Changes in the food supply chain, society and environment have made the issue of food safety more complicated and put additional demands on food safety regulation and management (Cheftel, 2011; Havelaar et al., 2010; Woteki & Kineman, 2003).
2.2.1.1Globalisation of the food supply chain
Due to the integration and concentration of the food industry, liberalisation and globalisation of the food trade, there have been dramatic changes in both the
domestic and international food markets in the last several decades (Buckley & Reid, 2010; Luning, Bango, Kussaga, Rovira, & Marcelis, 2008; Sofos, 2008; WHO, 2002). The food supply chain has been globalized (Jaffee & Henson, 2004 ; Jongen & Meulenberg, 2005; Luning, Devlieghere, & Verhé, 2005; OECD, 2004; Radovanovic, 2011). It is becoming increasingly complicated within a dynamic environment (Ercsey-Ravasz,
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Toroczkai, Lakner, & Baranyi, 2012; McMahon, 2013). Raw materials can be procured globally, and the technology of agriculture, food production and distribution is
changing rapidly. Food production, storage, distribution and other parts of the food supply chain increasingly extend beyond national boundaries. Food can be available to thousands of people around the world a short time after it is manufactured. These changes in the food supply chain create the conditions under which foodborne illnesses can spread widely.
The globalized food supply chain creates new sources of risk because the chain is fragmented among multiple companies (McMahon, 2013). It is also difficult to coordinate along the food chain and control these risks due to geographic and/or cultural distance (Humphrey, 2008). Large retailers in developed countries have become the dominant players of the global food supply chain, and have invested millions in brand capital (Burch & Lawrence, 2007). The actions taken by these dominant players to control and assure food safety have complex implications for players up-stream of the supply chain, even though they may be far away from each other geographically and economically (Asfaw, Mithöfer, & Waibel, 2007; Havinga, 2006; Konefal, Mascarenhas, & Hatanaka, 2005). National regulations of developed countries have increasingly focused on the conditions of production of imported food and placed legal responsibility on to food business operators to ensure food safety.
2.2.1.2Reforms of food safety regulations
Although there are well-developed food safety regulation systems in most developed countries, these systems have changed profoundly in recent years (Chowdhury & Wessel, 2012). The regulator and consumer have paid increasing attention to food
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safety (Kinsey, 2001). In spite of developments in the technology of agriculture, food processing and other fields in relation to the food industry, outbreaks of foodborne disease are increasing in both developed and developing countries, provoking consumer concerns on food safety and undermining their confidence in food safety control (Henson & Humphrey, 2008; Jaffee & Jabbar, 2005; Marsden, 2010; Mensah & Julien, 2011). Governments had to introduce more extensive and more stringent food safety regulations to mitigate these issues. Therefore, companies face new compliance challenges, and have to strive to find approaches to minimise the cost of compliance. Food safety concerns have resulted in increasingly stricter product controls, such as tighter residue limits for pesticides and drugs. Meanwhile, more process controls based on risk assessment have been introduced in both regulations and non-regulatory standards. The most widely accepted control system is HACCP based FSMS. The trend towards process management-based approaches (focusing on how food is produced and the controls on process) reflects doubts of the effectiveness and economic efficiency of performance-based approaches (focusing on whether the final product complys with certain product criteria) (Golan et al., 2004; Luning & Marcelis, 2009; Radovanovic, 2011).
In some industrial countries especially in Europe, governments have gradually
relocated the responsibility of assuring food safety to the private sector. This shift has resulted from the shift to neo-liberalism, enhanced financial limits and a belief of co- regulation between the public and private sector (Busch et al., 2005; Garcia Martinez, Verbruggen, & Fearne, 2013; Marsden, 2010; Rouvière & Caswell, 2012). The Food
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companies should take every reasonable measure to ensure food safety. It is one of the important characteristics of the recent evolution of European food safety regulations where the involvement and commitment of the private sector has increased in food safety management and regulating (Marsden, 2010). The 2001
European Regulation (EC) No. 178/2002 that came into force in 2005 had this objective. Food businesses have to be responsible to assure food safety by developing their own food safety management systems, and to ensure the effectiveness of their system through auditing. Meanwhile, government will inspect and verify these
audits(Marsden, Flynn, & Harrison, 2000). In some countries, this shift is combined with a “name and shame” sanction for food legislation violations which can damage the brand capital of food businesses. In the UK, after the introduction of the 1990 Food Safety Act, food businesses can avoid legal sanction only if they can demonstrate that
they have undertaken “due diligence” to ensure the safety level of the food they
manufacture or deliver.
2.2.1.3Social and environmental changes
Rapid urbanization results in greater demand for the distribution and storage of food.
Moreover, people’s life styles and eating patterns are continually changing. More and
more people eat outside home and buy ready-to-eat foods. Minimum or “zero”
processed foods are increasingly preferred by more consumers as well. The social demography of the world has also changed dramatically, which is another challenge to food safety (Havelaar et al., 2010). It has been reported that the proportion of the overall population susceptible to foodborne illnesses is increasing (Buckley & Reid, 2010). Those people, including the elderly, infants, pregnant women, and immune-
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compromised individuals, are much more vulnerable to foodborne illnesses than the general population. Changing ethnic structure leads to changing food consumption patterns which can potentially cause food safety issues (Radovanovic, 2011).
Coupled with the changes in the regulatory system and food industry, the changes of
demography and other social factors have led to consumer’s heightened expectations
and demands in relation to food safety and quality (Buzby, Frenzen, & Rasco, 2001; Jaffee, 2003; Jaffee & Henson, 2004 ). Consumers focus on not only the safety level of food but also the way in which food is manufactured. The concept of food safety has
been broadened from “fit for human consumption” to a wide range of safety attributes
(Luning et al., 2005; McElhatton & Marshall, 2007). Environment, animal welfare,
workers’ health and other factors have also been concerns of consumers. Consumers
are seeking more reliable information on safety assurance of the food they buy and the way in which the food is produced (Jaffee & Henson, 2004 ; Kinsey, 2003; Trienekens & Zuurbier, 2008).
Increased environmental pollution adds a new challenge to food safety. Heavy metals and Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs, e.g. dioxins and polychlorinated biphenyls) can contaminate food through the air, water or soil pollution (WHO, 2007). New and emerging pathogens have also caused several severe foodborne illness outbreaks, e.g. European E. coli O104:H4 outbreak in 2011.