Food Safety Culture Research Articles

Cultural revolution

Cultural revolution

Training in food safety culture

Training in food safety culture

Courage over comfort

Courage over comfort

Editorial and News

Editorial and News

Certifying food safety culture

Certifying food safety culture

Assessing safe food handling knowledge and practices of food service managers in Doha, Qatar.

The aim of this cross-sectional study was to assess safe food handling practices, food safety knowledge, and adherence to implementation of Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point among 53 food safety managers working in randomly selected food service establishments in Qatar. Face-to-face interviews with the managers at each participating food service establishment were conducted using a survey consisting of 40 questions in October-December 2015. In addition to the survey questionnaire, a checklist was used to determine the implementation of Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point by observing actual practices applied at each food service establishment. About 66 and 68% of managers had college degree and were trained on Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point, respectively. Results also showed that casual sit-in and fine dine-in restaurants were the only food service establishments that consistently kept records on safe food handling practices (100%), followed by fast-food food service establishments (36%). Managers' training and education level were highly correlated with the probability of their employees receiving food safety training. This first assessment on food safety knowledge and practices in Qatar demonstrated that training and education are important factors that directly impact the food safety culture in food service establishments. These findings may help government agencies establish guidelines for compulsory on-site training of food handlers for effective food safety practices in food service establishments in Qatar where the fast growing demography has led to a rapid growth in food service establishment in different cuisines leading to heterogeneity in food safety practices.

Food Safety Culture Maturity Index [FSCMI]: Presentation and Validation

Objetivo do Trabalho: A literatura sobre Cultura de Segurança de Alimentos (CSA) tem evoluído na dimensão conceitual, mas ainda é incipiente no que diz respeito a criação de instrumentos de mensuração e avaliação quantitativa. Para preencher esta lacuna, este artigo apresenta um modelo que apresenta o Índice de Maturidade da Cultura de Segurança de Alimentos (IMCSA), e faz uma uma validação do instrumento. Metodologia: O modelo proposto do Índice de Maturidade da Cultura de Segurança de Alimentos (IMCSA) possui nove dimensões que englobam os principais construtos da CSA. Para a validação semântica do modelo foram realizados 15 workshops e 30 entrevistas; e para a validação do modelo foi realizada uma pesquisa com participantes de duas empresas do setor de Alimentos Bebidas. Para a validação de face, foram convidados especialistas que avaliaram a consistência dos construtos. Foi utilizado o procedimento estatístico de análise fatorial exploratória (AFE) com o intuito de reduzir o conjunto de variáveis a um número menor de fatores, para caracterizar as dimensões de atributo do objeto avaliado. Originalidade: A importância da CSA se fundamenta na literatura organizacional que identifica as limitações das abordagens técnicas na produção de alimentos seguros. Uma cultura madura que traduz claramente o significado do valor segurança, favorece o entendimento das regras do jogo e a internalização de comportamentos esperados, diminuindo as necessidades de controle e supervisão. Além disso, se apresenta um modelo de avaliação da CSA validado. Principais Resultados: Os resultados das correlações da validação de face variaram entre 79% e 84%, tendo apresentado consenso na maioria dos construtos. Os valores de Alfa de Cronbach variaram entre 0,695 e 0,844, evidenciando consistência interna satisfatória. Os resultados apontam para sete fatores que explicam 70,61% da variância dos dados: Liderança, Percepção de Risco, Sistema Gerencial, Comunicação, Comprometimento, Pressão no Trabalho e Trabalho em Equipe. Por outro lado, as análises estatísticas não suportaram a variância de dois fatores identificados na literatura: Infraestrutura e Responsabilidade. Constatou-se que o instrumento é válido, robusto e relevante para o avanço da análise da SA e para a mensuração CSA de uma organização; mas que demanda novos testes para sua generalização, com uma escala intervalar de sete pontos que capte toda a variabilidade de percepções dos participantes da pesquisa, e amostras maiores e mais diversificadas que minimizem os possíveis viéses decorrentes das diferenças das culturas organizacionais e subculturas. Contribuições Teóricas: A fundamentação teórica do IMCSA que embasou suas dimensões, indicadores e variáveis, nos oferece uma ferramenta robusta para a análise da maturidade da CSA de uma organização. Para aprimoramento metodológico do modelo sugerimos: a mudança do IMCSA para uma escala de sete pontos e pesquisas futuras com amostras estratificadas que permitam avaliar contextos culturais diversificados. Palavras-chave: Cultura Organizacional. Cultura de Segurança. Cultura de Segurança de Alimentos. Maturidade em Segurança de Alimentos.

Beyond Compliance. Business Ethics and Food Safety Culture

This paper discusses some developments in industry governance of food safety. People in the food industry have come to realize that is not enough to just follow the rules. November 2018, the Global Food Safety Initiative, a transnational organization of the food industry, published a position paper ‘a culture of food safety’. A food safety culture is supposed to contribute to business compliance with food safety regulations. However, we could argue that what really matters is not compliance with the rules, but how people within an organization deal with the rules and with the underlying objective of the rules (safe food). Many rules do not have a stable, determinant meaning independent of the context of their use. This applies more particularly to general obligations and principle based rules. Investigating how business organizations take public interest into account in how they to do their job is often preferable to investigating compliance and noncompliance. The paper concludes with some critical comments on the concept of compliance and on the food safety culture approach.

Food hygiene knowledge and awareness among undergraduate maritime students.

Reducing the crew size of the galley department on merchant vessels causes heavy workload for the remaining food handlers on board. This situation in return, could trigger risky behaviours and create an unsanitary environment which can facilitate the spread of various gastrointestinal disorders on ships. In such cases, ensuring and supervising food hygiene and food safety on board is up to maritime captains and officers. In addition to that, each crew member on board should maintain a general awareness of food hygiene to prevent any outbreaks. However, these personnel's knowledge and awareness to prevent such risky behaviours and cases are questionable. In this context, this study aims to examine food hygiene knowledge as well as awareness among maritime students. A survey has been conducted to discover the risky behaviours seen on merchant vessels regarding food hygiene. Specified training needs to achieve food safety culture on merchant vessels are discussed. The study was conducted by proposing an anonymous questionnaire to undergraduate students of maritime faculties in Turkey. The questionnaire form was adapted from the previous works of Grappasonni et al., Walker et al. and Alpuguz et al. This questionnaire examines the basic attitudes towards food hygiene and risky behaviours among seafarers. Convenience sampling technique was adopted, and 251 Turkish participants have joined the study. Foodborne disease knowledge among maritime students was determined to be low especially for disease recognition. They have failed to identify characteristics and symptoms of food borne diseases. There were also serious misconceptions of which behaviours are considered risky regarding food hygiene. A knowledge gap was observed in cross-contamination, food temperature control, and food storage condition subjects. Some of these, such as high-risk foods and adequate storage of foods should be common knowledge for all personnel on board. It is also revealed that food hygiene awareness of many maritime students was limited to environmental hygiene and food handlers' hygiene. Food hygiene appears to be an underrated problem on board, yet it is one of the major health problems in the maritime industry threatening the seafarers. Promoting food safety culture and food hygiene knowledge in maritime students could be a key factor to tackle this problem. Development of standardised health and disease training for seafarers should be considered.

The Food Safety Culture of a Night Market

The Food Safety Culture of a Night Market

Restaurant employees and food safety compliance: motivation comes from within

ABSTRACTThe purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of restaurant employee internal belief systems on their motivation to comply with food safety guidelines in restaurants. Food safety training programs and those offered by third-party vendors are commonplace in the industry, yet despite the expectations of employees to engage in safe food handling, not all are motivated to do so. To date, research has yet to be conducted on the impact of employees’ individual belief systems and their motivations to comply with safe food-handling practices expected by both their employer and local health agencies. This study posits that individuals either possess an internal values system committed to food safety compliance or they do not; and, that individually oriented beliefs and norms have a significant influence on organizational efforts to implement an effective food safety culture. Practical and academic implications are discussed in detail.

The impact of maturing food safety culture and a pathway to economic gain

Research into the connection between organizational effectiveness and culture has been documented since the early nineteen nineties. A connection between economic performance and organizational culture has been established directly linking strong cultural drivers to economic performance in both the finance and retail sectors. This research proposes a similar association between food safety culture, the measures of maturity and cost of poor quality. Through data collected at five multi-national food companies, this association is explored, and an improved food safety maturity model suggested. The authors also propose a dynamic model of food safety culture, segmenting it into 4 building blocks: I. Organizational effectiveness, II. Organizational culture norms, III. Working group learned and shared assumptions, and behaviours, and IV. Individual intent and behaviours; and discuss the crucial role of actions between building blocks as part of the pathway to realizing economic gain.

Factors related to food safety culture among school food handlers in Tokyo, Japan: a qualitative study

ABSTRACTThe purpose of this research was to qualitatively explore factors influencing the food safety culture in school meal services from the perspective of school food handlers (i.e., cooks, dietitians). Six in-depth, semi-structured focus group interviews were conducted with of school food handlers (n = 32). Thematic analysis was used to extract meaning from the data. Findings demonstrated that the following multi-level factors influenced the food safety culture of school meal services: (1) individual; (2) organization; (3) environment; (4) management; and (5) management style. These factors may be useful for effectively and strategically improving the food safety culture for food handlers in school meal services.

Translation into Portuguese, adaptation, and validity assessment of the food safety climate self‐assessment tool

AbstractThe aims of this study were to translate into Portuguese, adapt, and test the reliability, internal consistency, conceptual equivalence, and validity of the food safety climate self‐assessment tool. Translation and back translation were performed to test the reliability, internal consistency, conceptual equivalence, and validity of the translated instrument. The process of translating and adapting the tool was completed successfully, and the Portuguese version developed in the present study was confirmed to be similar to the original tool.Practical applicationsThe food safety climate self‐assessment tool translated and adapted to promote the evaluation of the food safety climate in the food industry from Portuguese language countries. This tool should be used by industry managers or owners to know the perception and the culture of food safety among the workers.

Method triangulation to assess different aspects of food safety culture in food service operations

The advantages and added value of applying method triangulation to gain a more comprehensive evaluation of the prevailing food safety culture in catering establishments is illustrated by means of a case study. Three methods are applied assessing the food safety culture in food service operations of a Flemish University spread over different locations in the city of Ghent, but centrally managed. Each method sheds light on one of the aspects of ‘food safety culture’ as defined in the food safety culture conceptual model, in which food safety culture is considered as the interplay between a techno-managerial route/aspect and a human route/aspect. Two system and product related methods, being internal audits and verification of monitoring data of Critical Control Points (CCPs) as part of the HACCP system, both assessing the performance of the food safety management system and as such belonging to the techno-managerial route, are compared with a people related method using the food safety climate self-assessment tool, which is belonging to the human route. By triangulation of these three methods different aspects of the food safety culture at the different locations could be investigated, illustrating how single-method derived results could lead to wrong conclusions. Moreover, by combining the assessment methods case by case, locations in which the hazard of optimistic bias and complacency might exist, can be identified. As such, more tailored and location specific strategies for improvement of food safety management and/or food safety culture can be put in place.

Exploring the influence of food safety climate indicators on handwashing practices of restaurant food handlers

Recent models have conceptualized food safety climate as a subcomponent of food safety culture that consists of the shared values and perceptions of employees. The present study sought to understand how food safety climate indicators including commitment, role overload, and contingent rewards affect handwashing frequency of restaurant food handlers (n = 124). Managerial commitment was the only variable significantly correlated with handwashing frequency r(120) = .313, p < .001. A multiple regression model showed managerial commitment was a significant predictor of handwashing frequency, F(1,117) = 12.70, p < .001, R2 = .098. Role overload moderated the relationship between goal level and handwashing frequency, but only when role overload was low, b = .530, (115) t = 2.02, p = .046, suggesting the presence of competing subcultures. Managers should prioritize a food safety culture and structure jobs in such a way that promotes food safety behavior execution.

Food safety culture – the food inspectors’ perspective

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to discuss the challenges for food inspectors when attempting to assess the food safety culture of a business. It is the eighth article in this issue of Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes, discussing the importance of measuring food safety and quality culture.Design/methodology/approachAs part of a larger research project, 15 semi-structured interviews were conducted to gain a deeper understanding of the current challenges faced by food inspectors in assessing food safety and the future prospects of measuring food safety culture in the UK food system.FindingsFood inspectors face increasing challenges in their role of assessing not just the visible level of legal compliance but also potential risk within a food business; while aware of the importance of food safety culture, they are unsure how to formally assess it. The UK Food Standards Agency developed a toolkit to assist inspectors in assessing the food safety culture of a business; however, this has been found to be onerous and difficult to implement in practice.Originality/valueThis paper will be of value to practitioners, researchers and other stakeholders involved in the hospitality industry.

The value of food safety culture to the hospitality industry

PurposeThis paper aims to review existing literature in the discipline of food hospitality with specific emphasis on the interaction between food safety management, food safety management systems (FSMS) and food safety culture. It is the first paper in a theme issue of Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes, discussing the importance of measuring food safety and quality culture.Design/methodology/approachThis paper examines academic literature on FSMS and food safety culture and emerging tools and methods being used to determine their efficacy.FindingsFSMS provide a framework for determining the resources required and the procedures and protocols, monitoring and verification necessary to deliver safe food. However, a performance gap has been identified in the literature between intended and actual food safety practice. The factors, rituals and behaviours that mediate this divide have been termed by many as “food safety culture”. It has been shown that food safety knowledge does not necessarily lead to behaviour that promotes food safety. Thus, the knowledge–experience–attitude–behaviour dynamic of food safety culture is of crucial importance and worthy of further empirical study in the hospitality industry.Originality/valueThe paper will be of value to practitioners, researchers and other stakeholders involved in the hospitality industry.

Integrating culture and management control: is it oil and water or salad dressing?

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to identify the significance of the notion of food safety and quality culture as an important element in the practice of food safety management. It is the concluding article in a special themed edition of the Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes, discussing the importance of measuring food safety and quality culture.Design/methodology/approachThis paper provides a review and discussion of the findings outlined throughout the papers in this special themed journal edition.FindingsFood safety and quality culture are important yet intangible; measurement tools are available and can add value to organisations in assessing and improving their culture.Originality/valueThis paper brings together literature, research, case studies and viewpoints to examine the significance of food safety and quality culture. It will be of value to food safety and quality practitioners, trainers, auditors and other stakeholders involved in the food industry.

Reflections on the theme issue outcomes

PurposeThis paper aims to profile the WHATT theme issue “Can the culture of safety and quality in organizations be measured and changed?” with reference to the experiences of the theme editors and writing team.Design/methodology/approachThis paper uses structured questions to enable the theme editors to reflect on the rationale for the theme issue question, the starting-point, the selection of the writing team and material and the editorial process.FindingsThis paper draws on a specialist team of researchers and practitioners to examine the extent to which the culture of safety and quality in organizations (with particular reference to food management) can be measured and changed. It reflects on research and stakeholder interaction that is helping to shape current and future thinking about food safety culture in hospitality organizations and provides practical ways of reviewing and improving it.Practical implicationsThe theme issue outcomes provide lines of enquiry for others to explore and they reinforce the value of WHATT’s approach to collaborative working and writing.Originality/valueThis theme issue builds on prior work (reported in earlier theme issues) and profiles a well-researched and practical approach to reviewing, measuring and improving the culture of safety and quality in hotel and catering operations.