Review article: Food safety culture from the perspective of the Australian horticulture industry

• Published in: Trends in food science & technology Vol. 116; pp. 63 - 74
• Main Authors: Frankish, Elizabeth J., McAlpine, Graham, Mahoney, Deon, Oladele, Bisi, Luning, Pieternel A., Ross, Thomas, Bowman, John P., Bozkurt, Hayriye
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge Elsevier Ltd 01.10.2021; Elsevier BV
• Subjects: Australian fresh produce; COVID-19; Culture performance measurement; Food industry; Food safety; Food safety management systems; Foodborne diseases; Horticulture; Hygiene; Management systems; Measurement methods; Pandemics; Performance assessment; Safety; Safety management; Supply chains; Culture performance measurement; Food safety management systems; Australian fresh produce; Supply chains
• ISSN: 0924-2244; 1879-3053
• DOI: 10.1016/j.tifs.2021.07.007

Foodborne illness outbreaks associated with fresh produce suggest a focus on food safety culture within food safety management systems throughout supply chains would benefit the horticulture industry. The recent inclusion of food safety culture in horticulture standards will drive the need for better understanding, integration into business activities, and monitoring, to help mitigate foodborne incidents in horticulture. The purpose of this review was to identify definitions of food safety culture and methods of measuring its performance in the context of the Australian horticulture industry. Investigation of how to better apply and integrate a positive food safety culture into existing food safety management systems was conducted. A roadmap for food safety culture improvement in Australian horticulture is presented, highlighting the challenges and opportunities. To guide the development of a mature culture of food safety, mixed-method approaches to performance assessment were found to be the most comprehensive, valid, and offer the most potential for use by horticulture businesses. Food safety culture can be developed by using feedback from regular culture assessments that identify weaknesses and opportunities for improvement, leading to increased knowledge, alignment of attitudes, and better food safety and hygiene behaviour. To this end, the development of measurement tools specific to horticulture operations would be beneficial. Despite unforeseen challenges like the COVID-19 pandemic, the Australian horticulture industry continues to investigate the efficacy of its food safety management. •Good food safety culture could reduce fresh produce food safety incidents.•Food safety culture should be considered in food safety management systems.•A whole-of-supply chain approach to culture improvement would be more successful.•Monitoring and measurement drive continual improvement of food handler behaviour.•Development of horticulture-specific mixed-method measurements is necessary.