. Nonetheless, consumers have to be on guard not just against fake food, but also spreading fake information and rumors about food. The aim of this study is to focus on characterizing media sources, types of food fraud misinformation, and risk perception of food safety, which mixes urgency and suspicions, and to provide evidence-based interventions for risk management guidance, with the hypotheses of the significant correlations between media types and sources and consumers' exposing and perceiving levels of food rumors and risks.

CLINICALTRIAL

Enterprise Food Fraud in China: Key Factors Identification From Social Co-governance Perspective

Food fraud not only exacerbates human public health risks but also threatens the business development of food and related industries. Therefore, how to curb food fraud effectively becomes a crucial issue for governments, industries, and consumers. Previous studies have demonstrated that enterprise food fraud is subject to joint influences of factor at various hierarchical levels within a complex system of stakeholders. To address enterprise food fraud, it is necessary to identify the key such factors and elucidate the functional mechanisms, as well as systematic analysis of the interrelationships among clusters and factors. Hence, we grounded on a social co-governance perspective and investigated the food fraud key influencing factors and their interrelationships in an emerging food market – China, by using the DEMATEL-based analytic network process (DANP). Results showed that the identified key cluster was government regulation, social governance, and detection techniques. Four other key factors were also identified, including government regulatory capability and penalty intensity, expected economic benefits, maturity of market reputation mechanism, and transparency of supply chain. Policy implications from the social co-governance perspective for China and similar economies are discussed finally.

Consumer Trust in Food and the Food System: A Critical Review

Increased focus towards food safety and quality is reshaping food purchasing decisions around the world. Although some food attributes are visible, many of the attributes that consumers seek and are willing to pay a price premium for are not. Consequently, consumers rely on trusted cues and information to help them verify the food quality and credence attributes they seek. In this study, we synthesise the findings from previous research to generate a framework illustrating the key trust influencing factors that are beyond visual and brand-related cues. Our framework identifies that consumer trust in food and the food system is established through the assurances related to individual food products and the actors of the food system. Specifically, product assurance builds consumer trust through food packaging labels communicating food attribute claims, certifications, country or region of origin, and food traceability information. In addition, producers, processors, and retailers provide consumers with food safety and quality assurances, while government agencies, third-party institutions, advocacy groups, and the mass media may modify how labelling information and food operators are perceived by consumers. We hope our framework will guide future research efforts to test these trust factors in various consumer and market settings.

Considering Fraud Vulnerability Associated with Credence-Based Products Such as Organic Food

Organic foods carry a premium price. They are credence-based foods, i.e., it is difficult for consumers to evaluate the premium aspects of organic food under normal use. In global supply chains, organic food is purchased on institutional trust (certification, logos, standards) rather than on relational trust. Relying on institutional trust makes consumers vulnerable to criminals who intentionally label conventional product as organic or develop sophisticated organized crime networks to defraud businesses and consumers. The aim of this research is to explore cases of organic fraud that are emergent from academic and gray literature searches to identify ways to strengthen future capabilities to counter illicit activities in a globalized food environment. Each case is considered in terms of perpetrator motivations (differentiated as economic, cultural, and behaviorally orientated drivers), the mode of operation (simple or organized), the guardians involved/absent, and the business and supply chain level vulnerabilities the cases highlight. The study finds that institutional trust is particularly vulnerable to fraud. Supply chain guardians need to recognize this vulnerability and implement effective controls to reduce the likelihood of occurrence. However, in some cases considered in the study, the guardians themselves were complicit in the illicit behavior, further increasing consumer vulnerability. Future research needs to consider how additional controls can be implemented, without increasing supply chain friction that will impact on food trade and supply, that can ensure consumers are purchasing what they believe they are paying for.

Improving Vegetable Safety in China: Does Co-Regulation Work?

In the last decade, vegetable safety issues have received growing attention from both consumers and public authorities in China, as vegetable safety hazards pose a serious threat to public health. In 2017, the Industry & Trade Bureau in China implemented a “Market Renovation Program”. This program includes the renovation of wholesale and wet markets, the formal registration of all stallholders in these markets and the introduction of a rapid test for pesticides residues. We apply the co-regulation framework to assess the implementation and results of the renovation program on the safety of vegetables. A mixed methods approach is used to investigate the effects of the renovation program. The qualitative study elaborates on the implementation of the renovation program and the behavioural changes of stakeholders in handling vegetables through interviews and field observations. The quantitative results confirm that the renovation program has a positive impact on vegetable safety. In conclusion, this study shows that the key factor for the success of the renovation program is the transition of authority from the local, public authority to the market management.

How Do Spillover Effects Influence the Food Safety Strategies of Companies? New Orientation of Regulations for Food Safety

The food safety strategies of companies are a key point in the reduction of food safety risks. In order to encourage the evolution of food safety strategies of companies from food fraud to safety investment, this study builds an evolutionary game model, taking large and small companies as participants, to reveal the dynamic process of spillover effects influencing the choice of food safety strategies of companies. The study shows that (1) the food safety strategies of companies change from safety investment to food fraud, along with the increasing opportunity costs of safety investment. (2) The costs structure of small companies mainly determines whether the industry reaches the equilibrium of safety investment, while the costs structure of large companies mainly determines whether the industry reaches the equilibrium of food fraud. (3) Both competition effects and contagion effects encourage companies to choose safety investment. The more obvious spillover effects of incidents on food safety are, the more likely it is that companies will choose safety investments. (4) Increasing the costs to companies for incidents on food safety and reducing the opportunity cost of safety investment motivates companies to choose safety investment. Consequently, a new orientation of regulations for food safety is formed: the government should allocate different regulatory resources to counteract food fraud behaviors or technologies with a different benefit, should increase the technical costs and costs incurred from committing acts of food fraud, and should expand spillover effects of incidents on food safety.

'I will know it when I taste it': trust, food materialities and social media in Chinese alternative food networks

Trust is often an assumed outcome of participation in Alternative Food Networks (AFNs) as they directly connect producers with consumers. It is based on this potential for trust "between producers and consumers" that AFNs have emerged as a significant field of food studies analysis as it also suggests a capacity for AFNs to foster associated embedded qualities, like 'morality', 'social justice', 'ecology' and 'equity'. These positive benefits of AFNs, however, cannot be taken for granted as trust is not necessarily an outcome of AFN participation. Using Chinese case studies of AFNs, which are characterised by a distinct form of trust pressure-consumers who are particularly cynical about small scale farmers, food safety and the organic credentials of producers-this paper highlights how the dynamics of trust are in constant flux between producers and consumers. I suggest that it is the careful construction of the aesthetic and multi-sensory qualities of food, which is often celebrated via social media, that human centred relations in Chinese AFNs are mediated. This leads to two key conclusions: first, that the key variable for establishing trust is satisfying the consumer's desire for safe (i.e. "fresh") food; and second, the materiality of the food and the perception of foods materiality (especially through social media), must both be actively constructed by the farmer to fit the consumer's ideal of freshness.

Exploring Chinese consumers' attitudes toward traceable dairy products: A focus group study

Dairy products are an essential part of a healthy diet, and dairy is an emerging food industry in China. With rapid economic development, Chinese consumers are increasingly health-conscious and are becoming more selective about the quality and safety of dairy products. Adopting a qualitative approach, we explored Chinese consumers' perception of dairy food safety and attitudes toward traceable dairy products through 9 focus group interviews administered in 4 urban locations in North and South China, with a total of 61 participants. Results showed that a prevalence of food safety incidents triggers consumers to lower their confidence in food safety and to pay more attention to the news about food safety incidents in the media, including social media. Chemical residues ranked as the first concern for food safety in the dairy industry. Meanwhile, traceable dairy products were not well known among consumers. Although the possibility to trace back all stages of the food supply chain in the dairy sector was considered important, respondents raised doubts about the truthfulness of traceability information.

Opportunities for fraudsters: When would profitable milk adulterations go unnoticed by common, standardized FTIR measurements?

Milk is regarded as one of the top food products susceptible to adulteration where its valuable components are specifically identified as high-risk indicators for milk fraud. The current study explores the impact of common milk adulterants on the apparent compositional parameters of milk from the Dutch market as measured by standardized Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. More precisely, it examines the detectability of these adulterants at various concentration levels using the compositional parameters individually, in a univariate manner, and together in a multivariate approach. In this study we used measured boundaries but also more practical variance-adjusted boundaries to set thresholds for detection of adulteration. The potential economic impact of these adulterations under a milk payment scheme is also evaluated. Twenty-four substances were used to produce various categories of milk adulterations, each at four concentration levels. These substances comprised five protein-rich adulterants, five nitrogen-based adulterants, seven carbohydrate-based adulterants, six preservatives and water, resulting in a set of 360 samples to be analysed. The results showed that the addition of protein-rich adulterants, as well as dicyandiamide and melamine, increased the apparent protein content, while the addition of carbohydrate-based adulterants, whey protein isolate, and skimmed milk powder, increased the apparent lactose content. When considering the compositional parameters univariately, especially protein- and nitrogen-based adulterants did not raise a flag of unusual apparent concentrations at lower concentration levels. Addition of preservatives also went unnoticed. The multivariate approach did not improve the level of detection. Regarding the potential profit of milk adulteration, whey protein and corn starch seem particularly interesting. Combining the artificial inflation of valuable components, the resulting potential profit, and the gaps in detection, it appears that the whey protein isolates deserve particular attention when thinking like a criminal.

Food Origin Traceability from a Consumer’s Perspective

The awareness of food origin in the consumers’ perspective has gradually become more significant not only in reference to consumers from highly developed countries but also from emerging ones, which are already on their way from a developing to developed economy. The purpose of the paper is to answer the research question by verifying four hypotheses formulated in the research process. The research question is: "Do the variables which characterize consumers of food products in Poland, including gender, age, education and financial status, affect the aspects related to food traceability, such as identification of the producer, importance of food product features when shopping, importance of the information given on food product packaging and influence of the shopping place and frequency on tracing the food origin?" The paper presents the results, analysis, and conclusions from the study in reference to the four assumed hypotheses related to the above-mentioned research question. The study was carried out on a group of 500 consumers of food products in Poland. The study topic selection is justified by the assumed significance of tracing back a food product’s origin for a consumer who functions in a globalization-based economy; this was confirmed by the subject literature presented in the paper.

Does prior knowledge of food fraud affect consumer behavior? Evidence from an incentivized economic experiment

This study uses a laboratory experiment to examine whether prior knowledge of food fraud persistently affects consumer behavior. We invited regular consumers of olive oil to participate in an olive oil valuation experiment. We used a within-subject design to compare consumers' willingness to pay (WTP) for Italian extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) before and after receiving information about labeling scandals in the Italian olive oil industry. After the first round of bidding, but before introducing information about labeling scandals or otherwise mentioning food fraud, we surveyed participants about whether they had heard of food fraud. Results indicate that prior knowledge of food fraud plays an important role in explaining consumers' valuation behavior, both in the pre-information baseline bidding and in how they update their valuation in response to information about a food fraud scandal. Consumers who reported prior knowledge of food fraud partially accounted for the possibility of food fraud in their initial pre-information valuation, submitting significantly lower bids than participants who did not report prior knowledge. They also reacted less to olive oil fraud information than consumers who reported no prior knowledge of food fraud. Findings of this study highlight the potential long-term consequences of increasing consumer awareness of food fraud incidents on consumer WTP for products in industries that have experienced food fraud scandals.

Association of Internet Use with Attitudes Toward Food Safety in China: A Cross-Sectional Study

A growing body of research has shown that people’s attitudes toward food safety is affected by their availability and accessibility to food risk information. In the digital era, the Internet has become the most important channel for information acquisition. However, empirical evidence related to the impact of Internet use on people’s attitudes towards food safety is inadequate. In this study, by employing the Chinese Social Survey for 2013 and 2015, we have investigated the current situation of food safety perceptions and evaluations among Chinese residents and the association between Internet use and individuals’ food safety evaluations. Empirical results indicate that there is a significant negative correlation between Internet use and people’s food safety evaluation in China. Furthermore, heterogeneity analysis shows that Internet use has a stronger negative correlation with food safety evaluation for those lacking rational judgment regarding Internet information. Specifically, the negative correlation between Internet use and food safety evaluations is more obvious among rural residents, young people, and less educated residents. Finally, propensity score matching (PSM) is applied to conduct a robustness check. This paper provides new evidence for studies on the relationship between Internet use and an individuals’ food safety cognition, as well as additional policy enlightenment for food safety risk management in the digital age.

Food Supply Chain Stakeholders' Perspectives on Sharing Information to Detect and Prevent Food Integrity Issues

One of the biggest challenges facing the food industry is assuring food integrity. Dealing with complex food integrity issues requires a multi-dimensional approach. Preventive actions and early reactive responses are key for the food supply chain. Information sharing could facilitate the detection and prevention of food integrity issues. This study investigates attitudes towards a food integrity information sharing system (FI-ISS) among stakeholders in the European food supply chain. Insights into stakeholders' interest in participating and their conditions for joining an FI-ISS are assessed. The stakeholder consultation consisted of three rounds. During the first round, a total of 143 food industry stakeholders-covering all major food sectors susceptible to food integrity issues-participated in an online quantitative survey between November 2017 and February 2018. The second round, an online qualitative feedback survey in which the findings were presented, received feedback from 61 stakeholders from the food industry, food safety authorities and the science community. Finally, 37 stakeholders discussed the results in further detail during an interactive workshop in May 2018. Three distinct groups of industry stakeholders were identified based on reported frequency of occurrence and likelihood of detecting food integrity issues. Food industry stakeholders strongly support the concept of an FI-ISS, with an attitude score of 4.49 (standard deviation (S.D.) = 0.57) on a 5-point scale, and their willingness to participate is accordingly high (81%). Consensus exists regarding the advantages an FI-ISS can yield towards detection and prevention. A stakeholder's perception of the advantages was identified as a predictor of their intention to join an FI-ISS, while their perception of the disadvantages and the perceived risk of food integrity issues were not. Medium-sized companies perceive the current detection of food integrity issues as less likely compared to smaller and large companies. Interestingly, medium-sized companies also have lower intentions to join an FI-ISS. Four key success factors for an FI-ISS are defined, more specifically with regards to (1) the actors to be involved in a system, (2) the information to be shared, (3) the third party to manage the FI-ISS and (4) the role of food safety authorities. Reactions diverged concerning the required level of transparency, the type of data that stakeholders might be willing to share in an FI-ISS and the role authorities can have within an FI-ISS.

Milk production related to price of raw cow’s milk in selected european countries

Dairy industry and its production contributes to the economies of many regions and countries worldwide. Except the milk production there is also number of other impacts such as the human nutrition, landscape creation and environment among the others. The European dairy sector undergoes numerous changes a period of crises and regulations in last few decades. After abolition of milk quota system, the European milk producing countries started to be exposed to the milk prices of the world market. In the submitted article, the impact of five explanatory variables, which cow's milk, butter, milk powder, cheese, and farm milk production belong among, is analysed to the explained variable the price of raw cow's milk coming from the countries whose data is available in the Eurostat database; that is, Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. Regression analysis of panel data with territorial and time dimensions is applied using three techniques, which the pooling, the random, and the between approach belong to. Supplementary analytical approach represented by the cluster analysis resulted into triplet of clusters, selected for the further modelling process. Results of the regression analysis showed no influence of butter production to the level of raw cow's milk. The visualised outcome signifies the distribution of the individual countries among the examined clusters. It underlines the fact that the cheaper raw cow's milk price causes a concentration on the specific part of the production that is easier to produce. It is important to realise that the coefficient of determination of the regression models reveal their statistical significance as a whole. Obtained results can serve as the background for further analysis of impact of other milk products as the factors influencing the raw cow's milk prices.