Implementation of food safety management systems in the UK

MDPI, 2023

Global food safety and security are key principles to be followed in the context of the implementation of food safety management systems. The objective of this paper is to assess thencontemporary developments of Food Safety Management System standards (FSMS) worldwide and to identify the primary constraints and advantages associated with their implementation by small and medium-sized enterprises across different regions. The effectiveness of these systems has also been evaluated. 116 case studies have been employed across developing and developed regions worldwide across 27 primary food sectors. After the implementation of FSMS, there was a significant increase in the percentage of companies that have implemented the international FSMS, both in developed (16.7% to 63.9%) and developing countries (26.6% to 48.1%). Certification has also increased from 34.2% to 59.6% in the total sample, namely from 33.3% to 61.1% in developed countries and from 34.6% to 59.0% in developing countries. There was a significant increase in medium vs.small company size (57.1% to 62.3%, p = 0.046), only in developing countries. Food safety culture and manager leadership implementation were increased to over 80% after FSMS implementation in both developed and developing countries (p < 0.001). Training, resources, and technology adequacy were also increased in all companies (p < 0.001).

Law <html_ent glyph="@amp;" ascii="&amp;"/> Policy, 2006

International Journal of Management and Applied Research, 2020

This paper forms part of an ongoing project studying various approaches to the management of hazards and risk in the food industry with implications for other areas of risk management where cooperation and collaboration between organisations are of a potential benefit. In this paper we give particular focus to the Food Standard Agency’s proposed Regulating Our Future that requires closer cooperation and collaboration between the public enforcement authorities and the industry organisations that police food hygiene and food safety management. The forming of a Primary Authority between Cornwall Council and Safe and Local Supplier Approval (SALSA) emerged as a potential means of contributing to this by improving trust between all parties involved, sharing of information, assessing risk, reducing inspection times and frequency of inspections from Primary Authority. Attention is given to the current relationship between the various organisations involved from the perspectives and viewpoi...

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2000

The Institute for Sociology of Law is part of the Law Faculty of the Radboud University Nijmegen. It has a long tradition of empirical research in the area of law and society. Special focuses are the legal professions, food safety regulation, migration law and anti-discrimination law. The researchers at the Institute have different disciplinary backgrounds (including law, sociology, anthropology, development studies, Middle Eastern studies) and much of their research is interdisciplinary. The Nijmegen Sociology of Law Working Paper Series provides a vehicle for staff members, PhD students and fellows to rapidly disseminate their research results.

Food Science and Nutrition, 2020

All around the world, food safety has become a public health concern and a major development challenge . High profile food scares related to microbiological (e.g., Salmonella, E. coli), contaminant (e.g., dioxins), and animal disease (e.g., BSE) have raised a wide range of food safety legislative demands . This parallels the increased complexity and globalization of food supply chains (Kotsanopoulos & Arvanitoyannis, 2017). Food companies are responding to real and perceived food safety hazards through the implementation of various food safety management systems (FSMSs) (Henson & Humphrey, 2010). Accordingly, a plethora of market-based (nonregulatory) schemes has emerged in the last two decades. They include public-based FSMSs, such as International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 9001, Hazard Analysis Critical Control

Food Policy, 2010

The recent food scares have been the motivation for voluntary programmes on food safety being promoted by public authorities and voluntarily implemented by food operators. In this article, we take into account the nature of the contamination risk to investigate the complementarities between private and public mechanisms for those voluntary systems to be implemented by a firm. We show two main results. First, when the firm directly markets its products to consumers a strong mandatory threat is a sufficient condition to implement voluntary systems whatever the risk of contamination. In contrast, when the mandatory threat is weak voluntary systems should be more implemented in industries where the risk of food contamination is low (pesticide residue) than in industries where the risk of contamination is high (pathogenic contamination). Second, when the risk of food contamination is low and the firm is embedded in a supply chain where the retailer can impose its own safety system, a well-designed penalty contract will induce a voluntary implementation whatever the mandatory threat.

When manufacturing organizations seek to enhance the safety of food products and to meet the requirements put forward by customers and markets they are compelled to adopt various Food Safety Management Systems (FSMS) that conform to global, international, national, private and proprietary standards. In this study 'Multiple Food Safety Management Systems' (MFSMS) describes the situation in which one organization has adopted and implemented more than one FSMS standard. The paper presents a case study of a seafood factory located in Maldives which has implemented FSMS, with the aim to analyse the motivations for the adoption of MFSMS and the consequences of that adoption in the management system and the organization. The study notes that the key motivations for implementing MFSMS were a management commitment to improve food quality and safety, compliance with regulations, market requirements, customer requirements, external funding, marketing tools, brand image, requirements of retailers and commercial pressure. The study also notes that the major consequences of MFSMS were a duplication and complexity in management document and record systems, a need for additional resources, a development of new departments to implement and maintain management systems, an inability to focus on the implemented standard, ineffective internal audits and management reviews, additional time needed for management system activities, increased man-days allocated to external audits and a higher cost of the certification process. The findings of the study highlights some important issues with implications for the policies of food processors, developers of standards, bench marking bodies and customers insisting on special stipulations.

International Journal on Food System Dynamics, 2007

Together with expected implications on food safety, the European Regulation 178/2002 has important consequences shaping the agrifood sector. This regulation gives latitude to operators in front of specific food safety objectives and promotes self control. Private standards are a way of addressing this problem. The paper shows that as soon as producers and retailers have different private standards, a problem of coordination among operators has to be solved. This coordination is important for the sanitary aims but involves strategic aspects too. The coordination problem is tougher when the standards developed by producers and retailers can be considered as two substitutes, even if each operators considers that a coordination of their practices shall be reached.

Quality and environmental management systems have become prominent business strategic tools to address social and environmental problems. Several voluntary certification schemes have been developed in various economic sectors, as well as in the food one. Nevertheless, it remains unclear if a positive business profitability exists as a consequence of their adoption. Aims of this work was to compare two specific groups of firms operating in the wine industry, certified and non certified ones, in order to verify the existence of a positive impact directly belonging to the adoption of environmental and food safety proactive approaches. To this scope, a sample of 173 cellars located in the Southern Regions of Italy has been considered. Our findings demonstrate how the adoption of voluntary certifications positively influence some of the profitability ratios of firms. Moreover, a linkage of such profitability with firm size, leading to an interpretation mainly focused on specific trade channels managerial choices. This work suggests interesting inputs for academics as well as for wine managers, highlighting an environmental pro-active input typical of internationalization and trade channels strategies and policies in enabling not only the market diffusion of such kind of green tools but also the achievement of targeted positive profitability ratios.

Food Policy, 2007

Public concern about food safety is placing increasing pressure on government agencies to be more prescriptive and proactive in their regulation of the food industry. However, given the scarcity of public sector resources, concerns about the impact of regulation on competitiveness and the scale of the task at hand, there is growing interest in co-regulation, with public and private sectors working hand-in-hand to deliver safer food at lower (regulatory) cost. This paper explores the scope for the co-regulation of food safety in the UK and North America, where there are distinct differences in the established regulatory processes. The authors conclude that opportunities clearly exist, to varying degrees in the different countries analysed, but that considerable obstacles remain to the widespread adoption of co-regulatory practices in the area of food safety.