Food safety management systems performance in African food processing companies: a review of deficiencies and possible improvement strategies

Abstract

This study seeks to provide insight into current deficiencies in food safety management systems (FSMS) in African food-processing companies and to identify possible strategies for improvement so as to contribute to African countries' efforts to provide safe food to both local and international markets. This study found that most African food products had high microbiological and chemical contamination levels exceeding the set (legal) limits. Relative to industrialized countries, the study identified various deficiencies at government, sector/branch, retail and company levels which affect performance of FSMS in Africa. For instance, very few companies (except exporting and large companies) have implemented HACCP and ISO 22000:2005. Various measures were proposed to be taken at government (e.g. construction of risk-based legislative frameworks, strengthening of food safety authorities, recommend use of ISO 22000:2005, and consumers' food safety training), branch/sector (e.g. sector-specific guidelines and third-party certification), retail (develop stringent certification standards and impose product specifications) and company levels (improving hygiene, strict raw material control, production process efficacy, and enhancing monitoring systems, assurance activities and supportive administrative structures). By working on those four levels, FSMS of African food-processing companies could be better designed and tailored towards their production processes and specific needs to ensure food safety.

Drivers for the implementation of market‐based food safety management systems: Evidence from Lebanon

“…In the study context, food processors with a QA unit had 15 times higher chance of implementing ISO 22000 than organizations that did not have a QA unit. The education level of the manager, another proxy for organizational readiness (Kussaga, Jacxsens, Tiisekwa, & Luning, ), was also positively correlated with ISO 22000 implementation but statistically insignificant, perhaps due to a low variability of education level among the quality managers in the two subsamples. Likewise, product/process characteristics did have a strong and positive correlation with the implementation of ISO 22000.…”

Edible Insects in Africa in Terms of Food, Wildlife Resource, and Pest Management Legislation

“…However, food safety in Africa is a basic problem, regardless of how efficient the legislation is. Kussaga et al (2013) [18] present a large list of microbiological and chemical risks detected in African foodstuffs, ranging from pesticides, mycotoxins, heavy metals, over many bacteria to a series of vermiform parasites. Apart from that, Africa is experiencing a serious problem with antibiotics residues in its foodstuffs.…”

The Evolution and Cultural Framing of Food Safety Management Systems—Where From and Where Next?

“…Private standards, such as the BRC Standard, IFS-Food, GLOB-ALG.A.P, SQF, and the Foundation for Food Safety Certification, (FSCC2000), have been widely adopted by the European food industry (Herzfeld, Drescher, & Grebitus, 2011;Schulze et al, 2008;Spadoni et al, 2014), and beyond at a global scale (Herzfeld et al, 2011). Particularly in emerging countries with poor institutions and legal frameworks (Henson & Humprey, 2010), private standards can support design and operation of FSMS and create access to global markets (for example, Kirezieva et al, 2015aKirezieva et al, , 2015bKussaga, Luning, Tiisekwa, & Jacxsens, 2015;Nanyunja et al, 2016) or address the governance void for organizations seeking to extend their operation to those countries. The interplay between regulation and private food standards with regulation evolving from a "one size fits all" to risk-based regulation is leading to a hybridization of food governance between public and private instruments (Verbruggen & Havinga, 2017a), which impacts FSMS design and operation (Kirezieva & Luning, 2017).…”