Quality and food safety management systems applied to the Lithuanian food sector

Abstract

Food safety assurance is one of the most important and significant issues in the activity of the food sector. Product certification process according to various standards means the highest quality not only for the company but for the consumer as well. Company's executives are free to choose what a management system should be introduced in the organization. It must be effective and viable. International standards and modern quality management systems have been developed and currently are widely used to accomplish this task. In order to ensure the highest quality requirements in all food supply chain, companies often implement and integrate quality, environmental and food safety management. However, the company's executives faces many difficulties to select which of the management systems is superior and the most appropriate for certain company. This paper analyses the requirements of the international standards towards the food safety and quality for the establishment of food quality and food safety management systems; similarities and differences between them, to evaluate the application of these systems, the main advantages and disadvantages. Implementation of the quality and safety management systems in Lithuanian food companies was analysed. At least one management system is certified at the 87 Lithuanian food companies. Of these, the management system according to the ISO 9001:2015 standard is certified at 48 companies, according to the ISO 22000:2005 -at 53 companies, and according to the requirements of the British Retail Consortium standard -at 31 companies. Even 45% of the companies have implemented and are certified by two or more mutually integrated management systems.

When innovation rests on sustainability and food safety: Some experiences from Italian agri-food start-ups

“…Start-ups, given their agility and flexible models, are by nature among the first to propose innovative solutions. Innovative technologies are fundamental in the start-up world of agri-food, including the agritech sector, the development of technologies for traceability and food safety (Karaman et al, 2011;Zhou et al, 2016;Steponavičiene et al, 2017;Rezaei et al, 2018;Da Cunha et al, 2019;Asante et al, 2020;Baur, 2020;Reddy et al, 2020) and the design of solutions to satisfy new consumption models and the creation of new products.…”

“…Prior studies have produced significant knowledge on innovation in the agri-food sector by investigating how companies deal with different practices and tools aimed at promoting food safety (Karaman et al, 2011;Zhou et al, 2016;Steponavičiene et al, 2017;Rezaei et al, 2018;Da Cunha et al, 2019;Asante et al, 2020;Baur, 2020;Reddy et al, 2020). However, they have mainly focused on established enterprises by analyzing the characteristics of the business and/or the context that can foster innovation, while little is known about the purpose of innovation and entrepreneurs' motivations behind innovation, especially with reference to star-ups.…”