Louise Manning

Effective management of food safety and quality

Global food supply is developing within a commercial environment with an aim to source ever‐cheaper food, i.e. to move production to the least cost producer. Quality management systems are designed primarily to ensure compliance with third party and retailer standards. Food safety management systems principally control the specific food safety hazards associated with the product and ensure compliance with food safety legislation. This paper, seeks to identify the issues for an organization if their management system is focused primarily on minimizing quality costs rather than producing safe, wholesome food.

Quality assurance models in the food supply chain

Purpose – Quality assurance (QA) standards are considered to be a proven mechanism for delivering quality of product and service. This paper seeks to analyse critically how effectively this mechanism has been implemented in the integrated food supply chain.Design/methodology/approach – This paper focuses on the development of QA standards and organisational business models. The research included a literature review and evaluation to determine the mechanisms currently in place with particular emphasis on poultry meat.Findings – Historically private quality assurance schemes have been developed to demonstrate compliance with a set of extrinsic quality standards or “pre‐requisites”. These have often included qualitative rather than quantitative measures of quality. In order to demonstrate to external stakeholders and the consumer that QA schemes actually deliver tangible benefits, quantitative measurements should be included in QA models especially as these measures can improve intrinsic product quality, dri...

Globalisation: a study of the poultry‐meat supply chain

Increasing globalisation of the poultry‐meat supply chain has led to consolidation and evolution of transnational companies, whether by vertical or horizontal integration, and the development of business clusters. There are significant benefits in these economies of scale, especially improved purchasing power and greater intellectual, technological and production resources for organizations to draw upon to provide products that meet differentiated customer needs. The consumer has seen the benefit of globalisation in lower commodity food prices, wider product choice and the advent of “convenience” food. Seeks to review the key factors that have led to the globalisation of the poultry supply chain and the impact of these changes. The poultry supply chain was chosen because it is highly integrated and the research includes a literature review and an evaluation to determine how it specifically relates to the poultry supply chain. Identifies the factors that affect current and future developments in food globalisation, including: relative strength of currencies; speed of technology transfer to developing countries; tax and regulatory burden in nation states or trading groups; cost of capital and labour and its effect on competitiveness; continuing production specialization and greater differentiation between domestic and international meat trade; and concerns over production methods, food safety and hygiene standards. Analyses the impact of globalisation of the food supply chain to all sectors and will be of interest to academics and those working in food supply.

Deliberate contamination of the food supply chain

Purpose – Aims to highlight how food contamination, whether accidental or deliberate, can have far‐reaching impact on individuals, organisations and the food supply chain.Design/methodology/approach – This paper focuses on the use of agents such as foreign animal disease (FAD). The research included a literature review and evaluation to determine the mechanisms currently in place to counter‐act bioterrorism in the food supply chain with particular emphasis on poultry.Findings – Food terrorism, where the contaminant is a FAD, would cause severe economic disruption by direct costs due to the culling of livestock and the compensation paid to growers. It could also lead to consequential loss to the local or national economy, loss of consumer confidence in the food supply chain and loss of political confidence and support following the mass culling of livestock, with some agents having the ability to impact directly on human health.Originality/value – This paper analyses the current state of preparedness for f...

Key health and welfare indicators for broiler production

The purpose of the research was to identify measurable indicators, which can firstly provide objective measures of bird welfare and secondly act as “lead” rather than “lag” indicators. Broiler welfare has historically been measured using lag indicators such as final mortality, stocking density, levels of contact dermatitis, reject levels and leg health. Although there are benefits to their use as indicators, the main disadvantage of these measures is that whilst they provide data for interorganisational and inter-growing cycle analysis the welfare issues have already occurred for the birds concerned and the information can only effect change in future production cycles. Alternatively, lead indicators are intra-cycle indicators which will provide information on bird welfare so that preventive/corrective action can be taken within the growing cycle. These indicators include feed and water consumption, air and litter quality and daily weight gain. It has been established that water is a vital nutrient that should be routinely analysed to ensure that it complies with accepted quality standards so that bird health and welfare is optimised. Furthermore water consumption, (both daily and per cycle) is a key indicator of bird welfare and worthy of further quantitative study to determine if it can be used as a headline “lead” indicator to determine health and welfare issues early in the growing cycle so that appropriate management action can be taken.

Corporate and consumer social responsibility in the food supply chain

Purpose – The purpose is to analyse the interaction between corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategies and consumer social responsibility (CNSR) and then contribute to theory‐building by developing an interaction model.Design/methodology/approach – The research included a literature review and the development of a CSR/CNSR interaction model for the food supply chain.Findings – CSR is an organo‐centric response to a series of supply chain drivers, which in a competitive market promotes corporate/product differentiation and more effective use of resources. CSR is however of limited value to the organisation if there is a lack of, or a change in, consumer engagement. Recent economic drivers have influenced CNSR behaviour with the consumerism component rather than the caring component of CNSR playing a lead role. However, this is not the case with all food products and CNSR can be a solo, product‐centric purchasing decision within the shopping basket. Organisations need to recognise that their CSR activ...

Fresh produce‐associated outbreaks: a call for HACCP on farms?

Purpose – This paper is intended to be the first in a series addressing food safety in the fresh produce chain, with particular emphasis on the contributing factors that lead to farm‐based safety breakdowns.Design/methodology/approach – A desktop study of recent outbreaks and recalls that have occurred in the USA and EU was undertaken with a view to determining the produce items implicated and factors causing the emergence of outbreaks. The question “A call for HACCP on farms?” is explored.Findings – Minimally processed fresh‐cut produce represents a particular challenge to food safety. The research has highlighted the need to mitigate risk at all stages but with specific emphasis at the pre‐farm gate stage. A more comprehensive and integrated approach to risk management is arguably needed. A call for HACCP on the farm or farm food safety management system may be warranted in future if fresh produce outbreaks continue to rise. However, further research is needed to establish the guidelines of HACCP adopti...

Benchmarking the poultry meat supply chain

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyse how a pre‐requisite programme and key performance indicators can be developed within an information management system in order to manage food safety, animal welfare and business performance criteria effectively in the poultry meat supply chain and seek to deliver continuous improvement.Design/methodology/approach – Desk research was carried out in order to develop the research model. Competitive benchmarking with a group of broiler growers was used to determine the most appropriate performance indicators that could differentiate both operational and financial performance.Findings – Supply chain benchmarking is more than a comparative analysis of cost structure, indeed it can be argued that if not effectively implemented, benchmarking techniques can focus too much on historic data rather than identifying and implementing current best practice, knowledge transfer and being able to initiate change within the business cycle. Effective livestock benchmarking re...

Water consumption in broiler chicken: a welfare indicator

The aim of the study was to analyse water consumption data of commercially grown broiler chicken in order to ascertain whether: i) the results obtained correlated with those reported in other studies;ii) water consumption can be objectively used as a measure of bird health and welfare; andiii) there is a correlation between total water consumed, reject levels and the incidence of contact dermatitis. Water consumption has been analysed in terms of litres/bird/cycle, and litres/bird/day. In order to determine the impact of water consumption on the moisture content of the litter the water usage was also analysed in terms of litres/m2 of floor area/cycle and litres/m2 of floor area/day which take into account the stocking density of the birds. The results indicated that whilst water consumption in l/m2 of floor area per crop cycle is potentially a beneficial lag indicator, l/bird/day or l/m2/day could be lead indicators which relate to bird health and the impact of water consumption on litter quality. More research should be undertaken to determine whether there is a direct relationship between changes in observed versus expected daily water consumption and health issues such as enteritis and contact dermatitis. This research should define the threshold level of water usage at which there is a resultant impact on litter quality in terms of daily use per unit of floor area. This may be influenced by the stocking density, ventilation profile and the degree of absorbency of the litter material but the value would provide managers with a “trigger-point” at which they need to take action to minimise the resultant impact on air quality in terms of ammonia levels and the potential for contact dermatitis.

Food safety management in broiler meat production

Purpose – Ensuring compliance with food safety legislation and market requirements is one of the key issues facing the poultry meat industry. The purpose of this paper is to analyse how a pre‐requisite programme (PRP) and key performance indicators for food safety can be developed in the poultry meat supply chain.Design/methodology/approach – The first stage of the research involved an examination of literature, which was conducted using desk research. The second stage includes a discussion on food safety management systems in primary production and the development of food safety plans with an associated PRP.Findings – Effective food safety management systems in primary production are critical to supplying food which is safe and wholesome. In order to manage food safety effectively measurable indicators of performance should be developed. These will provide data on the suitability of the food for sale, the effectiveness of the food safety management system and any potential areas of weakness which in turn...