Research on the whole chain traceability system of dairy products based on consortium blockchain

Dairy products are one of the indispensable foods in people's life. However, reports about the quality and safety of dairy products often appear. In this paper, a dairy product quality and safety traceability system based on consortium blockchain is proposed by using block chain technology. In addition, the traceability link in the dairy supply chain is defined, and the basic framework and traceability bar code of the traceability system are designed. The system guarantees the integrity and security of the traceability information from the technical level, and provides the dairy traceability service for the government, enterprises and consumers.

Investment Decision of Blockchain-based Traceability Service Input in a Competitive Agri-food Supply Chain

Applications of the blockchain-based traceability service (hereafter, BBTS) will not only help members of high-quality agri-food supply chain (hereafter, FPSC) improve consumers' perception on product quality and safety, but also increase their extra expenditure. Competitive AFSC as an important component of AFSC, its investment and coordination laws after using the BBTS obtain more attentions. To explore these laws, we constructed two competitive AFSCs, and each of them includes a supplier and a retailer. Considering the new changes of consumers' perception on product quality and safety after using the BBTS, the demand function was modified. Then, considering the BBTS costs and the new changes of consumers perceived on quality and safety, we built the income functions of chain members under the proposed three situations, i.e., 1) neither of the two supply chains invests in the BBTS, and 2) one supply chain invests in the BBTS, and 3) both supply chains invest in the BBTS. The research finds that: 1) if both of the two supply chains invest in the BBTS, supply chain members will gain a bigger threshold value sum of the BBTS costs, moreover, supply chain members will gain more benefits compared with them no investment BBTS. Thus, governments need to guide more enterprises to adopt BBTS. 2) The competitor’s perceived quality is negative with the threshold value sum of the BBTS costs. When the competitor’s perceived quality is high, investors should reduce investment costs. 3) If investors or decision makers about BBTS want to get a big the threshold value sum of the BBTS costs, they should reduce the cost optimization coefficient and avoid fierce price competition as much as possible. Results can offer a theoretical guidance of adopting BBTS for FPSC.

Factors of transformation in dairy subcomplex of Ukrainian agro-industrial complex

The agro-industrial complex of Ukraine is actively working to enter the global and the EU market, producing products that will meet international standards and requirements for product quality and safety. The dairy subcomplex of the country's agro-industrial complex, which occupies one of the leading positions in the structure of the domestic economy, is no exception. There are certain features in the functioning of its enterprises, namely: the presence of strong consumer demand; a wide assortment of dairy products; short-term shelf life of dairy products; the sphere of production is environmentally threatening. Permanent crises in the Ukrainian economy, the devaluation of the hryvnia, decline in household income and purchasing power, increased competition in the global market, as well as the continuous rise in world prices for food and non-food items have created new realities for enterprise functioning in the dairy subcomplex of Ukrainian agro-industrial complex and cause its transformation. The study revealed the main directions of its transformation and the factors influencing the conditions of its functioning, including negative, such as a decline in cattle numbers, decrease in production volumes and quality deterioration of raw materials for dairy production, reduction of dairy enterprise numbers, etc. It is determined that the state support instruments in the form of subsidies to milk producers are not always effective. We studied the main problems of the drop in milk production in Ukraine and identified certain directions for solving the existing problems. We reveal that in order to halt the critical decline in milk production, a joint effort by producers, processors, and public institutions is needed to increase the investment attractiveness of subcomplex enterprises, in particular, to demand the creation of an effective national program for the development of the dairy subcomplex of Ukrainian agro-industrial complex.

Food product quality and safety control based on HACCP principles

The quality and safety of the resulting food product depend on many factors, including action coordination at all stages of the production process. A high level of control makes it possible to ensure it. In this sense, the HACCP system is the most suitable quality control system. The paper considers the possibility of the HACCP principles’ application to the technological process of bakery product production from wheat flour in the conditions of the Kemerovo Bread Factory. Then the authors present the possible risk analysis, identify critical points of the technological process, establish critical limits for each of the points, and define a monitoring system.

Researching the Satisfaction Degree of Shuanghui Meat Products Quality and Safety from the Perspective of Configuration

In the social environment of the escalating consumption structure, a correct understanding of the influencing factors of meat product quality and safety satisfaction will help Shuanghui to improve consumer satisfaction more specifically. Based on the configuration perspective, this paper uses Fuzzy?Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) to research the quality and safety satisfaction of Shuanghui meat products. The results show that: (1) “perceived quality and perceived value” and “perceived value and safety risk perception” have the greatest impact on the quality and safety satisfaction of meat products; (2) In the case of low expectation perception and safety supervision perception, improving consumers’ perceived quality helps to improve consumer satisfaction; (3) Safety supervision perception should be combined with other variables to improve meat product quality and safety satisfaction. The conclusion of this paper not only provides suggestions for Shuanghui enterprises to improve consumer satisfaction, but also lays a theoretical foundation for the development of meat product quality and safety satisfaction research in China.

Development of a highly efficient ion-ozone cavitation technology for accelerated bread production

The bakery market is one of the most capacious in Kazakhstan. Manufacturers of bread products are in dire need of the introduction of intensive technologies for improving product quality and safety. This article presents the results of research to develop technology for accelerated production of bread with ion-ozone cavitation treatment. The influence of various modes of exposure to ion-ozone cavitation has been investigated. After baking, bread samples were examined for organoleptic, physicochemical, rheological and microbiological indicators. The optimal method is treatment with ion-ozone at a concentration of 0.0025 units/mg, at a pressure of 1.0 atm for 1 min. As a result, it was proved that this mode accelerates the process of obtaining dough and shortens the fermentation time, and baking bread increases the qualitative and quantitative indicators according to the control method. The results showed that the ion-ozone technology reduces the length of the process of making dough and bread by three times compared to traditional technologies. The developed products with existing analogues in the Kazakhstan market will differ due to their high taste and consumer properties, product safety, long shelf life and low cost.

Research on the Online Spread of Rumors about the Quality and Safety of Agricultural Products in the New Media Era Using an Improved SEIRS Model

The rapid development and dissemination of new media have increased online rumor transmission. Fermentation of some rumors regarding quality and safety of agricultural products has created serious problems that have negatively impacted agriculture in China and the consumption of goods such as poultry. Thus, it is imperative to explore the network dissemination mechanisms regarding how rumors about agricultural product quality and safety spread in the new media era. This study used “fast-growing chicken hormone-boosting” as the base rumor, and it developed an improved SEIRS model to identify the spread of rumors regarding agricultural product quality and safety. This study innovatively introduced a conversion rate and analyzed its impact on the secondary transmission of rumors. Using MATLAB software simulation, the research produced the following findings: an increase in netizens does not affect the threshold of rumor outbreaks; improving the immunity rate of contact netizens and the cure rate of spread netizens is the key to both controlling Internet ru`mors and reducing the contact rate of ordinary netizens. At the same time, an increase in the conversion rate could lead to a secondary outbreak of rumors.