Food industry is increasingly adopting large number of food safety management system standards (FSMS), as the organizations seek to enhance safety of the food products to meet the requirements put forward by the customers and markets. Multiple food safety management systems (MFSMS) is the situation in which one organization has adopted and implemented more than one FSMS standard. MFSMS causes various issues that affects the systematic functioning of FSMS of the firms. An ideal alternative for the organizations would be to adopt internationally accepted and benchmarked single FSMS standard and practice it effectively. Yet there is a need for practicable alternatives for multiple FSMS which is taken as objective of this study.
Both quantitative and qualitative methodologies were used in the study. Qualitative research was used to explain the findings obtained from quantitative research. A research instrument was designed with 11 items on alternatives for MFSMS. A five-point Likert scale was used to measure the items. Data was collected from 119 sample seafood processing firms in India which has adopted MFSMS. Proportionate stratified sequential random sampling method was followed to select samples. Factor analysis was carried out using IBM SPSS 24.0. Principal components analysis with Varimax rotation was used to analyze underlying factors and to form uncorrelated linear combinations of the observed variables. An unstructured questionnaire was prepared for qualitative research. The questionnaire was organized in laddering style to assist depth interview. Fifteen experts with minimum five years of expertise in the respective areas such as FSMS standards (5 numbers), food safety regulations (5 numbers) and food safety certifications (5 numbers) were interviewed to identify the alternatives for MFSMS.
The factors identified as alternatives were, effective benchmarking systems, integration of FSMS standards and effective third party auditing were further substantiated by the results of interviews with experts.
Significant gap was observed in communication and the creating of awareness among the stakeholders on benchmarking. Integrated approach to the standards and effectiveness of third party auditing were other key areas which can contribute to the reduction of MFSMS practice in the industry. The results highlighted the need of inclusive standard development process considering the interests of all the stakeholders and the timely updated comprehensive standards in terms of contents and scientific approaches.
The findings have implications on the approaches of standard developers, benchmarking bodies, regulatory bodies, certification bodies, customers and processing firms. Identifying the appropriate alternatives will help the interested parties to review and restructure the process of developing, benchmarking, updating, enforcing and implementing FSMS standards. It will also help the processing firms to develop strategies for adopting management system standards.