Food Safety Governance Research Articles

Study on the Construction of Food Safety Governance Mechanism in China

In recent years, China's food safety problem is relatively prominent, seriously affecting people's life and health and social harmony and stability, and has become a focus of widespread concern. The food safety problem needs the whole society to carry on the coordinated management, one of the keys is to establish and improve the food safety governance mechanism. The food safety governance mechanism belongs to the diversified comprehensive system, including the contract mechanism, the supervision and accountability mechanism, the traceability mechanism, the propaganda and education mechanism, the information release and sharing mechanism, which constitute a harmonious and orderly operation of the food safety governance mechanism pedigree, and cooperate with each other to jointly ensure the realization of the food safety goal.

Food safety governance in Saudi Arabia: Challenges in control of imported food.

The operating environment for food safety interventions in nations such as Saudi Arabia, with limited local agricultural productivity, high reliance on foreign food imports and observance of Islamic laws, is remarkably challenging for the national control and regulatory institutions, since compliance to the mandatory food safety regulations and the local religious Halal standards must be ensured. This review offers a comprehensive analysis of the recently restructured food safety governance in Saudi Arabia from the perspective of its food imports control. Specifically, the nature of the food imports, the organization of the food safety governance and the current control practices of imported food, in consideration of food safety and Halal requirements, are analyzed through a triangulation of data and information from secondary sources (academic literature review and gray literature search) and primary sources (direct consultation of field experts). Statistical trade data on imported food were also performed. Results revealed that the process of centralizing all the control and regulatory activities under a single agency, which the government started to strengthen the national food safety governance, has not been completed yet. The resulting overlap of legislative and monitoring tasks by multiple entities augments the challenge of ensuring the safety, quality, and authenticity of imported food and their compliance to Halal standards. The vulnerabilities and challenges still to be addressed by the local food industry and the public sector are discussed, with implications for national and international field practitioners and policymakers of countries facing similar challenges.

Constructing the accountability of food safety as a public problem in China: a document analysis of Chinese scholarship, 2008–2018

Incessant food safety scandals in China have given rise to a loss of public trust in food safety, stimulating a series of studies focussing on food safety governance, accountability, and trust restoration. Against this backdrop, Chinese scholars are keen to reflect on different strategies for ensuring food safety public accountability and credibility, presenting different perspectives on issues like responsibility, trust, risk communication, and transparency. In this paper, we aim to get more in-depth insight into how Chinese scholarly debates co-construct public accountability for food safety as a public issue. We selected 51 articles from 10,790 candidates drawn from four Chinese academic databases for content analysis. Drawing from political theories on public accountability as well as science and technology studies, the analysis shows that arguments for a specific public accountability model (more or less centralised, more or less stakeholder participation) are intertwined with the specific role of scientific expertise (more or less authoritative, more or less democratising). As such, the analysis shows how scholarly debates on public accountability for food safety in China co-construct a public forum for discussing supervision and accountability, risk assessment, and transparency.

Effects of institutional pressures on the governance of food safety in emerging food supply chains: a case of Lebanese food processors

Food safety has become a major development challenge and a key influence on the strategic behavior of food companies. The study seeks to analyze the effect of perceived institutional pressures on the governance of food safety and the effect this may have on food safety performance in emerging food supply chains. The research develops a conceptual framework that links perceived institutional pressures, degree of food manufacturer-supplier relationships, food safety practices, and food safety output. The hypothesized relationships were tested in the Middle Eastern context, where food safety concerns are rising. Accordingly, a survey was carried out to collect data from food quality/safety managers representing 94 food processors across Lebanon. The study finds that perceived institutional pressures have a direct and strong effect on the degree of integration in the agro-food supply chain (i.e., in terms of long-term relationships, strategic information sharing, information technology connection, and logistic integration), and such an integration, in turn, increases the intensity of food safety practices and food safety performance. However, in the absence of strong manufacturer-supplier relationships, perceived institutional pressures do not lead to improved food safety performance. The study suggests that long-term food manufacturer-supplier relationship is necessary if agro-food chain actors are to respond to established regulatory demands, industry practices, and social norms.

Investigation of the governance structure of the Nairobi dairy value chain and its influence on food safety

The dairy value chain of Nairobi is comprised, in its majority, of small-scale independent enterprises that operate within a complex interlinked system. In this complexity, the coordination and power structures of the system may have major influences on the management of dairy food safety. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the governance structure and challenges faced by stakeholders throughout the Nairobi dairy value chain and assess their potential implications on food safety. Qualitative data were collected through focus group discussions and key informant interviews based on a dairy value chain mapping framework previously developed. Thematic analysis enabled identification of governance themes, key challenges and analysis of their implications on food safety. Themes were organized depending on their association with farmers (informal settlement or peri-urban), dairy cooperatives, dairy traders, processing companies, retailers or government officers. The identified governance themes included: i) weak linkage between government and farmers, ii) inadequate compliance with government regulations by traders and retailers, iii) emphasis on business licenses and permits for revenue rather than for food safety, iv) multiple licensing resulting in high business cost and lack of compliance, v) fragmented regulation, vi) unfair competition and vii) sanctions that do not always result in compliance. The key challenges identified included, among others: i) inadequate farmer support, ii) harassment of traders and retailers and iii) high business costs for traders, retailers, dairy cooperatives and large processors. The implication of governance and challenges of food safety were, among others: i) inadequate extension services, ii) insufficient cold chain, iii) delivery of adulterated and low milk quality to bulking centers, iv) inadequate food safety training and v) lack of policies for management of waste milk. The range of issues highlighted are based on stakeholders’ perceptions and reflects the complexity of the relationships between them. Many of the governance themes demonstrate the linkages that are both beneficial or confrontational between the formal and informal sectors, and between industry and regulatory authorities, with possible direct food safety consequences. Findings obtained provide indications to decision-makers of potential governance areas that could help improve efficiency and food safety along the dairy value chain.

Risk Attitude, Contract Arrangements and Enforcement in Food Safety Governance: A China's Agri-Food Supply Chain Scenario.

Frequent food safety problems in recent years have seriously affected China’s public health. The complexity, diversity, and technicality of food safety problems are intertwined, which constantly promotes the Chinese government and the food industry to explore effective food safety governance mechanisms. As the dominant form of vertical coordination in agri-food supply chain, contract farming is conducive to promoting farmers’ safe production behavior, improving food quality and safety, and ensuring public health. However, the low contract performance rate seriously restricts the effect of contract farming on reducing the risk of food safety in China. This paper empirically investigates the role of farmers’ risk attitude and contract arrangements in their enforcement. The data is derived from a household survey and economic field experiment of fruit farmers participating in contract farming in Anhui and Jiangsu provinces of China. We measure farmers’ risk attitude by using an economic field experiment, and examine how risk attitude and contract arrangements affect contract enforcement with a probit model. The results show that contract enforcement is significantly (1% level) influenced by farmers’ risk attitude. Farmers with greater risk aversion and loss aversion and farmers who are more accurate in evaluating probability information are more likely to fulfill the contract. Additionally, most contract arrangements have a significant effect on contract enforcement at the 5% level. Contract arrangements with floor pricing, bonus, and long duration are related to a higher rate of farmers’ contract performance. Furthermore, the factors influencing contract enforcement differ based on the levels of farmer’ risk attitude. The findings of the study may be conducive to formulating relevant agricultural policy to influence farmers’ decision-making and thus improving food safety and ensuring public health.

Drivers for the implementation of market-based food safety management systems: Evidence from Lebanon.

The food safety landscape continues to evolve across time, geography, and supply chains. This research seeks to analyze the determinants of market‐based food safety management systems (FSMSs) implementation in the Middle Eastern context. Primary data were collected from food safety managers representing 94 processors across Lebanon. We found food processors having implemented ISO 22000 (50%), HACCP (40%), and ISO 9001 (25.5%); however, none of the processors implemented industry‐based FSMSs. Although ISO 22000 was mostly implemented by large (85%) and medium (67%) processors, the uptake of ISO 22000 by small processors has picked up (29%). Economic incentives (market orientation) and firm‐specific factors (organizational readiness, product/process characteristics, company size, and ownership structure) are the key drivers for the increased implementation of market‐based FSMSs. Predominantly export‐oriented processors had the odds of implementing ISO 22000 5.5 times more than the domestically oriented processors. Firms with a quality assurance (QA) unit had 15 times higher chance of implementing ISO 22000 than otherwise. Finally, processors engaged in fresh produce had 4.9 times higher chance of implementing ISO 22000 than those engaged in dry goods. The study establishes that the dominance of public‐based FSMSs in the governance of food safety is a strategic choice (economic incentives) more than statutory requirements.

Game analysis of Behaviors among Food Safety Governance subjects

Effective governance is the fundamental guarantee for effective food safety governance. Food safety governance involves many stakeholders and complex interest conflicts. Effective coordination of the interests and behaviors of all parties is the key to improving governance effectiveness. One of the main dilemmas of food safety governance is information asymmetry. On this basis, this paper discusses the interest relationships and behaviors of the government, enterprises, and the public in the process of food safety governance, and constructs a behavioral game analysis between the central government and local governments and between the government, enterprises, and the public. The results show that the food safety governance is the most effective when the objectives and behaviors of governance subjects are consistent and compatible. The higher the cost of central government governance is, the more proactive local governments are in governance, the better the enterprise self-restrain and self-govern, the greater the enthusiasm of the public to participate in governance is, the more effective the food safety governance.

An Evolutionary Game Model for Online Food Safety Governance Under Two Different Circumstances

Online food safety governance has received significant attention in recent years. In this research, a two-stage online food safety governance model, single governance mode (SGM), and co-governance mode (CGM) were constructed to explore governance performance. Results showed that under SGM, although the platforms could regulate enterprises' illegal behavior to a certain extent by increasing the discovery probability and increasing punishment, once the platforms relaxed supervision, enterprises' behavior would tend to choose the strategy of selling unsafe food. Therefore, the effect of platforms single governance was not ideal. Results also showed that the performance of CGM was not necessarily better than SGM. When the co-governance mode met the following two conditions, food enterprises in the online market would continue selling safe food: (1) the loss caused by government supervision to the illegal enterprises was greater than the difference between the cost of the enterprises to sell safe food and unsafe food; (2) the loss caused by the co-governance of the platforms and the government to the illegal enterprises was greater than the difference between the cost of the enterprises to sell safe food and unsafe food, meanwhile, the penalty imposed by the government on the passive platforms was greater than the supervision cost input of active platforms. The research revealed that the sufficient supply of safe food in the online market under CGM might depend significantly on the intensity of government supervision and the punishment of government to enterprises and platforms. Under CGM, compared with platform sectors, government supervision might play a more significant role in promoting food safety in the online market.

The role of agricultural economists in study on problems related to regional food safety

The beginning of the agricultural and economic science foundaton in historical aspect is studied in the article. The stages of its formation and development in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutiya) are reviewed. The paper presents some well-known scientists-agricultural economists who have made a significant contribution to the science and education of the Republic. A brief overview of their researches is shown. The article focuses on the need for enhanced capacity-building for the activity of regional economic research. Particularly, it is necessary to significantly enhance the intellectual potential of scientists in terms of selecting and evaluating priority areas of social and economic researches on the AIC development, including food safety governance. The study highlights that agricultural science plays an important role in solving the main tasks of providing food safety. The authors concluded that it is necessary to sustain regional science aimed at creating a local food base in the Far North.

An intercontinental analysis of food safety culture in view of food safety governance and national values

Taking food safety culture into account is a promising way to improve food safety performance in the food industry. Food safety culture (FS-culture) research is expanding from an organisational perspective to include characteristics of the internal and external company environment. In this study, the prevailing food safety culture in 17 food companies from four countries on three continents (Africa, Asia and Europe) was assessed in view of food safety governance and national values. The internal environment characteristics, i.e. food safety vision, food safety program and food production system vulnerability, were also assessed. Statistical analysis revealed little variation in FS-culture scores between the companies within the same country. Overall the FS-culture for Greek and Zambian companies was scored proactive, while for Chinese and Tanzanian companies an active score was achieved. Both the internal and external company environment seemed to influence the prevailing FS-culture. Cluster analysis showed that Tanzanian and Zambian companies exhibited similarities in the implementation of food safety programs, and in their national values and food safety governance as compared to Greece and China. Food safety governance was reflected in the food safety programs and supportiveness of the organisation to food safety and hygiene. All cultural dimensions were correlated with risk perceptions, with masculinity and long-term orientation also significantly correlated with the enabling conditions and attitude. Understanding how national values and food safety governance approaches differently influence food safety culture is expected to enable formulation of best approaches tailored for companies operating in countries with different company environments, to improve food safety performance.

Food safety governance in China: From supervision to coregulation.

The food control and regulatory system in China is beset by several challenges. While firms have to reduce their costs in pursuit of benefits, customers are increasingly focusing on safety and quality of food products. Although the Chinese government has developed more stringent regulatory measures, food safety incidents still occur, including abuse of food additives, adulterated products as well as contamination by pathogenic microorganisms, pesticides, veterinary drug residues, and heavy metals, and use of substandard materials. A national food safety strategy has been proposed to assure food safety from “farm to table.” This paper begins with the analysis of current food regulatory systems and then discusses cogovernance of food safety management in China. We explore the practice in the city of Shenzhen where government intervention has strengthened food control, thereby creating an opportunity to form a coregulatory system. The review highlights that the current food safety regulatory system of multi‐agency structure can inevitably lead to insufficient incentives for business entities. Due to asymmetric information, lack of regulatory resources, and consumer advocacy, coregulation has been developed and is increasingly being promoted as an important instrument of food regulation.

How to improve governance of a complex social-ecological problem? Dioxins in Baltic salmon and herring

ABSTRACTThis article focuses on the dioxin problem of Baltic herring and salmon fisheries and its governance that is based on natural scientific knowledge. The dioxin problem weakens the perceived quality of Baltic salmon and herring as food and affects the way the catches can be used. This influences negatively the fishing livelihood, the coastal culture, and the availability of the fish for consumers. We explored how the governance of the dioxin problem could be improved, to better address its socio-economic and cultural implications. We identified four main actions: (1) adopt environmental, economic and social sustainability, and food security and safety as shared principles between the environmental, food safety/public health, and fisheries policies, (2) establish collaboration between the environmental, public health, and fisheries sectors at the regional level, (3) enhance interaction around the dioxin problem within the fisheries sector, and (4) support the participation of the Baltic fisheries stakeholders in the EU-level food safety governance. Viewing dioxins in fish not only as a natural scientific problem but as a multidimensional one would enable a wider toolbox of governing instruments to be developed to better address the different dimensions. This would support steps towards collaborative governance and a food system approach.

Prevailing food safety culture in companies operating in a transition economy - Does product riskiness matter?

Food safety outbreaks are recurrent events, which regularly cost human lives. Food safety goes beyond food safety management systems; an organisation's prevailing food safety culture, and its internal and external environment must also be considered. This study introduces a research framework to analyse crucial food safety culture elements, and characteristics of the internal (i.e. food safety program, product riskiness, and vulnerability of food production system) and the external company environment (i.e. national values and food safety governance characteristics). We hypothesised that companies producing high-risk products are more likely to demonstrate a proactive food safety culture. We used the framework to assess nine companies producing low, medium, and high-risk products in Zimbabwe, as a case of a transition economy. Results showed no direct relationship between product riskiness and food safety culture, which negated our hypothesis. Other variables explored in this study could have moderated the relationship. We found that the vulnerability (i.e. susceptibility to microbial contamination) of the food production system could be associated with an organisation's food safety culture. Moreover, the external environment could have shaped the prevailing food safety culture. In particular, food safety governance and national values seem to be reflected in the way food safety was prioritised, food safety programs were designed and implemented, the prevailing food safety culture, and the observed food safety behaviour. Further research could investigate the role of the external environment in an organisation's food safety culture by evaluating companies in countries operating with different food safety governance approaches and national values.

Food safety and nutrition for low-income urbanites: exploring a social justice dilemma in consumption policy.

Equitable access to healthy food is a critical challenge in urban Asia. Food safety governance promotes modern supermarkets over more traditional markets, but supermarkets are associated with unequal access to food. This study investigates how retail policies driven by food safety impact the diets of the urban poor in Hanoi, Vietnam. We do this by linking food retail infrastructures with the food shopping practices and measured dietary intake of 400 women. Our results reveal sub-optimal dietary diversity and reliance on foods sourced through traditional markets, which do not provide formal food safety guarantees. Modern channels supply formal food safety guarantees, but are mainly frequented for purchasing ultra-processed foods. The paper uncovers a conflicting duality governing food security and suggests that the public responsibility for ensuring access of the poor to nutritious and safe foods requires a more diverse retail policy approach.

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.

Research on the "Multi-network Synergy" Governance Path of Food Safety in China

Food safety is an important issue related to people's livelihood. In recent years, with the government's high attention, the food safety situation has improved slightly, but there are still many problems, and food safety incidents occur frequently. Through investigation and analysis, it is found that the current regulatory system presents multi-head mixed management in the main design, “one-way and one-dimensional” in the structure design, and subsection supervision in the operation mechanism. These drawbacks seriously affect the effectiveness of supervision. It is necessary to reconstruct China's food safety governance system, giving full play to the functions of government leaders, corporate responsibility and public beneficiaries; making full use of trust mechanism and collaboration mechanism to construct a multi-dimensional network system; and in the design of operational mechanism, promoting multi-dimensional collaboration by clarifying responsibilities, improving technology and information disclosure.

Beyond Food Security: Challenges in Food Safety Policies and Governance along a Heterogeneous Agri-Food Chain and Its Effects on Health Measures and Sustainable Development in Mexico

This work describes the relevance of food policies and governance to reach food safety issues along a heterogeneous food chain, in the context of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) food security definition. Using personal interviews with agents in the food chain, and secondary data from 2014–2018, this exploratory research demonstrated that: (a) Mexican food policies regarding food safety are oriented to the exports markets and/or high income producers-consumers; (b) this has split the agri-food chain in two: one serving international and/or high income consumers, and another serving domestic markets; (c) the agri-food chain that serves domestic markets experiences regulatory budget shortfalls, lacks coordination in food regulations across its agents, and brings about alternate informal markets that put peoples’ health and financial stability at risk, especially those lower-income consumers. Only 0.7% of producers, 12.5% of supermarkets and 42.8% of restaurants have some type of food safety certifications. This is worsened by the way public resources have been distributed, focused, prioritized, and planned. If the differences between big, medium and small producers continue to increase, it will increase regional and individual inequality, leading to two different countries: one developed and one developing, challenging its sustainable development.

The role of media reporting in food safety governance in China: A dairy case study

Using dairy products as the case study of interest, the aim of the research is to explore the role of the media in food safety governance in China. Thematic content analysis is used to evaluate government and media reports (n = 233) on dairy related food safety incidents in China between 2004 and 2017 with differences identified between government and media reporting. The data is extracted from an online database (Zhichuchuangwai). The results show that the government performs better on exposing incidents earlier within the 14-year period but the news media plays a complementary role in food safety governance exposing a wider coverage of incidents. This study extends the current literature on the role of the news media in food safety governance in China by focusing on a single food sector (dairy), but on a national scale.

Structure Changes in Food System and China's Concerns with Food Safety Policy

After nearly four decades of remarkable economic growth, the food system changes dramatically in China. As incomes are increasing, consumers surpass the subsistence‐level and switch to strong preferences for palatable, safety, and healthy foodstuffs, and the dietary patterns are undergoing a transformation from “eating for satiation” to “eating for health”. Therefore, consumers pay more attention to food safety. However, the present food supply system can not keep the pace up with such transformation of demand for food safety due to the existence of distorted market mechanism in food market. As the existence of high frequency of food safety scandals, food safety has become an issue of enormous public concern in China. This paper takes an overview of the transformations of food system, drivers of food safety problems, and the related food safety policies and management in China. To solve the food safety issues, it is necessary to take countermeasures to reform the food production, processing, circulation, and sale and consumption. Some condensed recommendations are as follows: (1) to set up the food safety risk management and communication with “consumer priority” principle; (2) to improve food quality monitor technologies and food safety risk assessment; (3) to reform food safety governance system and make it incentive compatible; and (4) to complement the national credibility system and settle the distorted food markets in China.