W.J. de Boer

Measuring effectiveness of food quality management in the bakery sector

Abstract Inappropriate management of food production operations cause several quality performance problems. Therefore, the actual contribution of food quality management to quality performance has to be revealed. This article investigates the effectiveness of food quality management in the bakery sector. Relations between production quality, quality management and contextual factors were studied from a generic and a specific point of view. On the generic level, performance of quality management was related to contextual factors, i.e. complexity of organisation, production process, and product assortment. Assessment on the specific level revealed that effective quality management activities in the bakery sector were (1) control of strategy, (2) allocation of supplying raw materials, (3) supply control, (4) control of production, (5) control of execution of production tasks, (6) control of receiving orders, and (7) planning of distribution. These quality management activities were effective, since interdependency was found between a higher level of these activities and a higher score for specific indicators for production quality, i.e. higher results of legislative and technical evaluations, a lower percentage of rejected products, and lower percentages of complaints about product quality and availability. Each bakery has a different set of contextual factors such as type of QA systems, size of company, degree of automation, and product assortment. Depending on these differences in context, bakeries should select and implement specific quality management activities suitable to their situation to increase their production quality.

Can current dietary exposure models handle aggregated intake from different foods? A simulation study for the case of two foods.

Current dietary exposure models provide estimates of long-term intake distributions using short-term food consumption survey data, by statistically modeling the aggregated intakes from different foods consumed on the same day for each participant of the survey. Food consumption behaviour in a population may, however, show all sorts of correlations which are not modelled in these exposure models. We developed a simulation model describing a hypothetical population of consumers, assuming various types of correlation between two foods. Using this simulation model we found that the impact of the correlations in many cases is limited, but in particular circumstances it can be substantial, depending on the properties of the marginal distributions. Further, we found that the usual approach of first aggregating the observed intakes over foods, and then applying the statistical exposure models to the total daily intakes may lead to deviating results, even when all correlations are assumed to be zero. The approach of analyzing the intakes from the separate foods, and then aggregating the results from the statistical model applied to each food performed much better. Our results illustrate that the simulation model can be used for validating dietary exposure models, and for indicating how exposure models may be improved.

Validation of the instrument IMAQE‐Food to measure effectiveness of food quality management

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to show that manufacturers use several quality assurance systems to assure quality. This paper aims to describe the validation of IMAQE‐Food – an instrument that measures effectiveness of food quality systems.Design/methodology/approach – Generalisability, reliability and validity of the instrument were analysed at a sample of 48 bakeries. Reliability and validity of variables were determined using a procedure based on Cronbachs alpha and rotated factor analysis. Generalisability of the instrument was examined by analysing characteristics of the bakery industry and by adapting the instrument for the vegetable and fruit‐processing sector.Findings – The paper finds that IMAQE‐Food is a reliable and valid tool to assess effectiveness of quality systems in bakeries with more than ten employees. IMAQE‐Food appears to be also applicable for the vegetable and fruit‐processing sector.Practical implications – It is shown in the paper that IMAQE‐Food will support food manufac...

How to improve food quality management in the bakery sector

In the food industry, quality assurance (QA) systems are applied to ensure food safety and food quality to prevent liability claims and to build and maintain trust of consumers. Bakeries apply QA systems such as Hygiene code, HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points), ISO (International Organization for Standardization) and BRC (British Retail Consortium), but for them to be able to decide which system suits their specific situation (i.e., context) most and how this system should be implemented, they lack the necessary insight into the interdependence of contextual factors of bakeries and the quality management level at which these bakeries operate. This article reports on these aspects. The contextual factors that were studied include QA system, size of organization, degree of automation and type of product group. The level of food quality management between groups of bakeries differing in these contextual factors was analysed. Differences between groups of bakeries were found in the level of the quality management activities, control of strategy, allocation of supplying raw materials, supply control, planning of production and control of execution of production tasks. Bakeries that applied BRC, bakeries with 150 employees or more, industrial bakeries, and confectionery and biscuit bakeries performed some of these activities at a higher quality level than the other groups of bakeries. The study shows that by using the instrument IMAQE-Food, bakeries can select suitable quality management activities and QA systems for their specific situation to achieve effective quality management.

Post-harvest management and post-harvest losses of cereals in Ethiopia

Recent and systematic evidence on the magnitude of post-harvest losses in sub-Saharan Africa is scarce, hindering the identification of interventions to reduce losses. Here, we unlock standardized and systematically collected information on post-harvest management and farmer-reported post-harvest loss estimates from the Living Standards Measurement Study – Integrated Surveys in Agriculture. Using the data from Ethiopia, the objective is to disentangle factors that induce or relate to post-harvest losses in cereals. The data of approximately 2500 households and 5500 cereal records were analysed. Cereal post-harvest loss was reported by only 10% of these households. The average self-reported post-harvest loss was 24%. Rodents and other pests were most frequently reported to cause these losses. Adoption of improved storage methods was limited and most cereals were stored inside the house in bags. Random Forests (RF) was applied to gain insight into factors and conditions favouring post-harvest losses. Application of RF explained 31% of the variation in post-harvest losses reported by farmers. Three major factors associated with post-harvest losses were the distance of the household dwelling to the nearest market, the distance of the household dwelling to the main road, and average annual rainfall. Losses increased the further households were located from a market or main road, and losses also tended to decrease with higher rainfall. The standardized and nationally representative survey data from Ethiopia used were a good starting point for modelling post-harvest losses but the finally available information appeared to be partial. Therefore, this paper calls for better data collection, which could help to better target interventions needed to reduce post-harvest losses.