Triangulation

Abstract

Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes Triangulation: effective verification of food safety and quality management systems and associated organisational culture. Introduction The Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC, 2003) defines verification as "the application of methods, procedures, tests and other evaluations, in addition to monitoring to determine compliance". The British Retail Consortium (BRC) Global Food Standard builds on this in their definition of verification namely: "the application of methods, procedures, tests and other evaluations, in addition to monitoring, to determine whether a control or measure is or has been operating as intended" (BRC, 2015 p. 119). Alternatively, The Food Law Code of Practice (England) March 2017 (p148) defines verification as: "the checking, by examination, and the consideration of objective evidence, whether specified requirements have been fulfilled". Thus verification can be considered as the use of methods, procedures, tests and checks to provide objective evidence that requirements specified in either quality management system (QMS) or food safety management system (FSMS) standards, or in the FSMS/QMS designed by a particular organisation or an element of the organisation's FSMS/QMS have been met or organisational activities are operating as planned and how they were designed to function (Luning et al., 2009; Bergh et al., 2016). It is important to note here that in the literature food safety is sometimes seen as an independent food attribute and distinct from quality characteristics, whilst in other literature food safety attributes are seen as being a subset of overall quality attributes for a food material or product. Specified requirements can relate to the product, the process, people or general production environment and can be an element of regulatory compliance i.e. a legal requirement or market compliance, or both. Product verification, such as chemical, physical and microbiological analysis or hygiene testing including surface swabbing for microbiological analysis often involves high analytical costs, and sometimes inappropriate laboratory turnaround times that do not support a just-in-time driven food supply system (Manning, 2016). Process verification through the assessment of documentation, product and process certification and traceability data is less costly than destructive product inspection and testing, but such verification processes rest on the ability to assess valid, authentic, objective and representative evidence (Manning and Soon, 2014). Verification can be described as first party, where an organisation verifies its own activities; or second party whereby verification is undertaken within a supply chain between two parties where there is a contractual obligation e.g. supplier audits and third party. Third party verification is undertaken by an external organisation when the first party develops their QMS and their FSMS to meet a given system standard and an independent third party organisation undertakes verification activities to confirm t...

External audits and official controls – what’s the difference in their usefulness and credibility?

“…Many researchers emphasize the usefulness of external audits/official controls in the processes of organizational evaluation and improvement (Beckmerhagen, Berg, Karapetrovic, & Willborn, 2004;Ali c & Rusjan, 2011;Lueckl, Weyermair, Matt, Manner, & Fuchs, 2019;Martelli et al, 2019). Some authors point out numerous problems with the effectiveness and credibility of external audits/official controls (Manning, 2018). In the case of audits, it is noted, for example, that there is a phenomenon known as "ceremonial conformity" (or "ceremonial certification").…”

“…, 2019). Some authors point out numerous problems with the effectiveness and credibility of external audits/official controls (Manning, 2018). In the case of audits, it is noted, for example, that there is a phenomenon known as “ceremonial conformity” (or “ceremonial certification”).…”

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

“…Developing third party verification approaches into the future to become more outcomes-based or to use multiple sources of data is an emerging theme in the literature. The use of triangulation allows for comparison between different sources of evidence, especially in complex, socio-technical situations by counterbalancing the strengths and weaknesses of different methodologies and approaches and in doing so increase the credibility and depth of audit processes (De Boeck, Jacxsens, Vanoverberghe, & Vlerick, 2018;Carugi, 2016;Manning, 2018b;Yeasmin & Rahman, 2012). This line of enquiry then gives rise to some questions.…”