Food Safety Crisis Research Articles

Evaluation of phenolic constituent, antioxidant and antibacterial activities of sugarcane molasses towards foodborne pathogens

The employment of chemical synthetic as an antimicrobial agent in inhibiting microbial growth has become a major concern due to adverse health impact, food safety crisis and the pressure on food manufacturers. Essential bioactive compound in sugarcane molasses, a by-product from a sugar refinery process could be effective as an alternative antimicrobial substance. However, their antimicrobial properties are not understandable. This study aimed 1) to detect the total phenolic compounds present in sugarcane molasses extract and 2) to determine the antioxidants and antibacterial activities of sugarcane molasses extract towards foodborne pathogens. The phenolic compounds of sugarcane molasses extract were determined by UHPLC-MSMS. Antioxidant activities were estimated by a total phenolic compound assay and a 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay. Meanwhile, antibacterial activities were carried out via disc diffusion, minimum inhibition concentrations (MICs) and minimum bactericidal concentrations (MBCs) assays. In this study, several extracted compounds were identified in sugarcane molasses extract and included gallic acid, phenylvaleric acids, quinic acid, tannic acid and 6-C-glucosyl-8-C-arabinosyl apigenin or arabinoysl-glucosylapigenin. The sugarcane molasses extract showed high total phenolic compounds with values of 7.6 mg GAE/g extract. Meanwhile, antioxidant activities of sugarcane molasses extract were also found high and the 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50 value) was about 0.79 mg QE/g. The inhibition zone against four foodborne pathogens, Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria monocytogenes, Escherichia coli and Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium ranged from 8.82±0.3 mm to 25.05±1.6 mm. Meanwhile, the MICs of sugarcane molasses extract ranged from 3.125% to 6.25% v/v and MBCs were 6.25% to >12.5% v/v. In conclusion, sugarcane molasses extract is rich in phenolic compounds and has the potential to be applied as the natural antioxidant and antibacterial compounds.

An automated alarm system for food safety by using electronic invoices

Invoices had been used in food product traceability, however, none have addressed the automated alarm system for food safety by utilizing electronic invoice big data. In this paper, we present an alarm system for edible oil manufacture that can prevent a food safety crisis rather than trace problematic sources post-crisis. Using nearly 100 million labeled e-invoices from the 2013‒2014 of 595 edible oil manufacturers provided by Ministry of Finance, we applied text-mining, statistical and machine learning techniques to "train" the system for two functions: (1) to sieve edible oil-related e-invoices of manufacturers who may also produce other merchandise and (2) to identify suspicious edible oil manufacture based on irrational transactions from the e-invoices sieved. The system was able to (1) accurately sieve the correct invoices with sensitivity >95% and specificity >98% via text classification and (2) identify problematic manufacturers with 100% accuracy via Random Forest machine learning method, as well as with sensitivity >70% and specificity >99% through simple decision-tree method. E-invoice has bright future on the application of food safety. It can not only be used for product traceability, but also prevention of adverse events by flag suspicious manufacturers. Compulsory usage of e-invoice for food producing can increase the accuracy of this alarm system.

Seeing and Knowing: Sourcing Safe Food in Zhejiang

At a farm-to-table restaurant in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, high-quality food is sourced through direct relationships between restaurant staff and trusted rural suppliers. The restaurant is part of China’s growing food movement, and it shares this core principle of direct purchasing with other movement projects nationwide. At the same time, as the state responds to public anxieties over food safety, it has taken a “transparency” approach, emphasising “traceability” from field to tongue. Although such an approach may seem to follow similar logic to direct purchasing in the food movement, these two ways of pursuing safety are radically distinct. Drawing on evidence from the Hangzhou restaurant’s procurement system and Zhejiang’s “Sunshine Kitchen” food safety policies, I find that state responses to the food safety crisis misrecognise underlying moral-economic problems. By contrast, the restaurant’s farm-to-table purchasing system holds out a compelling model for (re)fashioning forms of moral consensus between growers and eaters of food.

“One family, two systems”: Food safety crisis as a catalyst for agrarian changes in rural China

The political economy of agrarian changes in rural China has attracted much scholarly attention. Yet these studies have placed limited emphasis on the role of food safety crisis, a critical issue that not only motivated consumption changes of urban residents, but also catalyzed a differentiated food production and supply scheme in rural China. Our extensive fieldwork revealed that more than 60% of rural farming households in China are adopting two distinctive farming approaches: conventional production with intensive usage of agrochemicals for selling to the market and ecological production with limited or no usage of agrochemicals for self-consumption, relatives and people with close social ties. This is what we call ‘one family, two systems’. This paper conceptualizes and illustrates the widespread yet rarely discussed phenomenon with specific cases. We argue that ‘one family, two systems’ is farmers' self-protection response to the heightened food safety crisis. It reveals that the access to ecologically produced food in the common phenomenon is determined by farmers' social relations and thus is embedded in local social network. ‘One family, two systems’ fosters agrarian changes in at least two dimensions – the farmer-driven ecologicalization of food production and the re-embedding of food production and consumption in ecological systems and social relations in rural China.

Product recalls, corporate social responsibility, and firm value: Evidence from the Chinese food industry

Product recalls frequently occur in the Chinese food industry, which is closely linked to public health and social security and attracts significant attention from the government, media, and public. We manually collect food recalls from listed firms in China from 2008 to 2016 and use an event study methodology to investigate the economic consequences of product recalls. First, we find that product recalls result in significantly negative abnormal returns for listed firms. Second, the level of corporate social responsibility (CSR) mitigates the negative effect of food recalls on the wealth of shareholders. Our results are robust to different specifications and measures. This study provides timely evidence and important policy implications for the ongoing food safety crisis in China. The government should release appropriate policies to improve firms’ product quality and activities on CSR in the food industry, which in turn helps the firms obtain benefits.

Coping with the milk scandal

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine crisis communication strategies used by four leading Chinese milk companies at various crisis stages to cope with the largest food safety crisis in China. Approaching the interplay between the situational crisis communication theory (Coombs, 2007) and the image restoration theory (Benoit, 1995), the study attempted to understand the importance of crisis management at various crisis stages by comparing crisis communication strategies used by surviving and thriving companies with those by the company that failed.Design/methodology/approachDividing a crisis management process into three stages, a content analysis was conducted to analyze five major crisis communication strategies – evasion of responsibility, rebuilding, bolstering, endorsement of outside experts and government relations – used by Chinese milk companies at various crisis stages.FindingsThe study demonstrated that Sanlu, which went bankrupt as a result of the scandal, predominately took the Chinese crisis management approach. The other three companies that survived the scandal employed western crisis communication strategies, although with distinct Chinese characteristics. Specifically, all four companies employed similar strategies during the pre-crisis stage – keeping silent/covering-up. During the crisis stage, strategies varied dramatically as companies became involved – looking for government protection and apologizing, while survivors tended to adopt a widely used western strategy – bolstering at the post-crisis stage.Practical implicationsThe examination of crisis communication strategies at various crisis stages may shed some light on how effectively Chinese companies and possibly international companies in China can manage future crises that share similar profiles as this milk scandal and further call for attention to scrutinize the social responsibility of corporate citizens in China.Originality/valueThis study would fill the vacancy in research by investigating crisis communication strategies used in the largest food safety crisis in China. The findings provide insight for understanding the current status of crisis communication strategies and management within a Chinese matrix of political, social and cultural factors.

How Consumers Respond to Food Safety Crisis: A Study of Peanut Butter and Egg Recalls on Consumer Behavior

In 2009, salmonellosis was found in peanut processed by the Peanut Corporation of America, resulting in 714 cases of severe food poisoning from ingesting contaminated peanut butter. In 2010, over 1900 people were hospitalized due to salmonella outbreak from eggs produced in two Iowa farms. Using a modified regression discontinuity design, this paper examines how consumers responded to these two recent and acute national food safety crises, and whether consumers’ responses correlate with their socioeconomic statuses. The regression results show that while the sale of peanut butter suffered a statistically significant decrease at 13.7% in the second week after the recall announcement, the sale in eggs was not significantly affected. The socioeconomic statuses of consumers did not play a determining factor in their purchasing behaviors in either case. This finding implies that national food recalls have mixed effect on preventing consumers from purchasing potentially contaminated products regardless of socioeconomic classes.

Bottom-up self-protection responses to China's food safety crisis

ABSTRACTFood safety became a major concern in China since 2000, triggering movements by peasants and urban consumers for self-protection. Drawing on participant observation, semi-structured interviews and examination of government documents in two rural communities, I analyse the drivers, character, potential and challenges of “bottom-up” self-protection movements. These originate with peasants, while scholars, social activists and some urban middle class consumers combine with peasant cooperatives to reconstruct mutual trust and promote rural-urban coordinated development. This countermovement has potential to resolve the food safety crisis, but it faces structural pressures from market forces and challenges of governance, consumer awareness and peasant organisation.

A Food Safety Crisis in China: Issues and Opportunities

A Food Safety Crisis in China: Issues and Opportunities

Food safety scandals and their impacts on restaurant customers in Lebanon

The purpose of this research is to study the impact of food safety campaign that was launched by the Lebanese Ministry of Health in 2014 on restaurant clients in Lebanon. First, the food safety concept was defined. Then, a questionnaire was distributed to 812 Lebanese nationals during their visit to one of the restaurants in the geographical area of the study. Findings revealed that there is a clear impact of spoiled food scandals on restaurant goers' behaviour and decisions and that independent restaurants are more affected by the food safety crisis than the ones affiliated to a chain. Moreover, media outlets and social media platforms play a key role in disseminating food safety scandals. The study resulted in many recommendations at the public sector level and the private sector level that need to be adopted in order to reduce the impact of food safety scandals on Lebanese restaurant sector.

The impact of avian influenza on the Korean egg market: Who benefited?

The historical decomposition and directed acyclic graph methods are employed to estimate the effect of avian influenza in Korea on egg price transmission between the farm, wholesale, and retail levels. Our findings suggest that farm and retail egg prices are connected by the wholesale price. We also find that the farm-wholesale and the wholesale-retail margins increase during the avian influenza period. Our results imply that the retailer and wholesaler use their market power to increase their price during the food safety crisis. Therefore, the Korean government should control market power by allowing more emergency egg imports.

The impact of online social capital on social trust and risk perception

ABSTRACTThis study investigated how social media use and online social capital might have influenced social trust and risk perception of a public health crisis in China. It also tested the validity and reliability of the online social capital measurement in the context of a Chinese food-safety crisis. Study findings validated the impact of online social capital on social trust and risk perception. In addition, two new dimensions of online social capital scale were identified; these two dimensions are in parallel to Putnam’s [2000. Bowling alone: The collapse and revival of american community. New York: Simon and Schuster] conception of ‘bonding social capital’ and ‘bridging social capital.’ Social and policy implications of the study results are discussed.

How Have Restaurant Firms Responded to Food Safety Crises? Evidence From Media Coverage

ABSTRACTMedia communication has become a crucial part of crisis communications due to the rapid dissemination of information along with its immense impact on consumers and other stakeholders. Based on a structured content analysis of electronic media reports on restaurant-associated food safety crises from 1993 to 2015, this study examined media reporting patterns focusing on three elements: instructing information, crisis response strategies, and stakeholders. This study also identified the effect of situational factors (severity of risk and crisis type) on the media reporting patterns using Chi-square tests. The results indicated that restaurant firms were more likely to use proactive than passive response strategies, and identified primary stakeholders during a food safety crisis such as regulatory agencies, victims, and customers. Finally, two situational factors were found to influence the pattern of media reporting. The media reporting patterns were found to vary by risk severity and crisis type.

Crises de Segurança do Alimento e a Demanda por Carnes no Brasil

Resumo: Investiga-se se crises de segurança do alimento deslocam para baixo as demandas por carne bovina, suína e de frango no Brasil. Constroem-se três séries de índices de crises de segurança do alimento, um para cada tipo de carne, somando-se o total de notícias na Folha de São Paulo que atenderam a critérios predefinidos de busca. Utilizam-se estas três séries, os preços das carnes e de um bem composto e o gasto per capita com consumo como variáveis explicativas em seis especificações alternativas de um sistema de quatro equações de demanda. Seleciona-se a melhor especificação do modelo por meio de testes ajustados de razão de verossimilhança. Testes com o modelo selecionado não rejeitam a hipótese de que as demandas não são afetadas por crises de segurança do alimento. Conclui-se que se deslocamentos da demanda para baixo em reação a crises de segurança do alimento criam incentivos para que as empresas adotem medidas para produzir um alimento mais seguro, tais incentivos não existem nos setores de carnes no Brasil. Assim, reforça-se a importância e necessidade de um sistema público ativo para regulamentar e estabelecer padrões de segurança da carne no Brasil.

Retraction Notice: The Establishment and Management of the Archives of Green Food

The development of food production, establishment and management of collecting and sorting documen- tary materials has been put on the agenda. Vigorously strengthen the production bases of food, the producers of food, wholesale markets of food, distribution entities of food, sales units of food and supervision and management, establishing the certificate records of quality and records of supervision, strengthen the quality and safety responsibility consciousness of the agricultural producers will enhance the certification of credibility and competi- tiveness of the products. In China, with a series of food safety crisis in recent years - melamine, drainage oil, clenbuterol, tony red and other local events not reported, the food safety is becoming a hot concerned focus, and the food industry was initi- ated to meet the food demand. Although the food prices are often 1.3-3.0 times higher than ordinary food, its sales still increase stably and markedly, especially in the coastal econ my-developed cities (1). With the economic development and improvement of people's living standards, people pay more and more atten- tion to food quality safety, and China's food industry has experienced rapid development. Heilongjiang Province is one of the provinces with the highest rate of development of food industry in China, and also the country's larg- est standardization production base of food. The pro- duction capacity of food in Heilongjiang Province is very powerful, but all products produced by the certified food at present are not all food. We redefine green food enterprises and expound the meaning of greenification (2, 3) of food processing industry. Taking the case of Heilongjiang Province, we give an overview of food in Heilongjiang Province, and study the degree of greenification of food processing industry in Heilongjiang Province, through the case study of the related enterprises. And we put forth the recommenda- tions for promoting greenification of food processing in- dustry in Heilongjiang Province. Green food means safe and high-quality esculent agricul- tural and processed products without being polluted, growing in excellent environment, produced according to regularized technological speculations, with quality controlled through the whole processing. On the basis of foreign standard of food and situation of China, the China Green Food Development Center divides food into two categories, namely AA grade food and A grade food. The origin environment, production process, product quality, packaging, transport and other conditions of the reporting must comply with the standard of food, and go through the test of corresponding agencies, to obtain the right to use the food indication (4).

The Establishment and Management of the Archives of Green Food

The development of food production, establishment and management of collecting and sorting documen- tary materials has been put on the agenda. Vigorously strengthen the production bases of food, the producers of food, wholesale markets of food, distribution entities of food, sales units of food and supervision and management, establishing the certificate records of quality and records of supervision, strengthen the quality and safety responsibility consciousness of the agricultural producers will enhance the certification of credibility and competi- tiveness of the products. In China, with a series of food safety crisis in recent years - melamine, drainage oil, clenbuterol, tony red and other local events not reported, the food safety is becoming a hot concerned focus, and the food industry was initi- ated to meet the food demand. Although the food prices are often 1.3-3.0 times higher than ordinary food, its sales still increase stably and markedly, especially in the coastal econ my-developed cities (1). With the economic development and improvement of people's living standards, people pay more and more atten- tion to food quality safety, and China's food industry has experienced rapid development. Heilongjiang Province is one of the provinces with the highest rate of development of food industry in China, and also the country's larg- est standardization production base of food. The pro- duction capacity of food in Heilongjiang Province is very powerful, but all products produced by the certified food at present are not all food. We redefine green food enterprises and expound the meaning of greenification (2, 3) of food processing industry. Taking the case of Heilongjiang Province, we give an overview of food in Heilongjiang Province, and study the degree of greenification of food processing industry in Heilongjiang Province, through the case study of the related enterprises. And we put forth the recommenda- tions for promoting greenification of food processing in- dustry in Heilongjiang Province. Green food means safe and high-quality esculent agricul- tural and processed products without being polluted, growing in excellent environment, produced according to regularized technological speculations, with quality controlled through the whole processing. On the basis of foreign standard of food and situation of China, the China Green Food Development Center divides food into two categories, namely AA grade food and A grade food. The origin environment, production process, product quality, packaging, transport and other conditions of the reporting must comply with the standard of food, and go through the test of corresponding agencies, to obtain the right to use the food indication (4).

Research on the Food Safety Information Management System based on the Data Flow Technology

Food is the paramount necessity of the people. Food is the material foundation of human survival and food safety is the most basic insurance. Food safety crisis management mechanism of local government has an important significance on deepening the theoretical research of food safety crisis management perfecting the food safety management function and management mechanism. This study conducted a deep research on the food security issues from public management crisis management theory, institutional economics and other theories; and based on the food security crisis management it carried a research on mechanism in order to put forward feasible policies and suggestions on food safety problem for local government. The food safety information management system based on data flow technology is also constructed in this study.

Propagation Modeling of Food Safety Crisis Information Update Based on the Multi-agent System

This study propose a new multi-agent system frame based on epistemic default complex adaptive theory and use the agent based simulation and modeling the information updating process to study food safety crisis information dissemination. Then, we explore interaction effect between each agent in food safety crisis information dissemination at the current environment and mostly reveals how the government agent, food company agent and network media agent influence users confidence in food safety. The information updating process give a description on how to guide a normal spread of food safety crisis in public opinion in the current environment and how to enhance the confidence of food quality and safety of the average users.

식품산업체의 위기관리 조직 및 위기대응 절차

Objectives: Promotion of food safety/eradicating adulterated food has been listed as one of the four major issues recently identified for action by the Korean government. Due to the related seriousness, the food industry has been encouraged to take steps to restore consumer confidence. In order to set guidelines for the creation of manuals for the response to a food safety crisis by the food industry, this study provided a suggested organization for a crisis response team and operating procedures for crisis response activities. Methods: The prototypes of an organizational structure and a set of standard procedures for a crisis response system were provided. Results: The results of the study suggested that a crisis response team should be comprised of four divisions of responsibility: information analysis, site response, communication and operational support. The organization chart and the role and functions for each division of the crisis response team should be indicated. Response activities will be more effective when the team features multi-disciplined staffing, such as public relations, food safety/technology/quality, sales/marketing, purchasing, production, distribution/logistics, regulatory affairs/legal, and consumer service specialists. This study created a flow chart for the total crisis response system, which included crisis and normal situations. A crisis response team should be continuously operated for both crisis and normal conditions. This study also suggested a scenario to explain the procedures for crisis response activities. Conclusion: In order to cope more effectively with a food safety crisis, the organizational structure and its functions should be defined clearly, and a detailed set of standard procedures for response activities should be offered.

Food safety risks, disruptive events and alternative beef production: a case study of agricultural transition in Alberta

A key focus for agri-food scholars today pertains to emerging “alternative food movements,” particularly their long-term viability, and their potential to induce transitions in our prevailing conventional global agri-food systems. One under-studied element in recent research on sustainability transitions more broadly is the role of disruptive events in the emergence or expansion of these movements. We present the findings of a case study of the effect of a sudden acute food safety crisis—bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease—on alternative beef production in the Province of Alberta, Canada. Employing the conceptual lens of Sustainability Transition Theory, we explore the perspectives of conventional and alternative beef producers, treating alternative beef production as a niche operating within the dominant regime of global industrial agri-business. Three key findings are presented here. First, food safety risks and disruptive events can emerge as a direct consequence of the socio-ecological contradictions embedded in industrial agriculture, representing an opportunity for expansion of agricultural niches. Second, certain features of socio-economic regimes can also contribute to niche emergence, such as an economic system that disenfranchises beef-producing families. Finally, our study highlights the high level of diversity among niche agents and the complex and nuanced nature of their support for the niche.