Private Food Safety Research Articles

Consumer’s Awareness and Willingness to Pay for Aflatoxin-Free Sunflower Oil from Four Selected Regions in Tanzania

This study aimed to answer two objectives: assessing consumer awareness of aflatoxin contamination in food and their willingness to pay (WTP) for aflatoxin-free sunflower oil, and investigating the factors influencing consumers’ WTP a premium price for aflatoxin-free sunflower oil. A total of 480 consumers were randomly selected from four towns, and the towns were selected based on the level of aflatoxin contamination incidences: Dodoma (low awareness) and Iringa (high awareness) (towns with high contamination), and Dar es Salaam (low awareness) and Morogoro (high awareness) (towns with low incidence). To elicit consumers’ willingness to pay for aflatoxin-free food, we used the multiple price list technique (MPL) to assess WTP for sunflower oil which is aflatoxin-free and sunflower oil which has not been tested to be aflatoxin-free. Furthermore, an interval regression model was used to estimate WTP and factors influencing WTP a premium price for aflatoxin-free sunflower oil. We found that consumers were willing to pay a premium price for aflatoxin-free sunflower oil. Consumers had a WTP for a premium of up to 1043 TZS for 1 L of aflatoxin-free sunflower oil. However, the premium varies in the different regions. Consumers from towns with a high incidence of aflatoxin contamination have a WTP of up to 357 TZS, while those from towns with a low incidence of aflatoxin contamination but high awareness have a WTP of up to 1043 TZS. Furthermore, the study finds that education, age, gender, and consumer awareness of aflatoxin contamination have a significant influence on the WTP for sunflower oil free of aflatoxin contamination. This study sheds light to stakeholders involved in the production, marketing, and monitoring of food safety and standards. For the public sector, to maximize consumer welfare, policies to ensure the delivery of safe and healthy food are important, while for the private sector, there is an opportunity to tap into the gap for supplying food with private food safety standards.

The market for private food safety certifications: Conceptual framework, review, and future research directions

AbstractSince the inception of private food safety standards in the late 1990s, producers, processors, retailers, and governments have been increasingly relying on them to provide assurances to food safety. This article first develops a conceptual framework for the market of private food safety standards through the lens of agri‐food supply chain logistics, outlining how the key players in the market interact and classifying these interactions into 15 categories. Second, we classify and review studies based on the interactions identified. Our review supports the identification of research gaps in this relatively new, though already important, area of research in contemporary agribusiness.

Valorized Food Processing By-Products in the EU: Finding the Balance between Safety, Nutrition, and Sustainability

Food businesses in the European Union are preparing for a carbon-neutral future by gradually transitioning to a circular way of operating. Building upon results from the EU REFRESH project, we consider the most valuable food processing by-streams in Europe and discuss potential food safety risks that must be considered while valorizing them for human consumption. These risks are weighed against the nutritional benefits offered by these products and their potential applications in food supply chains. Broadly, we examine whether it is possible for spent grains, cheese whey, fruit and vegetable scraps, meat processing waste, and oilseed cakes and meals to be safe, sustainable, and nutritionally valuable at the same time. The discussion highlights that valorizing by-products obtained from food processing operations is feasible on a large scale only if consumers deem it to be a safe and acceptable practice. Extracting valuable compounds from by-products and using them in the preparation of functional foods could be a way to gain consumer acceptance. Furthermore, we find that current EU food safety legislation does not sufficiently accommodate food processing by-products. A way to bridge this regulatory gap could be through the adoption of private food safety standards that have shown proclivity for sustainability-related issues in food supply chains. Finally, by proposing a decision tree, we show that it is indeed feasible for some food processing by-products to be valorized while ensuring sustainability, food safety, and nutritional relevance.

European private food safety standards in global agri-food supply chains: a systematic review

Private food safety standards have become an important governance mechanism in contemporary food supply chains. While much has been written about private standards from the perspectives of different academic fields, there has never been a dedicated literature review to examine their interaction with global food supply chains. In this systematic review, 45 peer reviewed articles on private food standards, selected through extensive searches in four academic databases are critically appraised. Our analysis reveals that the most studied European private food safety standards are owned by retail conglomerates and therefore place the retail sector in a position of influence in the supply chain. These standards influence supply chain structures, market access, and the efficiency of food safety management systems. They also challenge the traditional relationship shared by actors in the supply chain with public authorities and the World Trade Organization. In the recent years, their scope has expanded to include topical issues such as environmental sustainability, worker safety, and animal welfare. Overall, the review suggests that European private food safety standards alter the operations of modern agri-food supply chains to accommodate consumer wishes while allowing the retail sector to exert its influence without taking on additional legal and economic liability.

Accountability and integrity in private food safety regulation: Evidence from the Australian food sector

AbstractWith the proliferation of private regulation of food safety, governments have shown interests in engaging private schemes as co‐regulators. This raises the issue of accountability in private schemes; that is holding the bodies auditing the standards accountable. The ability to do so affects the integrity of private regulatory schemes. Holding auditors accountable can be conceived of as a principal–agent problem. This article analyses the two most widely used global private food safety standard schemes in the Australian food sector. The analysis shows that the existence of well‐developed accountability mechanisms and multiple principals has resulted in a multi‐layered and comprehensive system of accountability. Hence, holding auditors accountable to their principals does not appear to be a concern for governments considering to engage in co‐regulatory arrangements with private schemes. However, concerns about integrity have been raised. The prescriptive nature of the standards and the multitude of standard schemes with their own accountability arrangements has brought about a situation in which the individual auditors have to devote disproportionately much time to respond to the accountability mechanisms.

Private food safety standards in the global food supply chain: a scoping review protocol.

The objective of this review is to examine and map the reported forms, process functions, and objectives associated with private food safety standards to draw conclusions for public health nutrition. One pressing public health nutrition issue is the need for a healthier food supply to reduce diet-related risk factors for non-communicable diseases. Many organizations are involved in private food safety and/or nutrition standards that govern their food supply. With few published data on private nutrition standards, understanding the motivations behind enacting private food safety standards as a means of gaining authority may elucidate strategic opportunities of interest for the public health nutrition audience. This could positively affect the use of private standards and nutritional quality of packaged foods. Articles to be considered must focus on private food safety standards, which principally relate to the supply chain of packaged food for retail sale, in any country. In this group, the standard is largely invisible to consumers, and the dominant actors are private firms. Concepts of interest are the evolution, key drivers, regulatory form, function, objective and incentive for involvement in standard setting, adoption, implementation, conformity and enforcement of private food safety standards. An extensive search of multiple databases and official websites to source gray literature will be undertaken to identify articles of any design, reports and conference proceedings in English from 2008 to present. Selection, screening and data synthesis will follow JBI methodology. Data extraction will be undertaken using an extraction tool developed for this scoping review.

Evolving Food Safety Pressures in California's Central Coast Region

California’s Central Coast rose to national food safety prominence following a deadly 2006 outbreak of Escherichia coli O157:H7 that was traced to spinach grown in this intensive agricultural region. Since then, private food safety protocols and subsequent public regulations targeting farm-level practices have developed extensively, aiming to avert future foodborne illness crises. However, amidst sweeping reforms in prescribed best practices for food safety, growers were pressured to take precautionary approaches to control pathogenic contamination—suppressing wildlife near fields, removing habitat, restricting biological soil amendments (e.g., compost, manure), and most recently, chemically treating irrigation water—that may generate negative unintended consequences for environmental and social sustainability. We synthesize socio-ecological data from three qualitative, interview-based studies to examine grower perceptions and experiences of food safety reforms in California’s Central Coast region and explore the effects of food safety regulations on environmental and socio-economic sustainability. We identify three disjunctures between food safety requirements and farming realities in practice: 1) Growers perceive that some food safety practices legitimately mitigate risk, while others fail to reduce or even accentuate risk; 2) Food safety requirements can create contradictions in the co-management of food safety and environmental sustainability; and 3) Food safety requirements may foster impediments to regional food systems socioeconomic sustainability. We argue that these disjunctures warrant changes in food safety policy, implementation, and/or food safety education. We provide concrete suggestions for shifting the focus of food safety reform away from the narrow surveillance of individual grower compliance and toward an integrated perspective on regional risk, vulnerability, and resilience.

Značaj i uloga privatnih standarda bezbednosti hrane

Private food quality and safety management standards are, as a rule, voluntary standards. However, as it is necessary to verify the competence of certification bodies (those controlling producers and participants in the food supply chain) by the accreditation bodies and the standard owners, this is not a case for self-regulation. A modern regulatory state, which is not an exclusive market regulator, recognizes the importance and role of private standards. In the past two decades, a specific public-private partnership has emerged between the public authorities, the owners of standards and mediators in the certification process. The purpose of this paper is to portray the role of international private food safety standards in the field of risk protection, as well as to draw attention to the basic requirements for effective implementation of those standards.

The Integration of Private Certification in Governmental Food Controls

The paper reports the results of the global web based survey of national governmental authorities responsible for food safety controls. This survey was carried out to get an overview of the collaboration of national governmental agencies with private food safety assurance schemes. The report shows a diverse picture. According to the respondents, food authorities in 13 countries take private food safety assurance schemes into account in their inspection policy, 5 countries consider to do so in the future, 27 do not. The most important reasons to (consider to) take private assurance schemes into account are that it contributes to compliance with regulations, that it implies efficient and effective use of public budget, and that unnecessary duplication of controls is avoided. Several respondents argue that public authorities do not have the capacity to perform frequent controls of all businesses that produce and trade food. Additional private controls can fill this gap. Public controls will then be able to focus the limited resources on areas with higher risk. It is stressed that private controls do not make governmental oversight redundant.Although almost all respondents see advantages, they also see disadvantages or risks. Many respondents fear that integration of private systems may put consumer confidence in governmental safeguarding of food safety at risk. Respondents feel that it is difficult to explain to consumers and even to their government, why cooperation with private systems is beneficial. Countries that cooperate with private control systems differ in the type of organization they chose as primary collaboration partners. A (national) food authority can collaborate with food safety scheme owners, with certification bodies and auditors, and with food businesses. There are three forms of cooperation. 1. Basic: it is taken into account that food businesses participate in private assurance schemes. Inspectors take into account all kinds of data including the results of private audits. This may result in a reduced inspection frequency or scope. This form of cooperation does not necessarily imply a collaborative relationship with private scheme owners or certification bodies. Examples include Finland and Denmark. 2. The competent authority assesses certification bodies or auditors to perform specific audits. Examples include Belgium and New Zealand. Food business operators can choose between a recognized private auditor and a public auditor. The auditor validates the food safety management system or verifies compliance with the (governmental) rules. 3. The third option is to collaborate on the level of the food certification scheme. The public authority recognizes private assurance schemes after assessing its scope and reliability. Examples of this approach include Canada, Netherlands, UK, France, and Egypt. In the questionnaire respondents were asked whether they agree or disagree with 13 items intended to measure the opinion of the respondent on private assurance schemes. Most respondents showed a neutral or positive attitude towards private assurance schemes. One third of the respondents had a positive opinion. Surprisingly, none of the respondents showed a negative attitude. Most respondents agreed that accredited third part certification against a food safety standard contributes to an improved level of food safety. Respondents from organizations that do take private assurance schemes into account have a slightly more positive attitude towards private assurance schemes. However, the difference is only small. Asked about the ideal situation regarding the involvement of private assurance schemes in public food safety control, many respondents stress that private assurance should be complimentary to official controls, that responsibilities of the parties should be clear, that a legal base is needed, that private schemes should align with legislation, and a certificate should include conformity to food safety legislation (or all food legislation). It is also mentioned that participation in a private assurance scheme should not be mandatory, and that sharing information is important. Finally, the paper discusses the consequences of incorporating private controls in governmental monitoring and enforcement policy. A summary of the key findings can be found at the beginning of the report.

Serving many masters: Public accountability in private policy implementation

In recent decades, the introduction of market principles has transformed public service delivery into a hybrid. However, little is known about how these changes are reflected in the attitudes of private implementing agents: The hybridization literature neglects individuals, and street‐level bureaucracy research has disregarded hybridization. This article extends Hupe and Hill's () accountability regimes framework to introduce the market as an additional accountability regime alongside state, profession, and society. Using a configurational approach, the article explores how public and private food safety inspectors in Switzerland perceive the multiple norms for behavior stemming from their environment. Results suggest that the plural accountabilities of for‐profit street‐level bureaucrats can increase the dilemmas involved in their work. Under certain circumstances, for‐profit street‐level bureaucrats have particular difficulties reconciling rule pressure with market incentives and client demands. The extended accountability regimes framework fruitfully captures such dilemmas and helps identify suitable governance responses.

INTERNATIONAL DIFFUSION OF FOOD SAFETY STANDARDS: THE ROLE OF DOMESTIC CERTIFIERS AND INTERNATIONAL TRADE

AbstractWe examined the cross-national adoption of six major private food safety standards, focusing on the role of certifiers and international trade. Results show that the number of certification bodies existing in the domestic country, food exports, and the proportion of food exports to North America had positive effects on a country's adoption of food safety standards. Distance leads to product differentiation for the standards and therefore disadvantages developing countries in Africa and Asia for adopting the standards, which are all based in the United States or Europe. Providing these countries with better access to certifiers can alleviate this geographic disadvantage.

Private Food Safety Standards, Obligations of Governments, and Unresolved Questions in Contemporary WTO Law

The rapid proliferation of private standard schemes has attracted the attention of numerous experts and policy-makers, and proved to be a sensitive issue for developing and developed countries. Though these standards are not legally binding, they occasionally constitute 'industry norms' and significantly constrain retailers and producers, thus influencing trade flows. Such impacts on international trade and the multiplication of schemes led some countries and economic operators (particularly of developing countries and small-medium-sized enterprises) to raise certain concerns. Since 2005, WTO bodies have discussed these and other issues which have proved to be controversial. This initial paper aims to address several legal questions regarding private standards, particularly those relating to the scope of WTO member states' obligations under the SPS Agreement. International economic legal doctrine has not yet developed a coherent doctrine regarding the duties of states regarding private economic operators and the extent to which relevant rules deriving from the ILC Articles on State Responsibility should be applied. Consequently, this paper briefly reviews the SPS Agreement's provisions (particularly Articles 1 and 13), some GATT/WTO jurisprudence regarding member states' duties relating to acts undertaken by private actors, (prominently Japan -- Film), and the relevant provisions of the ILC Articles on Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful Acts (prominently Articles 4, 5, 8, 11). An analysis of Article 13 of the SPS Agreement indicates that while it does not impose direct obligations on private standard-setting entities, the ordinary meaning of the text suggests that the latter bodies are covered by this provision. Accordingly, WTO members are bound to employ reasonable measures available to them in order to ensure that private-standard setting bodies operating in their territories comply with the relevant provisions of the SPS Agreement. As elaborated below, this interpretation of Article 13 is also consistent with other provisions of the SPS Agreement, the general aims of the WTO as well as with the need to cope with recent trends in the international economic system. Specific obligations imposed on WTO members in this context may be informed by the 'due diligence' principle in international customary law. In light of the elusive nature of this latter principle, the significant question is what kind of measures are to be undertaken by governments in order to satisfy this requirement? WTO members may implement this moderate obligation through a broad range of measures, and in light of the early stage of this research-work, the paper offers only several examples.

Consumers’ willingness-to-pay for food safety labels in an emerging market: The case of fresh produce in Thailand

Food safety systems in emerging markets are currently facing a transformation period, becoming more stringent because of an increasing demand for safer food. Consequently, policy makers need to find strategies to increase food safety while giving the industry time to improve their performance. In Thailand, policy makers have adopted the strategy of upgrading food safety standards gradually. Government and private food safety brands and labels were introduced onto the market but little is known whether Thai consumers have preferences for them or not. This study is aimed at evaluating Thai consumers’ preferences for food safety labels and brands on fresh produce, using a surveyed based on discrete-choice experiments. A sample of 350 Thai consumers was surveyed in Bangkok and Nonthaburi in 2013. Quota sampling according to the shopping outlets and convenience sampling methods were adopted. Two hundred respondents were recruited at fresh-food markets and 150 respondents were recruited at supermarkets. We found that consumers are willing-to-pay more for both government led food safety label and private brands, but that there is high heterogeneity in their preferences. The high degree of social desirability for food safety labels confirms that food safety labelling policy should be supported. However, the provision of information and credibility are vital in order to mitigate the risk of consumer deception by self-claimed labels.

Food Safety Meta-Controls in the Netherlands

Both public and private actors are involved in the monitoring and enforcement of compliance with public food safety norms. Public authorities in countries such as the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Canada have recently started to develop forms of coordination and collaboration with private food safety control systems. Such policies bring with them the risk of regulatory capture, loss of transparency and fuzzy accountability relationships. Here we analyse how the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (de Nederlandse Voedsel- en Warenautoriteit – NVWA) assesses and monitors the functioning of private food safety control systems (meta-control) so it can use these private systems in its own enforcement activities. We do so by discussing two national private systems that have been formally accepted by the NVWA: Bureau de Wit and RiskPlaza. The paper examines the safeguards that the public enforcement agency deploys while coordinating its own activities with private food safety controls, the advantages and risks involved in this strategy, and the extent to which this policy can be improved. The study is based on the analysis of policy documents, public and private regulation and open-ended interviews with representatives of the public and private sector in the Netherlands.

Challenges of Developing Countries in Complying Quality and Enhancing Standards in Food Industries

Food safety has been fervently discussed throughout the world. Priority for food safety addresses issues in enhancing food safety systems in terms of exporting countries, contribution to consumers’ health and protection and advancement on food regulations and standards. Not all food industrial companies are able to follow demands highlighted by international bodies. Many developing countries lack the resources to participate in international trade because of the difficulties in complying with the requirements of the food safety standards. The underlying reasons for this are outdated laws, lack of knowledge in terms of limited coordination between organizations handling food safety issues, under-funding of national research institutes and lack of awareness for standards and quality. In moving towards the development of standards, consumer participation to demonstrate their concern over the quality and safety of food is correspondingly on the rise. In every aspect of food production, the company is required at each step in the food production chain to ensure food safety standards are not compromised and to show compliance with regulatory and customers’ requirement. In an attempt to address the issue of compliance with international standards, this paper will set to discuss international food chain perspective including food quality assurance in production processes, hazard characteristics in the production and distribution of food and generic food quality and safety standards. The aim of this paper is to identify public and private food safety and quality standard internationally and implementation of food quality standards in three different regions. At the end of this paper, the researchers seek to highlight some significant findings on quality assurance in the food industry and its benefits to consumers globally.

Food Safety Meta-Controls in the Netherlands

Public food safety authorities in Europe and elsewhere have recently developed forms of coordination and collaboration with private compliance systems in the monitoring and enforcement of public food safety laws. Such policies bring with them the risk of regulatory capture, loss of transparency and fuzzy accountability relationships. In this paper we analyse how the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) assesses and monitors the functioning of private food safety control systems so it can use these private systems in its own enforcement activities. We do so by discussing two national private systems that have been formally accepted by the NVWA and are as such subject to its meta-control. The article examines the safeguards that the public enforcement agency uses while coordinating its own activities with private food safety controls, the advantages and risks involved in this strategy, and the extent to which this policy can be improved. From this we draw lessons for public agencies elsewhere willing to engage with private compliance mechanisms. The study is based on the analysis of policy documents, public and private regulation and open-ended interviews with representatives of the public and private sector in the Netherlands.

Food Safety and Developing Markets: Research Findings and Research Gaps

To better inform donor support for public food safety interventions, this paper reviews the literature on the impact of more stringent food safety standards on developing-country markets. This literature has primarily focused on the market access and economic implications of higher standards in export markets rather than on the extensive debate around market failure and public health benefits that dominates the literature in developed countries. We find that the market access benefits from compliance with public and private food safety standards are clear, as is the market exclusion that results from noncompliance. These benefits are now well documented, with more recent evidence pointing to added benefits of poverty reduction and spillovers for health and productivity. Rigorous evidence is also found concerning the positive role of technical assistance and public or donor support. Most of the literature, however, has focused on the relatively small market for EU horticultural products, which will provide opportunities for only a fraction of developing-country producers. This narrow focus causes important gaps in the literature informing meaningful public roles in addressing food safety in developing countries. Future research should examine and rigorously evaluate alternative models for how best to support improved food safety management outside of the export channels that have been the focus of the literature thus far. Further, evaluating the impact of public-private approaches on reduction in enforcement costs and improving compliance through supporting industry-led efforts would better inform donor support for food safety reforms, as would research among developing-country consumers with respect to food safety reforms and public health.

Standards for Development: Food Safety and Sustainability in Wal‐Mart's Honduran Produce Supply Chains

AbstractPublic‐private partnerships between supermarket retailers and development agencies help small‐scale producers reach growing domestic markets in developing countries. Drawing on qualitative data that focuses on relationships between producers, development agencies, and Wal‐Mart‐owned supermarkets in Honduras, the research presented here demonstrates how, by introducing food safety standards to development agencies' outreach efforts, but without necessarily certifying producers or offering a price premium, Wal‐Mart uses these standards to simultaneously differentiate production practices by promoting quality, while maintaining a standardized market. As a result, the responsibility and costs for incentivizing growers to change their practices is shifted to nongovernmental organizations. Therefore, although an extensive body of literature describes standards and third‐party certification systems as the means for corporations to control production practices, this research indicates that public‐private partnerships are a new vehicle by which corporations can influence agricultural production practices. In addition, this article argues that the inclusion of food safety standards in development projects leads to the conflation of food safety and sustainability, without adequately interrogating which agroecological processes food safety standards include and exclude. Therefore, retailers' private food safety standards dominate how sustainability is perceived and practiced in the development context.

Symbiotic Food Law

This paper reflects on the role of responsibility placed on food business operators by Regulation (EC) 178/2002 in the emergence and shaping of private food safety regulation. In particular imposed self-regulation in food hygiene is explored along with the regulation of businesses upstream from the regulator through private standards. It is shown that public and private food safety law in concerted action provide a hybrid legal framework for food producing businesses.

Public-Private Regime Interactions in Global Food Safety Governance

In response to an apparent decline in global food safety, numerous public and private regulatory initiatives have emerged to restore public confidence. This trend has been particularly marked by the growing influence of private regulators such as multinational food companies, supermarket chains and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), who employ private standards, certification protocols, third-party auditing, and transnational contracting practices. This paper explores how the structure and processes of private food safety governance interact with traditional public governance regimes, focusing on Global Good Agricultural Practices (GlobalGAP) as a primary example of the former. Due to the inefficiency and ineffectiveness of public regulation in the face of global problems, private governance in food safety has gradually replaced states’ command-and-control regulation with more flexible, market-oriented mechanisms. The paper concludes by emphasizing the importance of constructive regime interaction instead of institutional boundary building to global food safety governance. Public and private ordering must each play a role as integral parts of a larger, dynamic and evolving governance complex.