Publisher's Synopsis
The world's growing population and the consumers' desire to be provided with a wider range of foods have resulted in a longer and more complex food chain. Foods are the basic building blocks of living things, yet they may pose a threat and become harmful to human health in some situations. Many people throughout the world become ill because of the food they eat. Today, foods reach consumers after being collected from fields, farms and factories and then pass onto many countries, traveling distances of thousands of kilometers. With this global food distribution, an infection that occurs at any point within the food chain has the potential of affecting any given population in the world. The diseases associated with food consumption are referred to as foodborne diseases, and they may result from dangerous microorganisms. Foods can become harmful to human health or even fatal when combined with bacteria, mold, viruses, parasites and chemical toxins. Therefore, it is absolutely necessary that consumers be provided with a safe food supply. Food safety awareness is at an all-time high; new and emerging threats to the food supply are being recognized; and consumers are eating more and more meals prepared outside of the home. Accordingly, retail and foodservice establishments, as well as food producers at all levels of the food production chain, have a growing responsibility to ensure that proper food safety and sanitation practices are followed, thereby safeguarding the health of their customers. Achieving food safety success in this changing environment often requires going beyond traditional training, testing, and inspectional approaches to managing risks. It requires a better understanding of organizational culture and the human dimensions of food safety. Food Safety Culture: Creating a Behavior-Based Food Safety explores the factors and behaviors that constitute the food safety culture. The topics on health and safety culture and organizational culture are examined and relevant components applicable to food safety are identified and discussed. These can form the basis for assessing food safety culture and how this may be done practically along with the creation of a positive food safety culture is discussed.
