Kirezieva, Klementina; Luning, Pieternel --- "The influence of context on food safety governance: Bridging the gap between policy and quality management" [2017] ELECD 637; in Verbruggen, Paul; Havinga, Tetty (eds), "Hybridization of Food Governance" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2017) 156

Book Title: Hybridization of Food Governance

Editor(s): Verbruggen, Paul; Havinga, Tetty

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781785361692

Section: Chapter 8

Section Title: The influence of context on food safety governance: Bridging the gap between policy and quality management

Author(s): Kirezieva, Klementina; Luning, Pieternel

Number of pages: 25

Abstract/Description:

Food safety is an ongoing concern for the food industry, agribusinesses, competent food authorities and consumers. Food safety governance is aimed at controlling food safety risks and protecting human health. It involves the establishment of a legal framework and the enforcement of food safety policies, with the goal to induce compliance by companies in the food supply chain. They have to set-up and implement food safety management systems (FSMS). Next to the public requirements, many private standards emerged, such as British Retail Consortium (BRC) and GlobalGAP, which pose additional demands for food companies and agribusinesses. FSMS are thus the result of the translation of all these various standards and guidelines and legal requirements into a company specific system. Food safety governance is exercised in various contexts – that is, different countries, sectors and/or supply chain management structures. This is relevant for all food sectors, but especially challenging for fresh produce, which is increasingly produced, traded and distributed across the world, thereby being confronted with different context characteristics wherein the FSMS need to operate. In Europe, in the last few decades, the focus of food safety management at company level has been mainly on animal products. However, foodborne outbreak data reveal an increasing number of incidences in fresh produce and derived food products in Europe and beyond. This indicates weaknesses in current FSMS in this sector. Fresh produce are vulnerable products, commonly consumed raw, fresh cut or minimally processed. The production usually occurs in diverse climates around the globe, under different administrative conditions, in differently structured food systems ranging from traditional to highly industrialized. Moreover, chain actors range from very small to very large.