scholarly journals Integrating nutrition and food safety in food systems policy and programming

2022 ◽  
Vol 32 ◽  
pp. 100593
Author(s):  
Stella Nordhagen ◽  
Elisabetta Lambertini ◽  
Caroline Smith DeWaal ◽  
Bonnie McClafferty ◽  
Lynnette M. Neufeld
Keyword(s):  
Food Safety ◽  
Food Systems

scholarly journals The health implications of distrust in the food system: findings from the dimensions of trust in food systems scale (DOTIFS scale)

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Emma Tonkin ◽  
Trevor Webb ◽  
Julie Henderson ◽  
Paul R. Ward ◽  
John Coveney ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Food Safety ◽  
Content Validity ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Food System ◽  
Dietary Guidelines ◽  
Consumer Trust ◽  
Safety Practices ◽  
Health Related ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Background Consumer trust in food systems is essential for consumers, food industry, policy makers and regulators. Yet no comprehensive tool for measuring consumer trust in food systems exists. Similarly, the impact that trust in the food system has on health-related food behaviours is yet to be empirically examined. The aim of this research was to develop a comprehensive instrument to measure trust in the food system (the Dimensions of Trust in Food Systems Scale (DOTIFS scale) and use it to explore whether trust in the food system impacts consumers’ health-related behaviours. Methods The DOTIFS scale was developed using sociological theories of trust and pre-existing instruments measuring aspects of trust. It was pilot tested and content validity was assessed with 85 participants. A mixed-methods exploration of the health-related behaviours of 18 conveniently sampled Australian consumers with differing trust scores determined by the DOTIFS scale was then conducted. During March–July 2019 shopping- and home-observations were used to assess participants’ food safety practices and exposure to public health fortification programs, while the CSIRO Healthy Diet Score determined their adherence to national dietary guidelines. Results The DOTIFS scale was found to have high comprehension, ease of use and content validity. Statistical analysis showed scale scores significantly trended as predicted by participants’ stated level of trust. Differences were found in the way individuals with more or less trust in the food system comply with national dietary guidelines, are exposed to public health fortification programs, and adhere to recommended food safety practices. Conclusions The DOTIFS scale is a comprehensive, sociologically- and empirically- informed assessment of consumer trust in food systems that can be self-administered online to large populations and used to measure changes in consumer trust over time. The differences in health-related behaviours between individuals with varying levels of trust warrant further investigation.

Effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Food Safety and Nutritional Behaviors

2022 ◽  
pp. 444-462
Author(s):  
Ayse Saygun
Keyword(s):  
Food Safety ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Eating Habits ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Direct Transmission ◽  
Sustainable Food ◽  
Safety Issues ◽  
Daily Routines ◽  
Novel Treatments ◽  
Global Events

Global events like pandemics or climatic changes have an important influence on food systems. Taking into account consumer requirements during the pandemic, nutrition and food safety are very significant for individuals' well-being. Lockdowns, quarantine, and social distancing changed daily routines as well as nutritional behaviors from shopping for food to eating habits. Direct transmission of coronavirus through food was not observed. Food safety and food sustainability are strongly affected due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Unfortunately, the pandemic is still ongoing. For this reason, novel treatments of COVID-19 and immune-boosting food products will remain on-trend. Food loss and food waste should be avoided to achieve a sustainable food future. This chapter reveals a basis for the pandemic about the changes on nutritional behaviors, eating habits, and aimed to highlight the importance of food handling and food safety issues to create awareness. Future studies should investigate the sustainability, innovative technologies, mechanisms, and changes on nutritional behavior and food safety aspects during the pandemic.

Expectations and everyday opportunities for building trust in the food system

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Emma Tonkin ◽  
Julie Henderson ◽  
Samantha B. Meyer ◽  
John Coveney ◽  
Paul R. Ward ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Food Safety ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Food System ◽  
Group Discussion ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Consumer Trust ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Safety Incident ◽  
The Media ◽  
Business As Usual

PurposeConsumers’ trust in food systems is essential to their functioning and to consumers’ well-being. However, the literature exploring how food safety incidents impact consumer trust is theoretically underdeveloped. This study explores the relationship between consumers’ expectations of the food system and its actors (regulators, food industry and the media) and how these influence trust-related judgements that consumers make during a food safety incident.Design/methodology/approachIn this study, two groups of purposefully sampled Australian participants (n = 15) spent one day engaged in qualitative public deliberation to discuss unfolding food incident scenarios. Group discussion was audio recorded and transcribed for the analysis. Facilitated group discussion included participants' expected behaviour in response to the scenario and their perceptions of actors' actions described within the scenario, particularly their trust responses (an increase, decrease or no change in their trust in the food system) and justification for these.FindingsThe findings of the study indicated that food incident features and unique consumer characteristics, particularly their expectations of the food system, interacted to form each participant's individual trust response to the scenario. Consumer expectations were delineated into “fundamental” and “anticipatory” expectations. Whether fundamental and anticipatory expectations were in alignment was central to the trust response. Experiences with the food system and its actors during business as usual contributed to forming anticipatory expectations.Originality/valueTo ensure that food incidents do not undermine consumer trust in food systems, food system actors must not only demonstrate competent management of the incident but also prioritise trustworthiness during business as usual to ensure that anticipatory expectations held by consumers are positive.

Limits In Assessing Microbiological Food Safety

1993 ◽  
Vol 56 (8) ◽  
pp. 725-729 ◽  
Author(s):  
ROBERT L. BUCHANAN ◽  
CATHERINE M. DEROEVER
Keyword(s):  
Food Safety ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Scientific Information ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Epidemiological Data ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Detection Methods ◽  
Detailed Knowledge ◽  
Foodborne Disease ◽  
True Incidence

Scientific information pertaining to the incidence of foodborne disease and the sources of pathogenic microorganisms is often limited in relation to the knowledge needed to make informed microbiological food safety decisions. Inherent limitations in the current epidemiological reporting system constrain its usefulness for ascertaining the true incidence of foodborne disease. Additionally, current detection methods are insufficient to make real-time decisions on the microbiological safety of products. An integrated approach that combines enhanced epidemiological data, improved detection methods, detailed knowledge of the behavior of pathogens in food systems, and development of techniques for making quantitative risk assessments is essential for the development of a comprehensive, cost-effective strategy for assuring microbiologically safe foods.

scholarly journals The Importance of a Food Systems Approach to Low and Middle Income Countries and Emerging Economies: A Review of Theories and Its Relevance for Disease Control and Malnutrition

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pablo Alarcon ◽  
Paula Dominguez-Salas ◽  
Eric M. Fèvre ◽  
Jonathan Rushton
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Food Safety ◽  
Emerging Economies ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Food System ◽  
Systems Science ◽  
Multidisciplinary Teams ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Middle Income Countries ◽  
Low And Middle Income

Our review explores the changing food production, distribution and consumption environment in low and middle-income countries and emerging economies as a basis for framing how to study food systems in order to address public health issues of food safety and nutrition. It presents the state of knowledge on existing food systems science and its use in terms of sustainable actions for food safety and public health. The review identifies a knowledge gap in food system mapping and governance, with value chain mapping of key commodities often missing. Despite a number of initiatives, the application of food systems methods is highly variable in scope and quality. Most analyses concentrate on specific commodities, rarely taking into account the need for a whole diet approach when looking at nutrition or the assessment of a range of infectious agents and their interactions when looking at food safety. Of the studies included in the review there is a growing observation of “informal” food systems, a term used inconsistently and one that requires revision. “Informal” food systems link to the formal sector to provide food security, yet with trade-offs between economic efficiencies and food safety. Efforts to improve food safety are hampered by inadequate food safety capacities and a lack of policy coherence leading to: inadequate investment; fragmented food quality control systems; weak or non-existent traceability mechanisms; weak foodborne disease surveillance; obsolete food regulation; and weak regulatory enforcement. In-depth food systems assessments can complement risk analysis to identify risky behaviors and understand institutional settings in order to improve codes of practice and enforcement. Methods for looking at food safety from a food systems perspective are emerging, yet existing nutrition and food systems science are not advancing sufficiently in response to nutritional public health problems. There is an urgency for improved understanding of the structure and drivers of the food systems, for better planning of changes that leads to nutrients access and healthy levels of eating. It is proposed that countries and international institutions provide an atlas of food system maps for the key commodities based on an agreed common methodology and developed by multidisciplinary teams.

scholarly journals Prevalence and Loads of Fecal Pollution Indicators and the Antibiotic Resistance Phenotypes of Escherichia coli in Raw Minced Beef in Lebanon

Foods ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 1543 ◽  
Author(s):  
Issmat I. Kassem ◽  
Nivin A Nasser ◽  
Joanna Salibi
Keyword(s):  
Escherichia Coli ◽  
Antibiotic Resistance ◽  
Food Safety ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Meat Products ◽  
Fecal Coliforms ◽  
E Coli ◽  
Beef Meat ◽  
Minced Beef ◽  
Meat Samples

Meat is an important source of high biological value proteins as well as many vitamins and minerals. In Lebanon, beef meats, including raw minced beef, are among the most consumed of the meat products. However, minced beef meat can also be an important source of foodborne illnesses. This is of a major concern, because food safety in Lebanon suffers from well-documented challenges. Consequently, the prevalence and loads of fecal coliforms and Escherichia coli were quantified to assess the microbiological acceptability of minced beef meat in Lebanon. Additionally, antibiotic resistance phenotypes of the E. coli were determined in response to concerns about the emergence of resistance in food matrices in Lebanon. A total of 50 meat samples and 120 E. coli isolates were analyzed. Results showed that 98% and 76% of meat samples harbored fecal coliforms and E. coli above the microbial acceptance level, respectively. All E. coli were resistant to at least one antibiotic, while 35% of the isolates were multidrug-resistant (MDR). The results suggest that Lebanon needs to (1) update food safety systems to track and reduce the levels of potential contamination in important foods and (2) implement programs to control the proliferation of antimicrobial resistance in food systems.

Acrylamide: Thermally Induced Toxicant in Foods and Its Control Measures

2013 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 19-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yakindra Prasad Timilsena ◽  
Jyotsna Shrestha Khanal ◽  
Anil Kumar Anal
Keyword(s):  
Food Safety ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Processing Parameters ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
Detection Methods ◽  
Processed Foods ◽  
Thermally Induced ◽  
Processing Techniques ◽  
Temperature Time

Acrylamide is a thermally induced toxicant present in different processed foods in varying amount. Due to its detrimental effect on human health, it has become a major concern in public health and food safety. Various reports published recently have identified different processing techniques to reduce the level of this compound in the food. This paper aims to review and focuses on the mechanisms of acrylamide formation, the effects of different processing parameters such as pre-frying treatments, pH, temperature, time, types and the amount of raw materials, its toxicity level, and its detection methods in complex food systems. Toxicity levels of acrylamide have been found to be neurotoxic and carcinogenic. Food safety authorities including Codex Alimentarius Commission are in the process of reviewing their standards to fix the limit of acrylamide in processed foods. J. Food Sci. Technol. Nepal, Vol. 6 (19-30), 2010 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/jfstn.v6i0.8256

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