Critical Factors and Emerging Opportunities in Food Waste Utilization and Treatment Technologies

Globally, approximately one-third of food produced for human consumption is lost or discarded, comprising 1. 3 billion tons annually. Factors contributing to food waste from the food manufacturer to the consumer level are numerous. Events that may result in food waste include, but are not limited to, manufacturing food by-products, improper handling within the supply chain (e.g., cold chain deviations), misunderstood food date labels, over-purchasing, and consumer-level temperature abuse. From the manufacturer to consumer, each node in the food supply requires concerted efforts to divert food waste from entering municipal landfills. Depending on the state of the food waste, it is diverted to various outlets, from food donation for consumption to composting for soil amendment. To better understand the opportunities in the United States to divert food waste from landfills, current and emerging federal policies as well as the causes of food waste generation must be understood. Unfortunately, information on both the composition of food waste in the U.S. and how it impacts critical factors in food waste treatment, especially in food waste composting, is limited. Specifically, this review aims to: (1) discuss and compare critical factors that impact the fate of food waste and (2) examine emerging opportunities to advance the processing and products of food waste.

A Conceptual Framework for Understanding the Potential Economic Impact of Halal Food Testing in Halal Supply Chain

A globalized food trade, extensive production and complex supply chains are contributing toward an increased number of non-Halal substance in food cases. Halal laboratory testing or Halal testing is an approach to identify contaminants and ensure the integrity of raw materials and food products. The adoption of an integrative approach of Halal management system and Halal testing was investigated to identify and discuss several related economic issues in this field. From an extensive analysis of academic literatures using ‘Halal Food Fraud’, ‘Halal Food Testing’ and ‘Halal Food’ specifically at food manufacturer, the issues involving economic impact of Halal testing was highlighted. Several Halal Testing Points were proposed for the evaluation of Halal ingredients and products, followed by a conceptual framework on the potential economic impact of Halal food testing. The high demand for transparency in the food industry among consumers has therefore may need food manufacturers to consider Halal food testing as part of their production process.

Classification of Plant Health (Capsicum Frutescens) Normalize Differences Vegetation Index using Image Processing

The evolution of food manufacturer in global contribute in national income of the country. Agriculture has been a part of everyone’s life which result in providing food become the building block of every human being. Malaysia is only country experiencing deteriorating development contribute (25.9%) agriculture in Gross Deficient Domestics Product (GDP) while others are fishing (12%), rubber (3.0%) and forestry & logging (6.3%), livestock (15.3%). In line with the development of technology in present century, a lot of methods and technique introduced to upgrowth agriculture sector by focusing to the plant health. The aims of this study are to classify of agriculture plant health through NDVI using image processing. Image processing is a technique representing operations and observation on an image. The images of plant will be captured in this investigation to obtain a photo without (Infra-Red) IR imaging filter. Some of steps must be perform which also include of using multi-function software to gain NDVI values of plant. The main objective in this study is to classify plant health by performing the vegetation index of plant and identify the best machine learning to be applied.

Improving through employee participation: The case of a Spanish food manufacturer

Purpose: Employee participation is considered a fundamental pillar to implement continuous improvement. Based on this consideration, this article presents an action research case study in a large food manufacturer where employee participation is implemented. The experience has a two-fold objective: improve performance of the production system and make the participative philosophy deep-rooted among workers.Design/methodology/approach: The authors implement a structured participation system, establishing an approach of empowerment and focusing on the creation of suitable organizational structures. Under those premises, improvement teams were created on each of the firm’s production lines. Once the participation of the workers is finished, they were given a questionnaire to assess how deep-rooted the participative culture had become.Findings: The results show a remarkable improvement in the efficiency of manufacturing processes, as well as the consolidation of a participative philosophy. However, there are notable differences in the results obtained for each improvement team.Research limitations/implications: The differences obtained in the results highlight certain issues that future research must tackle. These include the way in which the staff should be rewarded for their participation or what the influence of the organizational context is when setting improvement objectives.Practical implications: The positive results obtained support the methodology proposed by the authors for structuring participation. Organizations can set up projects of this type to improve their competitiveness while at the same time strengthening the commitment of their personnel.Originality/value: This is one of the first studies in the field of employee participation that jointly assess the economic area and the cultural and organizational plane.

The Relationship Between Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Malaysia Halal Industry

The Malaysia halal industry is growing, and a lot of interventions have been taken by the government to grow the industry. Halal certified status carry a very strong obligation towards Muslim community. However, some food and products businesses were caught with unethical and irresponsible act due to multiple cases related to halal food and products indirectly impacted Muslim consumers at large. The study is a desk and descriptive research. It is based on secondary data. Author reviewed the existing literatures such as journals, magazines and research works related to the conceptual of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and halal industry. The analysis has shown food manufacturer need to undertake a serious move to review company procedures in dealing with halal issues to engage in productive and legitimate operations. Therefore, this paper elaborates the halal concept from the lens of various scholars and its relationship to the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and business ethics related to halal industry.

Carbohydrates intake preference among university students towards balanced intake practice

Food is necessary for our living since it helps in preserving our life in this world. Occasionally, we may have similar food preferences with our friends and families and sometimes we recognize the meals as the highlight for a celebration. Usually, people tend to choose their meals according to the availability of the meal in the market or the characteristics of the food itself such as the taste of the food. Students usually choose food based on their need, but it is vital for them to take care of their daily nutrient intake, especially carbohydrate (CHO) to give them more energy to facilitate productivity and healthy daily life. However, there is a possibility to practice imbalance intake due to surrounding factors that can cause an excessive intake of nutrient which later may contribute to obesity or inadequate intake that may cause lethargic and nutrient deficiency. This study determined the carbohydrate preferences among college students in UiTM Dungun, Terengganu, Malaysia. Data collection was done by convenience sampling from 160 students (bachelor’s degree student). A questionnaire that consisted of two sections; section A (socio-demographic profile) and section B (food preferences) was used to collect the data. Majority of the students chose rice (74.4%) as their most preferred carbohydrates, followed by 10.6% noodles, 7.5% bread, 3.8% cereal product, 2.5% biscuits and only 1.3% of the students preferred tubers. This can give some ideas and more room for improvement and monitoring on the CHO intake towards healthy eating practice among university students. This will also help the food provider in preparing and modifying healthy meal according to food preferences at the university’s cafeteria. In addition, this may also assist food manufacturer to get some ideas for proposing healthier food innovation in the future based on youth preference.

Identification of buyers ' activities for food selection in the context of quality

The article examines the types of activities of food buyers and considers the results of a survey of Internet users on the problem of the quality of purchased products in terms of its quality and safety. The types of buyers ' activities and the main criteria for choosing food products are revealed. The results obtained allow us to formulate a recommendation for consumers that contributes to changing the attitude of the food manufacturer to the creation of a food safety management system.