BackgroundThe important role of food and nutrition in public health is being increasingly recognized as crucial for its potential impact on health-related quality of life and the economy, both at the societal and individual levels. The prevalence of non-communicable diseases calls for a reformulation of our view of food. The Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) system, first implemented in the EU with the Directive 43/93/CEE, later replaced by Regulation CE 178/2002 and Regulation CE 852/2004, is the internationally agreed approach for food safety control. Our aim is to develop a new procedure for the assessment of the Nutrient, hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (NACCP) process, for total quality management (TMQ), and optimize nutritional levels.MethodsNACCP was based on four general principles: i) guarantee of health maintenance; ii) evaluate and assure the nutritional quality of food and TMQ; iii) give correct information to the consumers; iv) ensure an ethical profit. There are three stages for the application of the NACCP process: 1) application of NACCP for quality principles; 2) application of NACCP for health principals; 3) implementation of the NACCP process. The actions are: 1) identification of nutritional markers, which must remain intact throughout the food supply chain; 2) identification of critical control points which must monitored in order to minimize the likelihood of a reduction in quality; 3) establishment of critical limits to maintain adequate levels of nutrient; 4) establishment, and implementation of effective monitoring procedures of critical control points; 5) establishment of corrective actions; 6) identification of metabolic biomarkers; 7) evaluation of the effects of food intake, through the application of specific clinical trials; 8) establishment of procedures for consumer information; 9) implementation of the Health claim Regulation EU 1924/2006; 10) starting a training program.Results and discussionWe calculate the risk assessment as follows: Risk (R) = probability (P) × damage (D). The NACCP process considers the entire food supply chain “from farm to consumer”; in each point of the chain it is necessary implement a tight monitoring in order to guarantee optimal nutritional quality.

This work utilizes Leontief input-output tables to establish, through new appropriate indicators (the new Entry barriers and Invasion indices), the strategy pursued by some branches EU countries for diversifying production, enriching thus the range of their secondary products. Our attention is focused on EU countries strategic perspectives of diversification by vertical integration, regarding in particular the potentiality of the main Agrifood Chain branches: “Agriculture, hunting and related services” and “Food and beverages”. In this context, we deal with the backward and forward linkages that are the expression of Agriculture and Food vertical integration potentialities, through their secondary production, in the main field of competence (core business) of the other (for a total of € 55 billion). In this research, we observe some basic elements: a) EU Agriculture takes advantage from the opportunity to diversify itself by vertical integration in the field of competence of Food and beverage. So Agriculture will ensure higher incomes and vital outlets for its survival. Food industry entry barriers are also feeble and can be circumvented.; b) Food and beverages does not want or perhaps is not able to exploit the upstream integration potentiality with Agriculture due to the high entry barriers that the same Agriculture has built to isolate its core business (endogenous barriers) or that it suffers (exogenous ones). It is not uncommon that Food industry invests in foreign agriculture and becomes involved in intra and extra-EU relocation diversifying itself in a context of multinational vertical integration

National income and product account, Macroeconomic industrial structure, Economic indicator, Agricultural marketing and agrifood, E01, L16, E1, Q13,

Trade contacts in the intermediate market, or intermediate trade contacts (ITC), are transactional capital resources. They are measured by business-to-business purchases or sales. The objective of this work is to evaluate the impact of ITC sales on the sustained competitive advantage of hotels and restaurants, ‘HotRests’, in EU countries. In a resource-based view framework, only valuable (above-normal) and rare (concentrated) ITC become relevant. Using EU input–output tables and applying the supply-driven model, the relationships between the multiplier and the valuable and rare resources are identified. The main finding is that ‘HotRests' have the opportunity to manage their business-to-business relationships as a resource asset-flow to speed up innovation processes and defend their competitive advantage.

The main aim of this paper is to highlight the evolution of urban and peri-urban networks in view of their use by dwellers and visitors. It considers the knowledge as a part of a hidden permanent education form, and as a prerequisite for full enjoyment of available culture, sport and health facilities. Although, the objectives of the inhabitants and tourists are very different, their basic structural needs and the underlying methodology have common characteristics. In this prospective, the central element is the ability to build networks that connect the nodes of interest, which are functional (services at various levels), cultural (historical and artistic emerging features), and leisure (dedicated sport facilities and locations). Furthermore, the paper investigates the paths and times of networks connections, providing particular attention to multipurpose trips consistence of either dwellers or tourists.