Identifying Innovative Interventions to Promote Healthy Eating Using Consumption-Oriented Food Supply Chain Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Hawkes, Corinna

2009-01-01

The mapping and analysis of supply chains is a technique increasingly used to address problems in the food system. Yet such supply chain management has not yet been applied as a means of encouraging healthier diets. Moreover, most policies recommended to promote healthy eating focus on the consumer end of the chain. This article proposes a consumption-oriented food supply chain analysis to identify the changes needed in the food supply chain to create a healthier food environment, measured in terms of food availability, prices, and marketing. Along with established forms of supply chain analysis, the method is informed by a historical overview of how food supply chains have changed over time. The method posits that the actors and actions in the chain are affected by organizational, financial, technological, and policy incentives and disincentives, which can in turn be levered for change. It presents a preliminary example of the supply of Coca-Cola beverages into school vending machines and identifies further potential applications. These include fruit and vegetable supply chains, local food chains, supply chains for health-promoting versions of food products, and identifying financial incentives in supply chains for healthier eating. PMID:23144674

Identifying Innovative Interventions to Promote Healthy Eating Using Consumption-Oriented Food Supply Chain Analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Hawkes, Corinna

2009-07-01

The mapping and analysis of supply chains is a technique increasingly used to address problems in the food system. Yet such supply chain management has not yet been applied as a means of encouraging healthier diets. Moreover, most policies recommended to promote healthy eating focus on the consumer end of the chain. This article proposes a consumption-oriented food supply chain analysis to identify the changes needed in the food supply chain to create a healthier food environment, measured in terms of food availability, prices, and marketing. Along with established forms of supply chain analysis, the method is informed by a historical overview of how food supply chains have changed over time. The method posits that the actors and actions in the chain are affected by organizational, financial, technological, and policy incentives and disincentives, which can in turn be levered for change. It presents a preliminary example of the supply of Coca-Cola beverages into school vending machines and identifies further potential applications. These include fruit and vegetable supply chains, local food chains, supply chains for health-promoting versions of food products, and identifying financial incentives in supply chains for healthier eating.

Achieving competitiveness through supply chain integration

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Arlbjørn, Jan Stentoft; Wong, Chee Yew; Seerup, Søren

2007-01-01

Supply chain development can take place in several steps, from functional optimisation, then internal integration, dyadic integration and last, integration in chains and networks. Before external integration gives true value, order in own house must be achieved. This paper presents a case study...... of a Danish manufacturer that has gone through a major transformation process, and the paper intends to discuss how such a Business Process Reengineering (BPR) project aimed to achieve internal integration. The paper demonstrates how improved competitiveness can be obtained through a synchronous...

Effect of including decay chains on predictions of equilibrium-type terrestrial food chain models

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kirchner, G.

1990-01-01

Equilibrium-type food chain models are commonly used for assessing the radiological impact to man from environmental releases of radionuclides. Usually these do not take into account build-up of radioactive decay products during environmental transport. This may be a potential source of underprediction. For estimating consequences of this simplification, the equations of an internationally recognised terrestrial food chain model have been extended to include decay chains of variable length. Example calculations show that for releases from light water reactors as expected both during routine operation and in the case of severe accidents, the build-up of decay products during environmental transport is generally of minor importance. However, a considerable number of radionuclides of potential radiological significance have been identified which show marked contributions of decay products to calculated contamination of human food and resulting radiation dose rates. (author)

Food Safety Perceptions and Practices among Smallholder Pork Value Chain Actors in Hung Yen Province, Vietnam.

Science.gov (United States)

Dang-Xuan, Sinh; Nguyen-Viet, Hung; Meeyam, Tongkorn; Fries, Reinhard; Nguyen-Thanh, Huong; Pham-Duc, Phuc; Lam, Steven; Grace, Delia; Unger, Fred

2016-09-01

Pork safety is an important public health concern in Vietnam and is a shared responsibility among many actors along the pork value chain. We examined the knowledge, perceptions, and practices regarding food safety, disease, and health risk among selected pork value chain actors (slaughterhouse owners and workers, people living around slaughterhouses, pork sellers, consumers, and veterinary and public health staff) in three districts in Hung Yen Province, Vietnam. We randomly selected 52 pork value chain actors to be surveyed through questionnaires, observation checklists, key informant interviews, and focus group discussions. Most slaughterhouse workers acquired knowledge and experience of food safety through "learning by doing" rather than from training by a veterinary or public health professional. Both slaughterhouse worker and pork seller groups had some accurate perceptions about pig diseases and foodborne diseases; however, misperceptions of risk and, especially, of zoonoses were present. Furthermore, while workers and sellers often use cloths to dry the meat and clean equipment, they did not think this was a risk for meat contamination. Moreover, when sellers wear protective equipment, such as gloves, masks, or hats, consumers perceive that the sellers may have health issues they are trying to conceal and so consumers avoid buying from them. The perceived freshness of pork, along with trust in the seller and in the pork production process, were strong indicators of consumer preference. And yet, pork value chain actors tend to trust their own individual food safety practices more, rather than the practices of other actors along the chain. Veterinary and public health staff emphasized the gap between regulations and food safety practices. Education and training on food safety risks and proper handling are priorities, along with integrated and intensive efforts to improve food safety among pork value chain actors.

Changing pollutants to green biogases for the crop food cycle chain.

Science.gov (United States)

Zong, B Y; Xu, F J; Zong, B D; Zhang, Z G

2012-09-01

When fossil fuels on the Earth are used up, which kind of green energy can be used to replace them? Do every bioenergy generation or crop food chain results in environmental pollution? These questions are major concerns in a world facing restricted supplies of energy and food as well as environmental pollutions. To alleviate these issues, option biogases are explored in this paper. Two types of biogas generators were used for modifying the traditional crop food chain [viz. from atmospheric CO(2) photosynthesis to crops, crop stem/husk biowastes (burnt in cropland or as home fuels), to livestock droppings (dumping away), pork and people foods, then to CO(2)], via turning the biowaste pollutants into green bioenergies. By analyzing the traditional food chain via observation method, the drawbacks of by-product biowastes were revealed. Also, the whole cycle chain was further analyzed to assess its "greenness," using experimental data and other information, such as the material balance (e.g., the absorbed CO(2), investment versus generated food, energy, and wastes). The data show that by using the two types of biogas generators, clean renewable bioenergy, crop food, and livestock meat could be continuously produced without creating any waste to the world. The modification chain largely reduced CO(2) greenhouse gas and had a low-cost investment. The raw materials for the gas generators were only the wastes of crop stems and livestock droppings. Thus, the recommended CO(2) bioenergy cycle chain via the modification also greatly solved the environmental biowaste pollutions in the world. The described two type biogases effectively addressed the issues on energy, food, and environmental pollution. The green renewable bioenergy from the food cycle chain may be one of suitable alternatives to fossil and tree fuels for agricultural countries.

Spin chains and Gustafson's integrals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Derkachov, S.E; Manashov, A.N.; Regensburg Univ.

2016-12-01

The Gustafson's integrals are the multidimensional generalization of the classical Mellin-Barnes integrals. We show that some of these integrals arise from relations between matrix elements in the Sklyanin's representation of Separated Variables in the spin chain models. We also present several new integrals.

Costs of food waste along the value chain: evidence from South Africa.

Science.gov (United States)

Nahman, Anton; de Lange, Willem

2013-11-01

In a previous paper (Nahman et al., 2012), the authors estimated the costs of household food waste in South Africa, based on the market value of the wasted food (edible portion only), as well as the costs of disposal to landfill. In this paper, we extend the analysis by assessing the costs of edible food waste throughout the entire food value chain, from agricultural production through to consumption at the household level. First, food waste at each stage of the value chain was quantified in physical units (tonnes) for various food commodity groups. Then, weighted average representative prices (per tonne) were estimated for each commodity group at each stage of the value chain. Finally, prices were multiplied by quantities, and the resulting values were aggregated across the value chain for all commodity groups. In this way, the total cost of food waste across the food value chain in South Africa was estimated at R61.5 billion per annum (approximately US$7.7 billion); equivalent to 2.1% of South Africa's annual gross domestic product. The bulk of this cost arises from the processing and distribution stages of the fruit and vegetable value chain, as well as the agricultural production and distribution stages of the meat value chain. These results therefore provide an indication of where interventions aimed at reducing food waste should be targeted. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

An oil spill-food chain interaction model for coastal waters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yew Hoong Gin, K.; Huda, Md. K.; Tkalich, P.

2001-01-01

An oil spill-food chain interaction model, composed of a multiphase oil spill model (MOSM) and a food chain model, has been developed to assess the probable impacts of oil spills on several key marine organisms (phytoplankton, zooplankton, small fish, large fish and benthic invertebrates). The MOSM predicts oil slick thickness on the water surface; dissolved, emulsified and particulate oil concentrations in the water column; and dissolved and particulate oil concentrations in bed sediments. This model is used to predict the fate of oil spills and transport with respect to specific organic compounds, while the food chain model addresses the uptake of toxicant by marine organisms. The oil spill-food chain interaction model can be used to assess the environmental impacts of oil spills in marine ecosystems. The model is applied to the recent Evoikos-Orapin Global oil spill that occurred in the Singapore Strait. (author)

The relevance of the food production chain with regard to the population exposure to chemical substances and its role in contaminated sites.

Science.gov (United States)

Mancini, Francesca Romana; Busani, Luca; Tait, Sabrina; La Rocca, Cinzia

2016-01-01

Food may be contaminated with many chemical substances at any level along the production chain. Chemicals that may be found in food items can simultaneously be present in other matrices, as air, water, soil and dust; therefore, human exposure to chemicals via food has to be summed to the exposure through all the other possible routes. The role played by the food production chain with regard to the population exposure to chemicals assumes amplified proportions when considering contaminated sites. Indeed the link between environment and food production is undeniable and consequently, when population chemical exposure is considered, an integrated approach assessing the contribution of the different routes of exposure, including dietary exposure, is needed. Such integrated approach allows a realistic and comprehensive risk assessment of chemical substances in order to identify and deploy effective prevention and intervention measures to protect human health.

Review of the ecological parameters of radionuclide turnover in vertebrate food chains

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kitchings, T.; DiGregorio, D.; Van Voris, P.

1976-01-01

Ecological studies of radionuclides in the environment have a long tradition in developing the capability to identify and predict movement and concentration of nuclides in agricultural food chains leading to man. Food chain pathways and transfer coefficients for the nonagricultural portions of natural and managed ecosystems characteristic of affected habitats adjacent to nuclear facilities have not been adequately characterized to establish reliable models for radionuclide releases. This information is necessary in order to assess the impact that such installations will have on the biota of natural ecosystems. Since food chains are the major processes transferring elements from one trophic level to another in terrestrial ecosystems, information is needed on the (a) food-chain transfer pathways, (b) bioconcentration by each trophic component and (c) turnover rates by receptor organisms. These data are prerequisite inputs for food-chain transport models and can be correlated with species characteristics (e.g., body weight and feeding habits), to provide indices for predictive calculations. Application of these models for radionuclide transfer can aid in the assessment of radioactive releases from nuclear reactor facilities to terrestrial nonagricultural food chains

Tropical food chains: Governance regimes for quality management

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ruben, R.; Boekel, van M.A.J.S.; Tilburg, van A.; Trienekens, J.H.

2007-01-01

International supply chains of vulnerable tropical food products face major problems in the fields of quality performance and coordination between supply chain partners. Degradation and variability of quality, segmentation of supply networks and scattered production by smallholder producers could

Planning and control in fresh food supply chains

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Damgaard, Cecilie Maria; Chabada, Lukas; Dukovska-Popovska, Iskra

2013-01-01

directions. Design/methodology/approach The paper is based on a structured literature review of articles with the main focus on P&C of fresh food products. The review is based on a range of published works from main journals on supply chain management over the last 10 years. The gaps and challenges...... directions in this area. Practical implications The paper enhances the focus on P&C in FFSC in practice, and defines important implications for why and how P&C should be practiced from a supply chain perspective. Original/value The paper presents an overview of the literature on P&C issues of fresh food......Purpose The purpose of this paper is to determine the current state of research in the planning and control (P&C) literature in regards to fresh food supply chains (FFSC). Based on the literature review, important research areas are identified and serve as guidelines for defining future research...

CARBON FOOTPRINT IN SUSTAINABLE FOOD CHAIN AND ITS IMPORTANCE FOR FOOD CONSUMER

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Piotr Konieczny

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Freshness, sensory attributes and food safety are currently indicated as main criteria in respect to food purchasing decisions. However, growing number of consumers are ready to choose also environmentally friendly food products. Carbon Footprint (CF expressed in CO2 equivalent of greenhouse gas emission seems to be an innovative indicator useful to evaluate environmental impacts associated with production and distribution of food. The review carried out in this study is based mainly on data presented in papers and reports published in recent decade, including some opinions available on various internet websites. In this study are discussed some examples of CF values calculated both, production of primary raw materials, food processing stages, final products transporting and activities taken during food preparation in the household, as well. The CF indicator offers also a new tool to promote disposition of food products distributed e.g. through big international supermarket chains. Mostly due to the suggestion of ecological institutions, direct comparison of CF values for different food products leads even to postulate almost total elimination of less eco-friendly animal origin food (like red meat from the diet of typical consumer. So, improving the state of consumers education in respect to environmental issues of whole food chain might effect not only their eating habits but also their health.

Human and animal health risk assessments of chemicals in the food chain: Comparative aspects and future perspectives

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dorne, J.L.C.M.; Fink-Gremmels, J.

2013-01-01

Chemicals from anthropogenic and natural origins enter animal feed, human food and water either as undesirable contaminants or as part of the components of a diet. Over the last five decades, considerable efforts and progress to develop methodologies to protect humans and animals against potential risks associated with exposure to such potentially toxic chemicals have been made. This special issue presents relevant methodological developments and examples of risk assessments of undesirable substances in the food chain integrating the animal health and the human health perspective and refers to recent Opinions of the Scientific Panel on Contaminants in the Food Chain (CONTAM) of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). This introductory review aims to give a comparative account of the risk assessment steps used in human health and animal health risk assessments for chemicals in the food chain and provides a critical view of the data gaps and future perspectives for this cross-disciplinary field. - Highlights: ► Principles of human and animal health risk assessment. ► Data gaps for each step of animal health risk assessment. ► Implications of animal risk assessment on human risk assessment. ► Future perspectives on chemical risk assessment

Human and animal health risk assessments of chemicals in the food chain: Comparative aspects and future perspectives

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dorne, J.L.C.M., E-mail: jean-lou.dorne@efsa.europa.eu [Emerging Risk Unit, Via Carlo Magno 1A, 43126 Parma (Italy); Fink-Gremmels, J. [Utrecht University, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences, Yalelaan 104, 3584 CM Utrecht (Netherlands)

2013-08-01

Chemicals from anthropogenic and natural origins enter animal feed, human food and water either as undesirable contaminants or as part of the components of a diet. Over the last five decades, considerable efforts and progress to develop methodologies to protect humans and animals against potential risks associated with exposure to such potentially toxic chemicals have been made. This special issue presents relevant methodological developments and examples of risk assessments of undesirable substances in the food chain integrating the animal health and the human health perspective and refers to recent Opinions of the Scientific Panel on Contaminants in the Food Chain (CONTAM) of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). This introductory review aims to give a comparative account of the risk assessment steps used in human health and animal health risk assessments for chemicals in the food chain and provides a critical view of the data gaps and future perspectives for this cross-disciplinary field. - Highlights: ► Principles of human and animal health risk assessment. ► Data gaps for each step of animal health risk assessment. ► Implications of animal risk assessment on human risk assessment. ► Future perspectives on chemical risk assessment.

Intercomparison of the terrestrial food chain models FOOD-MARC and ECOSYS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Proehl, G.; Friedland, W.; Paretzke, H.G.

1985-12-01

Time-dependent food chain models, FOOD-MARC and ECOSYS, have been developed independently at the NRPB and at the GSF respectively. Both models are compared with respect to the model assumptions and the parameters used. A further point of this study is the analysis of the influence of actual differences in agricultural conditions in the United Kingdom and the Federal Republic of Germany on the results. A single deposition of 1 Bq/m 2 was assumed of selected radionuclides on an area in agricultural use. The endpoints considered are the resulting activity concentrations in plant and animal foodstuffs as a function of time after deposition. The cumulative concentrations integrated over 50 years are calculated. A deposition in winter (January 1) and another one in summer (July 1) are considered separately to point out the seasonal influence on the contamination of foodstuffs. In this comparison, the products vegetables, grain, roots, milk, meat, and the radionuclides Sr-89/90, Ru-106, Cs-134/137, I-129/131/133, and Pu-239 are taken into account. The activity concentrations in food products are calculated for the times 7 d, 30 d, 100 d, 200 d, 1 a, 2 a, 5 a, 10 a, 20 a, and 50 a after the single deposition on January 1 or July 1. (orig./HP)

Environmental transparency of food supply chains - Current Status and Challenges

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wognum, N.; Bremmers, H.J.

2009-01-01

Food chains need to become more sustainable to regain and retain consumer trust after recent food incidents and scandals. One of the key components of sustainability is environmental care. To what extent do supply chains invest in environmental care and to what extent are consumers willing to pay

Review of the ecological parameters of radionuclide turnover in vertebrate food chains

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kitchings, T.; DiGregorio, D.; Van Voris, P.

1975-01-01

Ecological studies of radionuclides in the environment have a long tradition in developing the capability to identify and predict movement and concentration of nuclides in agronomic food chains leading to man. Food chain pathways and transfer coefficients for the non-agronomic portions of natural and managed ecosystems characteristic of affected habitats adjacent to nuclear facilities have not been adequately characterized to establish reliable dispersion models for radionuclide releases. This information is necessary in order to assess the impact that such installations will have on the biota of natural ecosystems. Since food chains are the major processes transferring elements from one trophic level to another in terrestrial ecosystems, information is needed on the food-chain transfer pathways, bioconcentration by each trophic component, and turnover rates by receptor organisms. These data are prerequisite inputs for food-chain transport models and can be correlated with species characteristics (e.g., body weight and feeding habitats), to provide indices for predictive dispersion calculations. Application of these models for radionuclide transfer can aid in the assessment of radioactive releases from nuclear reactor facilities to terrestrial non-agronomic food chains. (U.S.)

ePedigree Traceability System for the Agricultural Food Supply Chain to Ensure Consumer Health

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Umar Farooq

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Sustainability relies on the environmental, social and economical systems: the three pillars of sustainability. The social sustainability mostly advocates the people’s welfare, health, safety, and quality of life. In the agricultural food industry, the aspects of social sustainability, such as consumer health and safety have gained substantial attention due to the frequent cases of food-borne diseases. The food-borne diseases due to the food degradation, chemical contamination and adulteration of food products pose a serious threat to the consumer’s health, safety, and quality of life. To ensure the consumer’s health and safety, it is essential to develop an efficient system which can address these critical social issues in the food distribution networks. This research proposes an ePedigree (electronic pedigree traceability system based on the integration of RFID and sensor technology for real-time monitoring of the agricultural food to prevent the distribution of hazardous and adulterated food products. The different aspects regarding implementation of the proposed system in food chains are analyzed and a feasible integrated solution is proposed. The performance of the proposed system is evaluated and finally, a comprehensive analysis of the proposed ePedigree system’s impact on the social sustainability in terms of consumer health and safety is presented.

Advanced Value Chain Collaboration in Ghana's Cocoa Sector: An Entry Point for Integrated Landscape Approaches?

Science.gov (United States)

Deans, Howard; Ros-Tonen, Mirjam A F; Derkyi, Mercy

2017-04-15

Value chain analyses have focused mainly on collaboration between chain actors, often neglecting collaboration "beyond the chain" with non-chain actors to tackle food security, poverty and sustainability issues in the landscapes in which these value chains are embedded. Comparing conventional and advanced value chain collaborations involving small-scale cocoa farmers in Ghana, this paper analyzes the merits of a more integrated approach toward value chain collaboration. It particularly asks whether advanced value chain collaboration targeting cocoa-producing areas potentially offers an entry point for implementing a landscape approach. The findings detail current chain actors and institutions and show how advanced value chain collaboration has a greater positive impact than conventional value chain collaboration on farmers' social, human and natural capital. The paper concludes that the integrated approach, focus on learning, and stable relationships with small-scale farmers inherent in advanced value chain collaboration makes it both more sustainable and effective at the local level than conventional approaches. However, its scope and the actors' jurisdictional powers and self-organization are too limited to be the sole tool in negotiating land use and trade-offs at the landscape level. To evolve as such would require certification beyond the farm level, partnering with other landscape stakeholders, and brokering by bridging organizations.

Estimation of the furan contamination across the Belgian food chain

OpenAIRE

Scholl , Georges; Scippo , Marie-Louise; Eppe , Gauthier; De Pauw , Edwin; Saegerman , Claude

2011-01-01

Abstract The current paper provides the estimate of the furan content in Belgian foods. The objective of the study was to achieve the best food chain coverage with a restrictive number of samples (n=496). The geographic distribution, the different market chains and labels, but also the consumption frequencies were taken into account for the sampling plan construction. Weighting factors on contamination levels, consumption frequency and diversity of food items were applied to set ...

Simulation of radionuclide transfer in agricultural food chains

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matthies, M.; Eisfeld, K.; Mueller, H.; Paretzke, H.G.; Proehl, G.; Wirth, E.

1982-12-01

Radioactive releases from nuclear facilities could pose longterm potential hazards to man if radionuclides enter food chains leading to man. The aim of the study was to develop radioecological and dosimetric models for the assessments of the activity intake by man via ingestion and the resulting radiation exposure for members of the population, in particular after accidental releases from fuel reprocessing plants and related installations. A dynamic compartment model for the transfer of radionuclides through agricultural food chains has been developed. Special emphasis is given to the time dependence and the biological and site specific variability of the various transfer and accumulation processes. Agricultural practices representative for Western Europe have been taken into consideration for food production (grain, potatoes, vegetables, beef and pork, milk). For the most relevant long-lived radionuclides a short-term initial deposition of 1 Ci/km 2 on agricultural areas at different months has been assumed and the time dependent transport through various food chains has been assessed. As a main result great differences have been calculated for the various months of releases because of plant foliar uptake and translocation into edible parts of the plants during the vegetation cycle. The potential activity intake over 50 years for the various nuclides and the resulting radiation exposure is dominated by the first two years after the release if no food restrictions are assumed. (orig./MG) [de

Supply chain integration, risk management and manufacturing flexibility

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Chaudhuri, Atanu; Boer, Harry; Taran, Yariv

2018-01-01

, respectively, and manufacturing flexibility. Design/methodology/approach – Using hierarchical regression, data are analyzed from a sample of 343 manufacturing plants in Asia collected in 2013-2014 as part of the International Manufacturing Strategy Survey (IMSS VI). Findings – Internal integration and supply......Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of internal integration, external integration and supply chain risk management on manufacturing flexibility, and the moderating effect of supply chain risk management on the relationships between internal and external integration...... chain risk management have a direct effect on manufacturing flexibility. Supply chain risk management moderates the relationship between external integration and flexibility. Research limitations/implications – Further research is needed to generalize beyond the flexibility performance of discrete...

Impact of the Customers’ and Governments’ Demands on Complex Food Supply Chains

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexandra Ioana IONESCU FLOREA

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Food crisis are always of big concern for the consumers and governments. Complex supply chains make it more difficult for all actors involved to manage such a crisis. Companies in the food industry must respond now not only to the concerns of customers about the food safety, but also to their need for fresh and healthy products. Together with governments, to enforce regularly the legislation, customers affect the way food actors conduct their business, and can have a great impact on the food supply chain. In order to answer these needs, companies have to modify their supply chains and operate with more transparency, taking into account the demands for traceability. The objective of this article is to analyze how customers and governments trigger more transparency from the food companies and supply chains, the opportunities and challenges of implementing and communicating transparency and traceability.

Integrated Simulation Of Supply Chain Management

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N.Manikandan

2013-06-01

Full Text Available Nowadays, manufacturers face the challenge of reducing manufacturing cycle time, delivery lead time and inventory reduction. Every organization has its own objectives and its own way of decision making processes. Because of the conflictions among the objectives of each organization and non-integrated decision making processes, there has been a need for a new mechanism, which help to resolve those conflictions and to integrate processes. In the early 1990s, management is a process of integrating and utilizing suppliers, manufacturers, warehouses and retailers, so that goods are produced and delivered at the right quantities and at the right time while minimizing costs as well as satisfying customer requirements. Managing the entire supply chain becomes a key factor for the successful business. Organizations now realize that non-integrated manufacturing processes, nonintegrated distribution processes and poor relationships with suppliers and customers are in adequate for their success. The supply chain areas are affected by the organization’s plan. The organization plan’s impact on the supply chain areas cannot be predicted before its execution. Simulation paves way to evaluate the performance of plans before the execution of the plan. This paper describes the effort of developing a simulation model for the supply chain management in an industry. This article discusses the requirement of supply chain simulation modeling.

Environmental Impacts and Hotspots of Food Losses: Value Chain Analysis of Swiss Food Consumption.

Science.gov (United States)

Beretta, Claudio; Stucki, Matthias; Hellweg, Stefanie

2017-10-03

Reducing food losses and waste is crucial to making our food system more efficient and sustainable. This is the first paper that quantifies the environmental impacts of food waste by distinguishing the various stages of the food value chain, 33 food categories that represent the whole food basket in Switzerland, and including food waste treatment. Environmental impacts are expressed in terms of climate change and biodiversity impacts due to water and land use. Climate change impacts of food waste are highest for fresh vegetables, due to the large amounts wasted, while the specific impact per kg is largest for beef. Biodiversity impacts are mainly caused by cocoa and coffee (16% of total) and by beef (12%). Food waste at the end of the food value chain (households and food services) causes almost 60% of the total climate impacts of food waste, because of the large quantities lost at this stage and the higher accumulated impacts per kg of product. The net environmental benefits from food waste treatment are only 5-10% of the impacts from production and supply of the wasted food. Thus, avoiding food waste should be a first-line priority, while optimizing the method of treatment is less relevant.

Peruvian Food Chain Jenga: Learning Ecosystems with an Interactive Model

Science.gov (United States)

Hartweg, Beau; Biffi, Daniella; de la Fuente, Yohanis; Malkoc, Ummuhan; Patterson, Melissa E.; Pearce, Erin; Stewart, Morgan A.; Weinburgh, Molly

2017-01-01

A pilot study was conducted on a multimodal educational tool, Peruvian Food Chain Jenga (PFCJ), with 5th-grade students (N = 54) at a public charter school. The goal was to compare the effectiveness of the multimodal tool to a more traditional presentation of the same materials (food chain) using an experimental/control design. Data collection…

Food chain data customization for decision support systems in Austria

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gert, Sdouz; Manfred, Pachole

2006-01-01

In the case of a nuclear accident in Europe the integral decision support system R.O.D.O.S. ( real-time on-line decision support system for off-site emergency management) supplies comprehensive information on the present and future radiological situation, and the consequences of measures to protect the population. These data comprise mainly map information such as population distribution, rivers, roads, vegetation areas and production data of various food products. This work concentrates on the customization of the data for the food chain and dose module for terrestrial pathways. During the last fifteen years two different codes have been used in Austria for support during accidents with radioactive releases: O.E.C.O.S.Y.S. and R.O.D.O.S.. Adaptations and improvements have been performed to give better tools, they are detailed in this paper. (N.C.)

Food chain data customization for decision support systems in Austria

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gert, Sdouz; Manfred, Pachole [ARC Seibersdorf research, Seibersdorf (Austria)

2006-07-01

In the case of a nuclear accident in Europe the integral decision support system R.O.D.O.S. ( real-time on-line decision support system for off-site emergency management) supplies comprehensive information on the present and future radiological situation, and the consequences of measures to protect the population. These data comprise mainly map information such as population distribution, rivers, roads, vegetation areas and production data of various food products. This work concentrates on the customization of the data for the food chain and dose module for terrestrial pathways. During the last fifteen years two different codes have been used in Austria for support during accidents with radioactive releases: O.E.C.O.S.Y.S. and R.O.D.O.S.. Adaptations and improvements have been performed to give better tools, they are detailed in this paper. (N.C.)

Do we need an integrative approach to food safety at the country level?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ristic, G.

2002-01-01

Scientific data show increasing evidence of relationship between food safety and food standards on one hand and public health concern on the other hand. In FR Yugoslavia in 1989 the system of reporting on food safety issues on federal and republic level was established. The system provides data on laboratory analysis of 22 food items (bread, milk, meat and meat products, vegetables, processed vegetables etc). Those items were and still are tested on food quality and safety parameters such as microbiological, chemical and radio nuclides. Seldom all required testing on chemical and radio nuclides are performed, so we lack exact risk assessment for those contaminants. Further, during war conflict in FR Yugoslavia and also due to industrial hazards in neighbouring countries (Rumania, Hungary) high quantities of PCBs, dioxins, heavy metals, arsenic compounds and other toxic compounds contaminated the environment. In the soil and in some food products (animal fats predominantly) radionuclides originating from Chernobyl hazard can still be detected. In order to identify the level of exposure to chemical and radio nuclide contaminants in the food chain it is essential to test intensively and systematically food from animal and from plant origin. In order to prevent entering the contaminants to the food chain new recommendations from WHO, FAO and EU suggest implementation of integrative approach to food safety and control over the whole chain of food production from 'farm to table'. This approach provides control of the contaminants in soil, water, air, control over primary food production (covering animal feed too), intensive control over processing with implementation of HACCP system, but also, over transportation, retail trade, street food and home made food too. In our country creation of the map of the polluted areas, and actions in order to treat the pollution should accompany implementation of this new food safety system. The need for assessment of the level of

Do we need an integrative approach to food safety at the country level?

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ristic, G E-mail:risticg@eunet yu [Department of Nutrition, Medical Faculty, Belgrade (Yugoslavia)

2002-05-01

Scientific data show increasing evidence of relationship between food safety and food standards on one hand and public health concern on the other hand. In FR Yugoslavia in 1989 the system of reporting on food safety issues on federal and republic level was established. The system provides data on laboratory analysis of 22 food items (bread, milk, meat and meat products, vegetables, processed vegetables etc). Those items were and still are tested on food quality and safety parameters such as microbiological, chemical and radio nuclides. Seldom all required testing on chemical and radio nuclides are performed, so we lack exact risk assessment for those contaminants. Further, during war conflict in FR Yugoslavia and also due to industrial hazards in neighbouring countries (Rumania, Hungary) high quantities of PCBs, dioxins, heavy metals, arsenic compounds and other toxic compounds contaminated the environment. In the soil and in some food products (animal fats predominantly) radionuclides originating from Chernobyl hazard can still be detected. In order to identify the level of exposure to chemical and radio nuclide contaminants in the food chain it is essential to test intensively and systematically food from animal and from plant origin. In order to prevent entering the contaminants to the food chain new recommendations from WHO, FAO and EU suggest implementation of integrative approach to food safety and control over the whole chain of food production from 'farm to table'. This approach provides control of the contaminants in soil, water, air, control over primary food production (covering animal feed too), intensive control over processing with implementation of HACCP system, but also, over transportation, retail trade, street food and home made food too. In our country creation of the map of the polluted areas, and actions in order to treat the pollution should accompany implementation of this new food safety system. The need for assessment of the level of

Effective use of product quality information in food supply chain logistics

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rijpkema, W.A.

2014-01-01

Food supply chains have inherent characteristics, such as variability in product quality and quality decay, which put specific demands on logistics decision making. Furthermore, food supply chain organization and control has changed significantly in the past decades by factors such as scale

Environmental assessment of management options for nutrient flows in the food chain in China.

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Lin; Wang, Fanghao; Zhang, Weifeng; Ma, Wenqi; Velthof, Gerard; Qin, Wei; Oenema, Oene; Zhang, Fusuo

2013-07-02

The nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) costs of food production have increased greatly in China during the last 30 years, leading to eutrophication of surface waters, nitrate leaching to groundwater, and greenhouse gas emissions. Here, we present the results of scenario analyses in which possible changes in food production-consumption in China for the year 2030 were explored. Changes in food chain structure, improvements in technology and management, and combinations of these on food supply and environmental quality were analyzed with the NUFER model. In the business as usual scenario, N and P fertilizer consumption in 2030 will be driven by population growth and diet changes and will both increase by 25%. N and P losses will increase by 44 and 73%, respectively, relative to the reference year 2005. Scenarios with increased imports of animal products and feed instead of domestic production, and with changes in the human diet, indicate reductions in fertilizer consumption and N and P losses relative to the business as usual scenario. Implementation of a package of integrated nutrient management measures may roughly nullify the increases in losses in the business as usual scenario and may greatly increase the efficiency of N and P throughout the whole food chain.

Towards the Development of Innovative Strategies for Traditional Food Chains in the EU

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adrienn Molnár

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Organizations no longer compete as independent entities, but as chains (Christopher, 1998; Cox, 1999; Lambert, Cooper, 2000. Consequently, chain strategies became more important in creating competitive advantage (Vickery et al., 2003; Gunasekaran et al., 2004. Despite the growing recognition of the importance of chain strategies, many chains active in the agri-business sector still face difficulties in developing common chain strategies and implementing them collaboratively to generate additional mutual gains and savings. Chains lacking a chain strategy and having short-term perspectives face difficulties in envisaging and implementing cooperative solutions to problems they cannot manage alone. Despite this recognition, the actual development of such chain strategies lags behind because of some particular issues which still need to be addressed (e.g. vision, mission, values or action plans. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to identify and consolidate chain members’ goals, to select a minimum set of key goals and to confront these chain goals with consumer preferences. This way, the paper develops the vision of traditional food chains in the EU, as a first step of strategy development. First, chain members goals are identified and consolidated with the help of approximately 100 stakeholders (suppliers, focal companies, customers from three European countries representing 5 traditional food product categories (cheese, beer, dry ham, dry sausage and white pepper. The most important goals of traditional food chains are to maintain traditionalism, to improve responsiveness, to maintain superior quality and to create chain balance. These chain goals are tested against the perception of 4828 consumers from six European countries (Belgium, France, Italy, Norway, Poland and Spain. As a result, the vision of traditional food chains is developed: the European traditional food sector envisions a competitive sector maintaining the traditional

Effective use of product quality information in food supply chain logistics

OpenAIRE

Rijpkema, W.A.

2014-01-01

Food supply chains have inherent characteristics, such as variability in product quality and quality decay, which put specific demands on logistics decision making. Furthermore, food supply chain organization and control has changed significantly in the past decades by factors such as scale intensification and globalization. In practice, these characteristics and developments frequently lead to supply chain problems, such as high levels of product waste, product quality problems, and high lo...

Development of a novel scoring system for identifying emerging chemical risks in the food chain.

Science.gov (United States)

Oltmanns, J; Licht, O; Bitsch, A; Bohlen, M-L; Escher, S E; Silano, V; MacLeod, M; Serafimova, R; Kass, G E N; Merten, C

2018-02-21

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) is responsible for risk assessment of all aspects of food safety, including the establishment of procedures aimed at the identification of emerging risks to food safety. Here, a scoring system was developed for identifying chemicals registered under the European REACH Regulation that could be of potential concern in the food chain using the following parameters: (i) environmental release based on maximum aggregated tonnages and environmental release categories; (ii) biodegradation in the environment; (iii) bioaccumulation and in vivo and in vitro toxicity. The screening approach was tested on 100 data-rich chemicals registered under the REACH Regulation at aggregated volumes of at least 1000 tonnes per annum. The results show that substance-specific data generated under the REACH Regulation can be used to identify potential emerging risks in the food chain. After application of the screening procedure, priority chemicals can be identified as potentially emerging risk chemicals through the integration of exposure, environmental fate and toxicity. The default approach is to generate a single total score for each substance using a predefined weighting scenario. However, it is also possible to use a pivot table approach to combine the individual scores in different ways that reflect user-defined priorities, which enables a very flexible, iterative definition of screening criteria. Possible applications of the approaches are discussed using illustrative examples. Either approach can then be followed by in-depth evaluation of priority substances to ensure the identification of substances that present a real emerging chemical risk in the food chain.

The organic food supply chain in relation to information management and the interaction between actors

OpenAIRE

Kottila, Marja-Riitta; Maijala, Adeline; Rönni, Päivi

2005-01-01

Conventional retailers play a significant role in selling organic food, and therefore, it is important to understand how the demand - supply chain of organic food works as an element of the conventional food system. The proportion of organic food in the conventional food chains is small, and this poses a great challenge to the performance of the chain. Surveys and case specific studies on consumers and supply chain actors indicate that the changes in the conventional food system have an impac...

Defining and Analyzing Traceability Systems in Food Supply Chains

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Scholten, H.; Verdouw, C.N.; Beulens, A.J.M.; Vorst, van der J.G.A.J.

2016-01-01

Traceability is considered to be a vital issue for all stakeholders in food supply chains. The most important driver is the increasing societal need to guarantee food quality and provenance. Because consumers cannot know in detail what processing steps are executed in the production of food and what

Virtualization of food supply chains with the internet of things

OpenAIRE

Verdouw, C.N.; Wolfert, J.; Beulens, A.J.M.; Rialland, A.

2016-01-01

Internet technologies allow supply chains to use virtualizations dynamically in operational management processes. This will improve support for food companies in dealing with perishable products, unpredictable supply variations and stringent food safety and sustainability requirements. Virtualization enables supply chain actors to monitor, control, plan and optimize business processes remotely and in real-time through the Internet, based on virtual objects instead of observation on-site. This...

Development of food safety capability in Ghana to enhance access to the Global Food Manufacturing Value Chain (GFMVC)

OpenAIRE

Mensah, L. D.

2011-01-01

Demonstrating compliance with food safety requirements of the global economy is a prerequisite for access. As tariff barriers diminish, developing countries are exposed to greater opportunities for repositioning their food manufacturing sectors in global value chains (GVCs). At the same time, the measures for the protection of public health and safety are becoming more stringent because of the series of food safety crises that characterised the global food value chain in the 19...

Ensuring food safety in food donations: Case study of the Belgian donation/acceptation chain.

Science.gov (United States)

De Boeck, E; Jacxsens, L; Goubert, H; Uyttendaele, M

2017-10-01

The food donation process in Belgium is mapped and analyzed to identify bottlenecks in compliance with the legal framework and implementation of food safety management, based on literature search and interviews with stakeholders (donors, acceptors, regulators and facilitators) in Belgium and at EU level. The study revealed that the food donation/acceptation chain is far less structured and organized than the conventional food supply chain. The fragmented landscape of many small food banks and charity organizations (acceptors), often directed by and working with volunteers without training in food safety and lack of knowledge of legal food hygiene requirements is a bottleneck to generate trust among food donors and restricts the provision of perishable products in food donations. Lack of refrigerated transport and insufficient cold/freezing capacity in food banks and charity organizations was identified as a barrier to distribute perishable products. Furthermore, in two cities in Flanders (Belgium), at some food donation centers, donated perishable food samples (n=72) were taken and subjected to microbiological analysis to determine their overall food quality, hygiene and food safety status. Twenty-two of 72 analyzed samples showed marginal microbiological quality based on numbers of yeast, lactic acid bacteria or total viable count. In three samples Listeria monocytogenes was detected per 25g among which one ready-to-eat cooked meat product which showed increased numbers of L. monocytogenes (3.5logCFU/g) and Enterobacteriaceae (6.7logCFU/g). Overall, in Belgium, most of the donated foods considers nonperishable foods, with more or less half of the food collected by the food banks being purchased with funds from FEAD (Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived) and thus not derived from food losses. Efforts are being made by facilitators to provide a platform for better coordination of donors and acceptors to make more efficient use of food losses. Regulators at the

Responsibility and Sustainability in a Food Chain: A Priority Matrix Analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Francesco Caracciolo

2011-12-01

Full Text Available  This paper shows the results of empirical research conducted to assess the sustainability of a typical food supply chain, suggesting feasible solutions to satisfy inter-dimensional requisites of durable development. The analysis was conducted with reference to the supply chain of the San Marzano tomato (SMZ, a typical local food. The product is endowed with an origin certification label (PDO, meeting demand within high-value market niches. The SMZ is a flagship product in the Italian region of Campania and has benefited from several regionally funded interventions, such as genetic research and support for the application for EU certification of origin. Two key findings emerged from the research. First, the results allowed us to define a Stakeholder Priority and Responsibilities’ Matrix (SPRM, and monitor the sustainability trend of SMZ food supply chains. Second, the consistency between the adoption of quality strategy (brand of origin and sustainable development of the sector was evaluated. Despite its intrinsic characteristics and its organized, well-defined structure, the SMZ food supply chain is unable to address sustainable objectives without considerable public intervention and support. In terms of sustainability, to be able to show desirable food chain characteristics, the existence of a fully collaborative relationship between the actors has to be ascertained. Identifying shared goals is essential to assign and implement coordinated actions, pooling responsibility for product quality into social and environmental dimensions.

From Short Food Supply Chains to Sustainable Agriculture in Urban Food Systems: Food Democracy as a Vector of Transition

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yuna Chiffoleau

2016-10-01

Full Text Available In industrialized nations, local food networks have generally been analyzed through alternative food systems, in spite of the fact that they are much more diverse than this would imply. In France, ‘short food chains’ are both a continuation of a long tradition and a recent trend which now extends beyond activists, to consumers and producers as well. This paper will explore the conditions under which these chains can change the practices and knowledge of ordinary actors in urban food systems, from producers to urban consumers and policy-makers, in the area of agriculture and sustainability. It will consider the case study of the creation and development of an urban open-air market which has been analyzed using intervention research with input from economic sociology. We will highlight how personal relations, which are encouraged by a participatory context, support the evolution of practices and knowledge. We will also illustrate how a system of produce labelling has emerged as a mediation resource, and has increased changes as well as participation within the re-territorialization of the urban food system. By describing a concrete expression of food democracy which is spreading in France via a free collective trademark, and by showing its role in the transition of ‘ordinary’ actors towards a more sustainable agriculture, this paper will shine new light onto local food chains as well as traditional short food chains, and will call for more research on the subject.

Costs of food waste along the value chain: Evidence from South Africa: Presentation

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Nahman, Anton

2013-09-01

Full Text Available We estimate the costs of food waste throughout the entire food value chain, from agricultural production through to consumption at the household level, in economic terms. First, food waste at each stage of the value chain was quantified in physical...

Fallout cesium-137 and mineral-element distribution in food chains of granitic-outcrop ecosystems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Crossley, D.A. Jr.; Duke, K.M.; Waide, J.B.

1975-01-01

Fallout 137 Cs movement is described for arthropod food chains on Panola and Arabia mountains, granite monadnocks in the Georgia Piedmont region. Food chains on mountain slopes had significant 137 Cs in herbivore and predator trophic levels. Food bases were identified from observation and from cesium to potassium ratios in vegetation and arthropods. Lichens are major accumulators of fallout 137 Cs but do not appear to be important food sources for arthropods. Cesium-137 concentrations decrease in the food chains; these decreases resemble those reported for other terrestrial arthropod chains. Aspects of 137 Cs movement and nutrient-element dynamics in granitic-outcrop ecosystems are discussed

The roles of productivity and ecosystem size in determining food chain length in tropical terrestrial ecosystems.

Science.gov (United States)

Young, Hillary S; McCauley, Douglas J; Dunbar, Robert B; Hutson, Michael S; Ter-Kuile, Ana Miller; Dirzo, Rodolfo

2013-03-01

Many different drivers, including productivity, ecosystem size, and disturbance, have been considered to explain natural variation in the length of food chains. Much remains unknown about the role of these various drivers in determining food chain length, and particularly about the mechanisms by which they may operate in terrestrial ecosystems, which have quite different ecological constraints than aquatic environments, where most food chain length studies have been thus far conducted. In this study, we tested the relative importance of ecosystem size and productivity in influencing food chain length in a terrestrial setting. We determined that (1) there is no effect of ecosystem size or productive space on food chain length; (2) rather, food chain length increases strongly and linearly with productivity; and (3) the observed changes in food chain length are likely achieved through a combination of changes in predator size, predator behavior, and consumer diversity along gradients in productivity. These results lend new insight into the mechanisms by which productivity can drive changes in food chain length, point to potential for systematic differences in the drivers of food web structure between terrestrial and aquatic systems, and challenge us to consider how ecological context may control the drivers that shape food chain length.

Sustainability of Global and Local Food Value Chains: An Empirical Comparison of Peruvian and Belgian Asparagus

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jana Schwarz

2016-04-01

Full Text Available The sustainability of food value chains is an increasing concern for consumers, food companies and policy-makers. Global food chains are often perceived to be less sustainable than local food chains. Yet, thorough food chain analyses and comparisons of different food chains across sustainability dimensions are rare. In this article we analyze the local Belgian and global Peruvian asparagus value chains and explore their sustainability performance. A range of indicators linked to environmental, economic and social impacts is calculated to analyze the contribution of the supply chains to economic development, resource use, labor relations, distribution of added value and governance issues. Our findings suggest that none of the two supply chains performs invariably better and that there are trade-offs among and between sustainability dimensions. Whereas the global chain uses water and other inputs more intensively and generates more employment per unit of land and higher yields, the local chain generates more revenue per unit of land.

Quality and Operations Management in Food Supply Chains: A Literature Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yong He

2018-01-01

Full Text Available We present a literature review on quality and operations management problems in food supply chains. In food industry, the quality of the food products declines over time and should be addressed in the supply chain operations management. Managing food supply chains with operations management methods not only generates economic benefit, but also contributes to environmental and social benefits. The literature on this topic has been burgeoning in the past few years. Since 2005, more than 100 articles have been published on this topic in major operations research and management science journals. In this literature review, we concentrate on the quantitative models in this research field and classify the related articles into four categories, that is, storage problems, distribution problems, marketing problems, and food traceability and safety problems. We hope that this review serves as a reference for interested researchers and a starting point for those who wish to explore it further.

Impact evaluation of integrated food-bioenergy systems: A comparative LCA of peach nectar

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

De Menna, Fabio; Vittuari, Matteo; Molari, Giovanni

2015-01-01

Processed food products present high energy intensity, along with a large amount of food losses and waste. The recovery of residual biomass as integrated renewable energy source could represent an interesting option for the substitution of fossil energy, contributing to the transition of agro-food sector towards a low-carbon economy. Two scenarios were compared, in order to evaluate the impacts of a fossil fuel-based food chain and the potential benefits of the integration of bioenergy production, using peach nectar as case study. In the first scenario, peach nectar is produced, distributed and consumed using fossil energy, while residuals are wasted. In the second scenario, byproducts from the nectar chain are used to produce bioenergy from combustion or anaerobic digestion, which is then consumed to substitute electricity and heat. A comparative life cycle assessment (LCA) based on the same functional unit was performed. Main results show that, in the conventional scenario, most of the damage derives from land use, especially for sugar and glucose production, from the fossil energy consumption of about 15 MJ l −1 , and the related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of 0.91 kg CO 2  eq l −1 . Food waste leads to a loss of about 20 kcal l −1 . Bioenergy integration would allow a 13–15% damage reduction, mainly due to the substitution of indirect energy consumption. The effects on human health and ecosystem quality are limited. - Highlights: • Up to 15 MJ l −1 of fossil energy are needed to produce 2.7 MJ of peach nectar. • About 20 out of 648 kcal l −1 of peach and nectar are wasted along the supply chain. • Added ingredients (sugar and glucose) cause a large share of land use impact. • Bioenergy from waste reduces up to 37% of non-renewable energy consumption

Estimation of furan contamination across the Belgian food chain.

Science.gov (United States)

Scholl, G; Scippo, M-L; De Pauw, E; Eppe, G; Saegerman, C

2012-01-01

This paper provides an estimate of the furan content of Belgian foods. The objective of the study was to achieve the best food chain coverage with a restricted number of samples (n = 496). The geographic distribution, different market chains and labels, and consumption frequencies were taken into account in the construction of the sampling plan. Weighting factors such as contamination levels, consumption frequency and the diversity of food items were applied to set up the model. The very low detection capabilities (CC(β)) of the analytical methods used (sub-ppb) allowed reporting of 78.2% of the overall dataset above CC(β) and, in particular, 96.7% for the baby food category. The highest furan levels were found in powdered roasted bean coffee (1912 µg kg(-1)) with a mean of 756 µg kg(-1) for this category. Prepared meat, pasta and rice, breakfast cereals, soups, and baby food also showed high mean furan contents ranging from 16 to 43 µg kg(-1). Comparisons with contamination surveys carried out in other countries pointed out differences for the same food group and therefore contamination levels are related to the geographical origin of food items.

System Dynamics Model for VMI&TPL Integrated Supply Chains

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Guo Li

2013-01-01

Full Text Available This paper establishes VMI-APIOBPCS II model by extending VMI-APIOBPCS model from serial supply chain to distribution supply chain. Then TPL is introduced to this VMI distribution supply chain, and operational framework and process of VMI&TPL integrated supply chain are analyzed deeply. On this basis VMI-APIOBPCS II model is then changed to VMI&TPL-APIOBPCS model and VMI&TPL integrated operation mode is simulated. Finally, compared with VMI-APIOBPCS model, the TPL’s important role of goods consolidation and risk sharing in VMI&TPL integrated supply chain is analyzed in detail from the aspects of bullwhip effect, inventory level, service level, and so on.

The driving forces for nitrogen and phosphorus flows in the food chain of china, 1980 to 2010.

Science.gov (United States)

Hou, Y; Ma, L; Gao, Z L; Wang, F H; Sims, J T; Ma, W Q; Zhang, F S

2013-07-01

Nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) use and losses in China's food chain have accelerated in the past three decades, driven by population growth, rapid urbanization, dietary transition, and changing nutrient management practice. There has been little detailed quantitative analysis of the relative magnitude of these driving forces throughout this period. Therefore, we analyzed changes in N and P flows and key drivers behind changes in the food (production and consumption) chain at the national scale from 1980 to 2010. Food (N and P) consumption increased by about fivefold in urban settings over this period but has decreased in rural settings since the 1990s. For urban settings, the integrated driving forces for increased food consumption were population growth, which accounted for ∼60%, and changing urban diets toward a greater emphasis on the consumption of animal products. Nutrient inputs and losses in crop and animal productions have continuously increased from 1980 to 2010, but the rates of decadal increase were greatly different. Increased total inputs and losses in crop production were primarily driven by increased crop production for food demand (68-96%) in the 1980s but were likely offset in the 2000s by improved nutrient management practices, as evidenced by decreased total inputs to and losses from cropland for harvesting per nutrient in crop. The contributions of animal production to total N and P losses to waters from the food chain increased by 34 and 60% from 1980 to 2010. These increases were caused mainly by decreased ratios of manure returned to cropland. Our study highlights a larger impact of changing nutrient management practice than population growth on elevated nutrient flows in China's food chain. Copyright © by the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America, Inc.

Fast facts: The availability and accessibility of nutrition information in fast food chains.

Science.gov (United States)

Wellard, Lyndal; Glasson, Colleen; Chapman, Kathy; Miller, Caroline

2011-12-01

Nutrition information at the point-of-sale assists consumers to make informed fast food choices. This study provides a baseline measure of the availability and accessibility of nutrition information in fast food outlets in Australia, filling a gap in the literature. An in-store observational survey was conducted in 222 outlets of five fast food chains in five states. The Australian websites for each chain were surveyed for nutrition information. At least some nutrition information was available in 66% of outlets. The availability of information was higher in lower socioeconomic areas. Significantly less information was available in signatory chains of the self-regulatory marketing code. Information provided was generally incomplete; only one outlet (0.5%) provided information for all food and beverage items. In some instances information was old. Information was more available for 'healthier' products and less available for meal combinations. Information was provided on all chains' websites, however it was sometimes difficult to locate. While most outlets surveyed made some nutrition information available to consumers, it was generally incomplete. Fast food chains should provide comprehensive, up-to-date information for all menu items. Chains should also ensure their staff members are adequately trained in providing nutrition information.

The role of food chain traceability in food risk mitigation: expert and consumer outlook

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Frewer, L.J.; Kher, S.V.

2009-01-01

The European Union has enforced mandatory traceability for food business operators for effective monitoring and management of risks associated with food and feed chains. The implementation of such a system needs to take account of stakeholder priorities and expectations. Expert stakeholders (such as

International agri-food chains and networks. Management and Organization

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bijman, J.; Omta, S.W.F.; Trienekens, J.H.; Wijnands, J.H.M.; Wubben, E.F.M.

2006-01-01

This book brings together a rich collection of papers on management and organization in agri-food chains and networks. Producers, processors, traders and retailers of agricultural and food products operate in an economic and institutional environment that is increasingly dominated by global

Yang-Mills correlation functions from integrable spin chains

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roiban, Radu; Volovich, Anastasia

2004-01-01

The relation between the dilatation operator of N = 4 Yang-Mills theory and integrable spin chains makes it possible to compute the one-loop anomalous dimensions of all operators in the theory. In this paper we show how to apply the technology of integrable spin chains to the calculation of Yang-Mills correlation functions by expressing them in terms of matrix elements of spin operators on the corresponding spin chain. We illustrate this method with several examples in the SU(2) sector described by the XXX 1/2 chain. (author)

Agri-food supply chains and sustainability-related issues: evidence from across the Scottish agri-food economy

OpenAIRE

Leat, Philip M.K.; Lamprinopoulou-Kranis, Chrysa; Revoredo-Giha, Cesar; Kupiec-Teahan, Beata

2011-01-01

This paper examines the influence of agri-food supply chains on the sustainability-related activities and decisions of Scottish farmers, as well as the treatment of sustainability issues by food processors and retailers themselves. It is based on 8 whole chain case studies covering some of Scotland’s major agricultural products. The cases identify differing levels of understanding and activities related to sustainability, but widespread acknowledgement that sustainability involves the develop...

The insurability of product recall in food supply chains

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Meuwissen, M.P.M.; Valeeva, N.I.; Velthuis, A.G.J.; Huirne, R.B.M.

2006-01-01

Insurers face growing difficulties with insuring food-related risks among others due to an increasing number of product recalls and an increasing amount of claims being pushed back into the chain. This paper focuses on the risk of product recall in dairy supply chains. The paper aims at providing

Identifying research advancements in supply chain risk management for Agri-food Industries: Literature review

Science.gov (United States)

Septiani, W.; Astuti, P.

2017-12-01

Agri-food supply chain has different characteristics related to the raw materials it uses. Food supply chain has a high risk of damage, thus drawing a lot of attention from researchers in supply chain management. This research aimed to investigate the development of supply chain risk management research on agri-food industries. These reviews were arranged in steps systematically, ranging from searching related to the review of SCRM paper, reviewing the general framework of SCRM and the framework of agri-food SCRM. Selection of literature review papers in the period 2005-2017, and obtained 45 papers. The results of the identification research were illustrated in a supply chain risk management framework model. This provided insight toward future research directions and needs.

Sustainability Assessment Framework for Food Supply Chain Logistics: Empirical Findings from Dutch Food Industry

OpenAIRE

van der Vorst, Jack G.A.J.; Peeters, Lotte; Bloemhof, Jacqueline M.

2013-01-01

Food companies are increasingly challenged to balance business performance and economic gains with environmental and social performance. Therefore, in 2012, we started a collaborative project on this topic named SCALE (Step Change in Agri-food Logistics Ecosystems). SCALE aims to improve the sustainability of food and drink supply chain logistics in the context of rising food demands, increasing energy prices and the need to reduce environmentally damaging emissions. More in particular, SCALE...

Energy consumption in the food chain - Comparing alternative options in food production and consumption

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dutilh, CE; Kramer, KJ

Energy consumption in the various stages of the food chain, provides a reasonable indicator for the environmental impact in the production of food. This paper provides specific information on the energy requirement for the main alternatives in each production stage, which should allow the

Understanding Alternative Food Networks: Exploring the Role of Food Supply Chains in Rural Development

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Renting, H.; Marsden, T.; Banks, J.

2003-01-01

In this paper we explore the development and incidence of alternative food networks within a European-wide context. By developing a consistent definition of short food supply chains, we address both the morphology and the dynamics of these, and then examine empirical evidence concerning their

Biomagnification of organic pollutants in benthic and pelagic marine food chains from the Baltic Sea

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nfon, Erick; Cousins, Ian T.; Broman, Dag

2008-01-01

The trophic transfer of organic pollutants with varying physical chemical properties was determined in both a pelagic and benthic food chain using δ 15 N as a continuous variable for assessing trophic levels. The trophic transfer of organic pollutants through the entire food chain in terms of food chain magnification factors (FCMFs) was quantified from the slope of the regression between ln [concentration] and δ 15 N. Organic pollutants with statistically significant FCMFs > 1 were considered to biomagnify within the food chain, whereas those with FCMFs 1 were found for PCB congeners and organochlorine pesticides in the Baltic food chains whereas statistically significant FCMFs 15 N method suggested a food chain structure which was not consistent with the known dietary patterns of the species. Biomagnification factors (BMFs) were additionally calculated as the ratio of the lipid normalized concentrations in the predator and prey species with adjustment for trophic level and were generally consistent with the FCMFs with BMF > 1 for PCBs and organochlorines

Dynamic impact of the structure of the supply chain of perishable foods on logistics performance and food security

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Castro, Javier Arturo Orjuela; Jaimes, Wilson Adarme

2017-07-01

Understanding how the structure affects logistical performance and food security is critical in the supply chains of perishable foods (PFSC). This research proposes a system dynamics model to analyze the effects of structures: lean, agile, flexible, responsive and resilient, in the overall performance and of each agent of the PFSC. Design/methodology/approach: Using a system dynamics model and design of experiments it is studied how the different structures and their combination, affect the behavior of inventory, transportation, responsiveness, efficiency, availability and quality-safety of the fresh fruits supply chain and each echelon. Findings: The studies of supply chains have been done for each structure in an independent way; investigations are scarce in supply chains of perishable foods. The structures modeled in this research do not show the better performance in all the metrics of the chain, neither in all agents for each structure. The above implies the presence of trade-offs. Research limitations/implications: The results show the need to investigate mixed structures with the FPSC´s own characteristics; the model can be applied in other supply chains of perishable foods. Practical implications: Management by combining structures in the FFSC, improves logistics performance and contributes to food security. Social implications: The agents of the FFSC can apply the structures found in this study, to improve their logistics performance and the food security. Originality/value: The dynamics of individual and combined structures were identified, which constitutes a contribution to the discussion in the literature of such problems for FFSC. The model includes six echelons: farmers, wholesalers, agro-industry, third-party logistics operators and retailers. The dynamic contemplates deterioration rate to model perishability and others losses.

Dynamic impact of the structure of the supply chain of perishable foods on logistics performance and food security

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Javier Arturo Orjuela Castro

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Purpose: Understanding how the structure affects logistical performance and food security is critical in the supply chains of perishable foods (PFSC. This research proposes a system dynamics model to analyze the effects of structures: lean, agile, flexible, responsive and resilient, in the overall performance and of each agent of the PFSC. Design/methodology/approach: Using a system dynamics model and design of experiments it is studied how the different structures and their combination, affect the behavior of inventory, transportation, responsiveness, efficiency, availability and quality-safety of the fresh fruits supply chain and each echelon. Findings: The studies of supply chains have been done for each structure in an independent way; investigations are scarce in supply chains of perishable foods. The structures modeled in this research do not show the better performance in all the metrics of the chain, neither in all agents for each structure. The above implies the presence of trade-offs. Research limitations/implications: The results show the need to investigate mixed structures with the FPSC´s own characteristics; the model can be applied in other supply chains of perishable foods. Practical implications: Management by combining structures in the FFSC, improves logistics performance and contributes to food security. Social implications: The agents of the FFSC can apply the structures found in this study, to improve their logistics performance and the food security. Originality/value: The dynamics of individual and combined structures were identified, which constitutes a contribution to the discussion in the literature of such problems for FFSC. The model includes six echelons: farmers, wholesalers, agro-industry, third-party logistics operators and retailers. The dynamic contemplates deterioration rate to model perishability and others losses.

Dynamic impact of the structure of the supply chain of perishable foods on logistics performance and food security

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Castro, Javier Arturo Orjuela; Jaimes, Wilson Adarme

2017-01-01

Understanding how the structure affects logistical performance and food security is critical in the supply chains of perishable foods (PFSC). This research proposes a system dynamics model to analyze the effects of structures: lean, agile, flexible, responsive and resilient, in the overall performance and of each agent of the PFSC. Design/methodology/approach: Using a system dynamics model and design of experiments it is studied how the different structures and their combination, affect the behavior of inventory, transportation, responsiveness, efficiency, availability and quality-safety of the fresh fruits supply chain and each echelon. Findings: The studies of supply chains have been done for each structure in an independent way; investigations are scarce in supply chains of perishable foods. The structures modeled in this research do not show the better performance in all the metrics of the chain, neither in all agents for each structure. The above implies the presence of trade-offs. Research limitations/implications: The results show the need to investigate mixed structures with the FPSC´s own characteristics; the model can be applied in other supply chains of perishable foods. Practical implications: Management by combining structures in the FFSC, improves logistics performance and contributes to food security. Social implications: The agents of the FFSC can apply the structures found in this study, to improve their logistics performance and the food security. Originality/value: The dynamics of individual and combined structures were identified, which constitutes a contribution to the discussion in the literature of such problems for FFSC. The model includes six echelons: farmers, wholesalers, agro-industry, third-party logistics operators and retailers. The dynamic contemplates deterioration rate to model perishability and others losses.

Antibiotic Resistance in the Food Chain: A Developing Country-Perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Founou, Luria Leslie; Founou, Raspail Carrel; Essack, Sabiha Yusuf

2016-01-01

Antibiotics are now "endangered species" facing extinction due to the worldwide emergence of antibiotic resistance (ABR). Food animals are considered as key reservoirs of antibiotic-resistant bacteria with the use of antibiotics in the food production industry having contributed to the actual global challenge of ABR. There are no geographic boundaries to impede the worldwide spread of ABR. If preventive and containment measures are not applied locally, nationally and regionally, the limited interventions in one country, continent and for instance, in the developing world, could compromise the efficacy and endanger ABR containment policies implemented in other parts of the world, the best-managed high-resource countries included. Multifaceted, comprehensive, and integrated measures complying with the One Health approach are imperative to ensure food safety and security, effectively combat infectious diseases, curb the emergence and spread of ABR, and preserve the efficacy of antibiotics for future generations. Countries should follow the World Health Organization, World Organization for Animal Health, and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations recommendations to implement national action plans encompassing human, (food) animal, and environmental sectors to improve policies, interventions and activities that address the prevention and containment of ABR from farm-to-fork. This review covers (i) the origin of antibiotic resistance, (ii) pathways by which bacteria spread to humans from farm-to-fork, (iii) differences in levels of antibiotic resistance between developed and developing countries, and (iv) prevention and containment measures of antibiotic resistance in the food chain.

The role of the supply chain executive in supply chain integration: a behavioral approach

OpenAIRE

ELENA REVILLA; LUIS GOMEZ - MEJIA

2008-01-01

Applying a behavioural approach of agency theory, this paper aimed to identify the most appropriate employment and compensation system (ECS) for supply chain executives in order to foster supply chain integration. We attempted to develop a novel approach of how encourages supply chain integration from the perspective of managerial incentives, an enabler that has not been analyzed in the literature. The paper presents the analysis of three sources of risk bearing - compensation risk, employmen...

On integrable Hamiltonians for higher spin XXZ chain

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bytsko, Andrei G.

2003-01-01

Integrable Hamiltonians for higher spin periodic XXZ chains are constructed in terms of the spin generators; explicit examples for spins up to (3/2) are given. Relations between Hamiltonians for some U q (sl 2 )-symmetric and U(1)-symmetric universal r-matrices are studied; their properties are investigated. A certain modification of the higher spin periodic chain Hamiltonian is shown to be an integrable U q (sl 2 )-symmetric Hamiltonian for an open chain

Analysis of Information Sharing Mechanism in the Food Industry Green Supply Chain Management and Operation Process

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

2011-01-01

In order to effectively address the issues of environmental pollution and food safety in food industry,the green supply chain management should be used in the food industry.However,information sharing is the basis of supply chain management.For this purpose,on the basis of describing the connotation of food industry green supply chain management,the paper introduces the contents and the effects of information sharing mode in detail.It focuses on the barriers of the implementation of information-sharing mechanisms in the food industry green supply chain management and operation process and analyzes the necessity of using information sharing mechanism among the members of the food industry green supply chain management mode by game theory,so as to strengthen the competitiveness of enterprises through supply chain management.

Price formation and transmission along the food commodity chain

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ivana Blažková

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The article is focused on analysis of price transmission along the wheat commodity chain in the Czech Republic, with the distinction on wheat products with low value added (wheat flour, respectively high value added (wheat rolls. The degree of vertical price transmission is measured to identify potential market failures, because asymmetric price transmission can be the result of existence of market power within the food commodity chain. The data basis is made up from monthly prices on partial markets of the analyzed commodity chain published by Czech Statistical Office and Ministry of Agriculture of the Czech Republic. The monitored time period is from January 2000 till October 2009. The analysis is based on calculation of the price transmission elasticity coefficient (evaluation of price transmission along the chain and the intensity of dependency of positive and negative inter-market price differences (evaluation whether positive or negative price changes are better transmitted among particular vertical markets. Time lag is tested as well. The assessment of price transmission along the wheat commodity chain confirmed the existence of market power especially on the retail stage and low impact of price changes of farm prices on final consumer food prices.

A New Advanced Logistics Supply Chain for Food Management Based on Green Logistics Theory

OpenAIRE

Lanqing Liu

2013-01-01

The study aims to investigate the advanced logistics supply chain for food management using green logistics. To protect the food logistics environment and prevent the environmental pollution, it is crucial to establish powerful modern supply chains to support the food management in transportation. The construction speed of the food companies is very fast; however, the food supply lags behind the food companies. As a result, the environmental pollution caused in the food logistics becomes seve...

Integration of vaccine supply chains with other health commodity supply chains: a framework for decision making.

Science.gov (United States)

Yadav, Prashant; Lydon, Patrick; Oswald, Julianna; Dicko, Modibo; Zaffran, Michel

2014-11-28

One of the primary objectives of National Immunization Programs is to strengthen and optimize immunization supply chains so that vaccines are delivered to the end recipients effectively, efficiently and sustainably. As a result of larger investments in global health and a wider portfolio of vaccines, global agencies are recognizing the need for vaccine supply chains to operate at their most optimal levels. Integration with other supply chains is often presented as a strategy to improve efficiency. However, it remains unclear if the proposed benefits from integration of vaccine supply chains with other supply chains will outweigh the costs. This paper provides a framework for deciding where such integration offers the most significant benefits. It also cautions about the pitfalls of integration as a one size fits all strategy. It also highlights the need for systematic collection of cost and efficiency data in order to understand the value of integration and other such initiatives. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

On Darboux-integrable semi-discrete chains

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Habibullin, Ismagil; Sakieva, Alfia; Zheltukhina, Natalya

2010-01-01

A differential-difference equation d/dx t (n+1,x) = f(x,t(n,x),t(n+1,x),d/dx t (n,x)) with unknown t(n, x) depending on the continuous and discrete variables x and n is studied. We call an equation of such kind Darboux integrable if there exist two functions (called integrals) F and I of a finite number of dynamical variables such that D x F = 0 and DI = I, where D x is the operator of total differentiation with respect to x and D is the shift operator: Dp(n) = p(n + 1). It is proved that the integrals can be brought to some canonical form. A method of construction of an explicit formula for a general solution to Darboux-integrable chains is discussed and such solutions are found for a class of chains.

Sustainability of Local and Global Food Chains: Introduction to the Special Issue

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gianluca Brunori

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Sustainability assessment is one of the keys to competition by food supply chains over sustainability. The way it is conceived and embodied into decision-makers’ choices affects the competitiveness of local and global chains. Science-based assessment methodologies have made substantial progress, but uncertainties—as well as interests at stake—are high. There are no science-based methods that are able to give an unchallenged verdict over the sustainability performance of a firm, let alone a supply chain. Assessment methods are more suited for medium-large firm dimensions, as planning, monitoring, and reporting are costly. Moreover, the availability of data affects the choice of parameters to be measured, and many claims of local food are not easily measurable. To give local chains a chance to operate on a level playing field, there is the need to re-think sustainability assessment processes and tailor them to the characteristics of the analysed supply chains. We indicate seven key points on which we think scholars should focus their attention when dealing with food supply chain sustainability assessment.

Boosting nearest-neighbour to long-range integrable spin chains

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bargheer, Till; Beisert, Niklas; Loebbert, Florian

2008-01-01

We present an integrability-preserving recursion relation for the explicit construction of long-range spin chain Hamiltonians. These chains are generalizations of the Haldane–Shastry and Inozemtsev models and they play an important role in recent advances in string/gauge duality. The method is based on arbitrary nearest-neighbour integrable spin chains and it sheds light on the moduli space of deformation parameters. We also derive the closed chain asymptotic Bethe equations. (letter)

Supply chain management for small business--how to avoid being part of the food chain.

Science.gov (United States)

Knechtges, J P; Watts, C A

2000-08-01

A supply chain is a series of customer and supplier relationships that extend throughout and beyond the company. It is an interwoven set of links that together form a chain supplying our customers in a seamless and integrated fashion delivering a high level of customer satisfaction. Supply chain management (SCM) integrates all activities so they are focused on customer satisfaction (both internally and externally). One of the things this article will attempt to accomplish is to provide a clear understanding of SCM's positive impact on customer service as well as on improving profitability, cash flow, product cycle times, and communication. Whether we go forward in the supply chain to the final end-user or backward in the supply chain to our supplier's suppliers, SCM will significantly improve our ability to serve our customers.

Transparency in complex dynamic food supply chains

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Trienekens, J.H.; Wognum, P.M.; Beulens, A.J.M.; Vorst, van der J.G.A.J.

2012-01-01

Food supply chains are increasingly complex and dynamic due to (i) increasing product proliferation to serve ever diversifying and globalising markets as a form of mass customisation with resulting global flows of raw materials, ingredients and products, and (ii) the need to satisfy changing and

Virtualization of food supply chains with the internet of things

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Verdouw, C.N.; Wolfert, J.; Beulens, A.J.M.; Rialland, A.

2016-01-01

Internet technologies allow supply chains to use virtualizations dynamically in operational management processes. This will improve support for food companies in dealing with perishable products, unpredictable supply variations and stringent food safety and sustainability requirements.

Supply chain integration framework using literature review

OpenAIRE

Alfalla-Luque, Rafaela; Medina-Lopez, Carmen; Dey, Prasanta K.

2013-01-01

Definitions and measures of supply chain integration (SCI) are diverse. More empirical research, with clear definition and appropriate measures are needed. The purpose of this article is to identify dimensions and variables for SCI and develop an integrated framework to facilitate this. A literature review of the relevant academic papers in international journals in Logistics, Supply Chain Management and Operations Management for the period 1995-2009 has been undertaken. This study reveals th...

Rationale for evaluating a closed food chain for space habitats

Science.gov (United States)

Modell, M.; Spurlock, J. M.

1980-01-01

Closed food cycles for long duration space flight and space habitation are examined. Wash water for a crew of six is economically recyclable after a week, while a total closed loop water system is effective only if the stay exceeds six months' length. The stoichiometry of net plant growth is calculated and it is shown that the return of urine, feces, and inedible plant parts to the food chain, along with the addition of photosynthesis, closes the food chain loop. Scenarios are presented to explore the technical feasibility of achieving a closed loop system. An optimal choice of plants is followed by processing, waste conversion, equipment specifications, and control requirements, and finally, cost-effectiveness.

Quantifying the agri-food supply chain: proceedings of the Frontis workshop on quantifying the agri-food supply chain, Wageningen, The Netherlands, 22-24 October 2004

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ondersteijn, C.J.M.; Wijnands, J.H.M.; Huirne, R.B.M.; Kooten, van O.

2006-01-01

Due to globalization and internationalization of agri-food production, the arena of competition and competitive advantage is moving from individual firms operating on spot markets towards supply chains and networks. Therefore, coordination between firms within the chain becomes more important.

Traceability in food supply chains Exploring governmental authority and industrial effects

OpenAIRE

Ringsberg, Henrik

2011-01-01

Traceability in food supply chains has received increased attention in the last decade. The efforts of governmental authorities have also increased to regulate and control food supply chains and product characteristics related to information to ensure safety, quality, and preservation of living resources. Previous studies in the area take an industrial focus and exclude the governmental authority focus. This thesis thus focuses on exploring governmental authority and industrial effects on tra...

Modelling of radiocesium transfer in the lichen-reindeer/caribou-wolf food chain

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. F. Holleman

1990-09-01

Full Text Available The environmental contaminate radiocesium (cesium-137 has been shown to be of value as a marker in food selection and intake studies. Its greatest potential value as a food marker is in the subarctic/arctic regions, particularly in the lichen to reindeer/caribou to wolf food chain. A kinetic model describing the movement of radiocesium through the food chain has been developed using the SAAM computer program and is presented here. The program has been written so that the various paramenters affecting the transfer of radiocesium in the food chain can be altered more realistically to describe the system being modeled. The values of the parameters as given in this example are realistic for interior Alaska, however caution should be exercised in the application of the present results to regions that may be vastly different from the Alaskan interior without first evaluating the parameters and assumptions of the model.

Food chain design using multi criteria decision making, an approach to complex design issues

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Linnemann, A.R.; Hendrix, E.M.T.; Apaiah, R.K.; Boekel, van M.A.J.S.

2015-01-01

Designing a food supply chain for a completely new product involves many stakeholders and knowledge from disciplines in natural and social sciences. This paper describes how Multi Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) facilitated designing a food supply chain in a case of Novel Protein Foods. It made the

Enhancing the design and management of a local organic food supply chain with Soft Systems Methodology

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tavella, Elena; Hjortsø, Carsten Nico Portefée

2012-01-01

not adequately consider major aspects of local organic food supply chains such as ethics, sustainability and human values. Supply chain design and management approaches suita-ble to small-scale, local organic food enterprises are lacking and need to be developed. The aim of this paper is to suggest Soft Systems......Supply chain partners for local organic food face uncertainties such as poor collaboration and communication that cannot be reduced through the application of traditional supply chain design and management techniques. Such techniques are known to improve supply chain coordination, but they do...... Methodology (SSM) as a new and suitable ap-proach to design and manage local organic food supply chains. We illustrate how SSM can be used to reduce uncertainties within local organic food supply chains based on a German case. This illustration serves to identify the benefits of using SSM, compared with ad...

Towards integrated hygiene and food safety management systems: the Hygieneomic approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Armstrong, G D

1999-09-15

Integrated hygiene and food safety management systems in food production can give rise to exceptional improvements in food safety performance, but require high level commitment and full functional involvement. A new approach, named hygieneomics, has been developed to assist management in their introduction of hygiene and food safety systems. For an effective introduction, the management systems must be designed to fit with the current generational state of an organisation. There are, broadly speaking, four generational states of an organisation in their approach to food safety. They comprise: (i) rules setting; (ii) ensuring compliance; (iii) individual commitment; (iv) interdependent action. In order to set up an effective integrated hygiene and food safety management system a number of key managerial requirements are necessary. The most important ones are: (a) management systems must integrate the activities of key functions from research and development through to supply chain and all functions need to be involved; (b) there is a critical role for the senior executive, in communicating policy and standards; (c) responsibilities must be clearly defined, and it should be clear that food safety is a line management responsibility not to be delegated to technical or quality personnel; (d) a thorough and effective multi-level audit approach is necessary; (e) key activities in the system are HACCP and risk management, but it is stressed that these are ongoing management activities, not once-off paper generating exercises; and (f) executive management board level review is necessary of audit results, measurements, status and business benefits.

Antibiotic resistance in the food chain: A developing country-perspective

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luria Leslie Founou

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Antibiotics are now endangered species facing extinction due to the worldwide emergence of antibiotic resistance (ABR. Food animals are considered as key reservoirs of antibiotic-resistant bacteria with the use of antibiotics in the food production industry having contributed to the actual global challenge of ABR. There are no geographic boundaries to impede the worldwide spread of ABR. If preventive and containment measures are not applied locally, nationally and regionally, the limited interventions in one country, continent and for instance, in the developing world, could compromise the efficacy and endanger ABR containment policies implemented in other parts of the world, the best-managed high-resource countries included. Multifaceted, comprehensive and integrated measures complying with the One Health approach are imperative to ensure food safety and security, effectively combat infectious diseases, curb the emergence and spread of ABR, and preserve the efficacy of antibiotics for future generations. Countries should follow the World Health Organization, World Organization for Animal Health, and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations recommendations to implement national action plans encompassing human, (food animal, and environmental sectors to improve policies, interventions and activities that address the prevention and containment of ABR from farm-to-fork. This review covers (i the origin of antibiotic resistance, (ii pathways by which bacteria spread to humans from farm-to-fork, (iii differences in levels of antibiotic resistance between developed and developing countries, and (iv prevention and containment measures of antibiotic resistance in the food chain.

Applying the Water-Energy-Food Nexus to the Charcoal Value Chain

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Harry K. Hoffmann

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Globally, natural resources are increasingly under pressure, especially due to population growth, economic growth and transformation as well as climate change. As a result, the water, energy, and food (WEF nexus approach has emerged to understand interdependencies and commonly manage resources within a multi-scale and multi-level framework. In Sub-Saharan Africa, the high and growing consumption of traditional biomass for cooking purposes - notably fuelwood and charcoal—is both a key source of energy and contributor for food security as well as a pressure on natural resources. Improving the bioenergy value chains is essential for limiting environmental degradation and for securing the livelihoods of millions of people. Although the WEF nexus approach entails large potential to address the complex problems arising along the bioenergy value chains, these are currently not considered. Based on the WEF nexus approach, we analyze the different steps within the charcoal value chain in Sub-Saharan Africa and highlight the respective interdependencies and the potential for improving overall socio-economic and environmental sustainability. We emphasize the water, energy and food related implications of vicious and virtuous production cycles, separated by value chain segments. We discuss the potential and major challenges for implementing more sustainable value chains. Furthermore, we underline the necessity of applying WEF nexus approaches to these value chains in order to optimize environmental and social outcomes.

Development of sustainability indicator scoring (SIS) for the food supply chain

OpenAIRE

Manning, Louise; Soon, Jan Mei

2016-01-01

Purpose\\ud The purpose of this paper is to identify mechanisms for using a quantitative benchmarking approach to drive sustainability improvements in the food supply chain.\\ud \\ud Design/methodology/approach\\ud A literature review was undertaken and then a strategic and operational framework developed for improving food supply chain sustainability in terms of triple bottom line criteria.\\ud \\ud Findings\\ud Using a sustainability indicator scoring approach, the paper considers the architecture...

Managing Food Quality Risk in Global Supply Chain: A Risk Management Framework

OpenAIRE

Arevalo Chavez, Pablo Jose; Seow, Christopher

2012-01-01

Today, the food sector is one of the sectors most vulnerable to intentional contamination by debilitating agents [1]. Some cases of contaminated food have indicated that product quality risk is one of the vulnerabilities in the global supply chain. A series of company scandals, affecting reputation and causing the recall of products and increasing costs have hit the food industry. The obvious problem is that even a minor incident in one part of the chain can have disastrous effects on other p...

Alkaloids in the human food chain--natural occurrence and possible adverse effects.

Science.gov (United States)

Koleva, Irina I; van Beek, Teris A; Soffers, Ans E M F; Dusemund, Birgit; Rietjens, Ivonne M C M

2012-01-01

Alkaloid-containing plants are an intrinsic part of the regular Western diet. The present paper summarizes the occurrence of alkaloids in the food chain, their mode of action and possible adverse effects including a safety assessment. Pyrrolizidine alkaloids are a reason for concern because of their bioactivation to reactive alkylating intermediates. Several quinolizidine alkaloids, β-carboline alkaloids, ergot alkaloids and steroid alkaloids are active without bioactivation and mostly act as neurotoxins. Regulatory agencies are aware of the risks and have taken or are considering appropriate regulatory actions for most alkaloids. These vary from setting limits for the presence of a compound in feed, foods and beverages, trying to define safe upper limits, advising on a strategy aiming at restrictions in use, informing the public to be cautious or taking specific plant varieties from the market. For some alkaloids known to be present in the modern food chain, e.g., piperine, nicotine, theobromine, theophylline and tropane alkaloids risks coming from the human food chain are considered to be low if not negligible. Remarkably, for many alkaloids that are known constituents of the modern food chain and of possible concern, tolerable daily intake values have so far not been defined. Copyright © 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Northern Marshall Islands radiological survey: terrestrial food chain and total doses

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Robison, W.L.; Mount, M.E.; Phillips, W.A.; Conrado, C.A.; Stuart, M.L.; Stoker, C.E.

1982-01-01

A radiological survey was conducted from September through November of 1978 to assess the concentrations of persistent manmade radionuclides in the terrestrial and marine environments of 11 atolls and 2 islands in the Northern Marshall Islands. The survey consisted mainly of an aerial radiological reconnaissance to map the external gamma-ray exposure rates over the islands of each atoll. The logistical support for the entire survey was designed to accommodate this operation. As a secondary phase of the survey, shore parties collected appropriate terrestrial and marine samples to assess the radiological dose from pertinent food chains to those individuals residing on the atolls, who may in the future reside on some of the presently uninhabited atolls, or who collect food from these atolls. Over 5000 terrestrial and marine samples were collected for radionuclide analysis from 76 different islands. Soils, vegetation, indigenous animals, and cistern water and groundwater were collected from the islands. Reef and pelagic fish, clams, lagoon water, and sediments were obtained from the lagoons. The concentration data for 90 Sr, 137 Cs, 238 Pu, 239 240 Pu, and 241 Am in terrestrial food crops, fowl, and animals collected at the atolls or islands are summarized. An assessment of the total dose from the major exposure pathways including external gamma, terrestrial food chain including food products and drinking water, marine food chain, and inhalation is provided. Radiological doses at each atoll or island are calculated from the average radionuclide concentrations in the terrestrial foods, marine foods, etc. assuming the average daily intake for each food item

Consumers in a Sustainable Food Supply Chain (COSUS: Understanding Consumer Behavior to Encourage Food Waste Reduction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Harald Rohm

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Consumers are directly and indirectly responsible for a significant fraction of food waste which, for a large part, could be avoided if they were willing to accept food that is suboptimal, i.e., food that deviates in sensory characteristics (odd shape, discoloration, or that has a best-before date which is approaching or has passed, but that is still perfectly fine to eat. The choice to accept or discard suboptimal food is taken either before or after purchase (hence, in the retail store or in the household. The aim of the European research project COSUS (Consumers in a sustainable food supply chain was to increase consumer acceptance of suboptimal food, before and after purchase, by implementing targeted strategies that are based on consumer insights, and that are feasible for and acceptable by the food sector. To reach this aim, different methodological approaches were applied to analyze this issue, to experiment with different aspects, and to test the resulting interventions. Each of these approaches was undertaken by competent consortium partners from Denmark, Germany, Norway, Sweden and The Netherlands. The project finally provides validated strategies to promote the distribution and consumption of suboptimal foods, thereby improving resource efficiency in the food chain and contributing to a more sustainable food supply.

Consumers in a Sustainable Food Supply Chain (COSUS): Understanding Consumer Behavior to Encourage Food Waste Reduction.

Science.gov (United States)

Rohm, Harald; Oostindjer, Marije; Aschemann-Witzel, Jessica; Symmank, Claudia; L Almli, Valérie; de Hooge, Ilona E; Normann, Anne; Karantininis, Kostas

2017-11-27

Consumers are directly and indirectly responsible for a significant fraction of food waste which, for a large part, could be avoided if they were willing to accept food that is suboptimal, i.e., food that deviates in sensory characteristics (odd shape, discoloration), or that has a best-before date which is approaching or has passed, but that is still perfectly fine to eat. The choice to accept or discard suboptimal food is taken either before or after purchase (hence, in the retail store or in the household). The aim of the European research project COSUS (Consumers in a sustainable food supply chain) was to increase consumer acceptance of suboptimal food, before and after purchase, by implementing targeted strategies that are based on consumer insights, and that are feasible for and acceptable by the food sector. To reach this aim, different methodological approaches were applied to analyze this issue, to experiment with different aspects, and to test the resulting interventions. Each of these approaches was undertaken by competent consortium partners from Denmark, Germany, Norway, Sweden and The Netherlands. The project finally provides validated strategies to promote the distribution and consumption of suboptimal foods, thereby improving resource efficiency in the food chain and contributing to a more sustainable food supply.

Consumers in a Sustainable Food Supply Chain (COSUS): Understanding Consumer Behavior to Encourage Food Waste Reduction

Science.gov (United States)

Rohm, Harald; Oostindjer, Marije; Aschemann-Witzel, Jessica; Symmank, Claudia; L. Almli, Valérie; de Hooge, Ilona E.; Normann, Anne; Karantininis, Kostas

2017-01-01

Consumers are directly and indirectly responsible for a significant fraction of food waste which, for a large part, could be avoided if they were willing to accept food that is suboptimal, i.e., food that deviates in sensory characteristics (odd shape, discoloration), or that has a best-before date which is approaching or has passed, but that is still perfectly fine to eat. The choice to accept or discard suboptimal food is taken either before or after purchase (hence, in the retail store or in the household). The aim of the European research project COSUS (Consumers in a sustainable food supply chain) was to increase consumer acceptance of suboptimal food, before and after purchase, by implementing targeted strategies that are based on consumer insights, and that are feasible for and acceptable by the food sector. To reach this aim, different methodological approaches were applied to analyze this issue, to experiment with different aspects, and to test the resulting interventions. Each of these approaches was undertaken by competent consortium partners from Denmark, Germany, Norway, Sweden and The Netherlands. The project finally provides validated strategies to promote the distribution and consumption of suboptimal foods, thereby improving resource efficiency in the food chain and contributing to a more sustainable food supply. PMID:29186883

An IoT-enabled supply chain integration framework : empirical case studies

OpenAIRE

Wakenshaw, Susan Y. L.; Maple, Carsten; Chen, Daqiang; Micillo, Rosario

2017-01-01

Supply chain integration is crucial for supply chain performance, particularly in industry 4.0. With the proliferation of Internet of Things (IoT) and the use of cyber-physical systems, supply chain integration needs to be greatly enhanced. In this paper, we explore supply integration (process and application) in the supply chain network enabled by IoT. Using the case study method, we investigate technical and business applications of IoT in supply chains and how it can interface with the pro...

Integration and self regulation of quality management in Dutch agri-food supply chains : a cross-chain analysis of the poultry meat, the fruit and vegetable and the flower and potted plant chains

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Plaggenhoef, van W.

2007-01-01

Introduction During the last decade, concerns about quality and safety in agri-food supply chains have been raised. Several sector-wide crises, such as the BSE and the dioxin crises, classical swine fever and foot-and-mouth disease and Aviaire Influenza have fuelled these concerns. These

Quantifying the agri-food supply chain: Overview and research directions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wijnands, J.H.M.; Ondersteijn, C.J.M.

2006-01-01

The Frontis workshop ‘Quantifying the agri-food supply chain’ aimed at discussing the possibilities and limitations of quantifying performance, risks and investments in the agri-food chain and at bringing people from international institutes together. Their contributions are organized around five

Live controls for radioisotope tracer food chain experiments using meiofauna

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Montagna, P.A.

1983-01-01

Formalin poisoned samples are inadequate for measuring the amount of label to be subtracted as control values for certain food chain studies that employ radioactive tracers. In some studies, tracer is added just before incubation to label ''food'' during the feeding study. Commonly, parallel, poisoned incubations are used to distinguish between biotic and abiotic label incorporation. But, a poisoned control does not account for label that could enter a consumer via active transport, epicuticular microfloral uptake, or grazing on labeled, non-food particles. Experiments were performed to test if label uptake is greater in live non-grazing than dead organisms. Marine benthic meiofauna incoporate from 3 to 133 times more tracer when they are alive and not grazing than when they are formalin killed. These results suggest that control experiments with live animals be performed to measure all processes by which label can enter consumers in food chain experiments. (orig.)

Potential contaminants in the food chain: identification, prevention and issue management.

Science.gov (United States)

Scanlan, Francis P

2007-01-01

Contaminants are a vast subject area of food safety and quality. They are generally divided into chemical, microbiological and physical classes and are present in our food chain from raw materials to finished products. They are the subject of international and national legislation that has widened to cover more and more contaminant classes and food categories. In addition, consumers have become increasingly aware of and alarmed by their risks, whether rightly or not. What is the food industry doing to ensure the safety and quality of the products we feed our children? This is a valid question which this article attempts to address from an industrial viewpoint. Chemical food safety is considered a complex field where the risk perception of consumers is often the highest. The effects of chronic or acute exposure to chemical carcinogens may cause disease conditions long after exposure that can be permanently debilitating or even fatal. It is also a moving target, as knowledge about the toxicity and occurrence data of new chemical contaminants continues to be generated. Their identification, prevention and management are challenges to the food industry as a whole. A reminder of the known chemical hazards in the food chain will be presented with an emphasis on the use of early warning to identify potential new contaminants. Early warning is also a means of prevention, anticipating food safety concerns before they become issues to manage. Current best management practices including Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points relating to the supply chain of baby foods and infant formulae will be developed. Finally, key lessons from a case study on recent contamination issues in baby food products will be presented.

The transfer of radio-active products through food chain

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Russell, R.S.

1979-01-01

The food chain mechanism on dry land is considered. The deposition of 90 Sr and 137 Cs are compared and a fuller investigation of 90 Sr deposition on soils. Calculated values of annual mean deposition of 90 Sr, in mCi/Km 2 , and content of milk, in pCi/gCa, from world wide fallout, 1958-75, in the UK agrees well with those observed by within 10%. The significance of radiation doses received through the food chain are discussed. The total estimated average exposure of members of the UK to natural background radiation in 1977 was 1100μSv, of which 0.2% was due to the discharge of radioactive materials into the environment. (U.K.)

Research on Cooperation Strategy of Enterprises’ Quality and Safety in Food Supply Chain

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jining Wang

2015-01-01

Full Text Available In order to prevent and control risk factors which harm the quality and safety of the food supply chain effectively and reduce the probability of food safety incidents, this paper investigated on some problems of the upstream and downstream enterprises of the food supply chain under the three different forms of cooperation based on the neoclassic economics and game theory method. These problems include the effectiveness of the quality and safety efforts, the profits, the effect of the losses that the food safety incidents caused on the quality efforts’ efficacy, and the social welfare comparison. Meanwhile, we constructed evolutionary game model to analyze the macro and micro factors that influenced the cooperation strategy and demonstrated the effect of diversity of decision-making parameters on evolution results based on numerical simulation. By the theoretical and simulation analysis, we found that (1 the quality efforts’ efficacy, the profits, the sensitivity coefficient of the quality efforts efficiency to the losses, and the social welfare without thinking about the externality all met their maximum under the full cooperation situation; (2 strengthening supervision over the source of the food supply chain can reduce the probability of food safety incidents; (3 macro and micro environment will be the important basis for companies’ decision-making on cooperation strategy in the food supply chain.

Integrating developing country manufacturing industries into global supply chain

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fasika Bete Georgise

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Purpose: Due to globalization of manufacturing activities, the arena of competition and competitiveness advantage is moving from firms towards supply chains and networks. With the recent advancement of information and communication technologies this participation are becoming as common business practice in developed countries firms. Companies were more integrated into the world market for the global nature of the sourcing, manufacturing and distribution. These changes create both challenges and opportunities for the manufacturing industries in developing countries. The objective of this paper is to examine the level of inter-organizational and intra-organizational supply chain integration practices in developing country, Ethiopia.Design/methodology/approach: An industrial questionnaires survey was used to collect the current practices of the manufacturing industries in Ethiopia as an example of the developing countries. Descriptive statistics is primarily used for the analysis.Findings: Results show a low level of supply chain relationship both in intra and inter organizational supply chain integration level among members. Accordingly, such issues require much attention to facilitate a greater integration within the supply chains in the Ethiopian manufacturing industries.Research limitations/implications: The paper focuses on examining the practices of Ethiopian manufacturing industries empirical data. The interpretation of results should be taken with prudence.Originality/Value: The manufacturing industry in developing countries (MIDC has been a part of the global supply chains for long time as a supplier of raw material and manufacturer of primary products. Currently, the MIDC is trying to access the different markets segment of the world even with new products starting from their local market to the complex and dynamic international market. Nevertheless, their supply chains are inefficient and hence, their competitiveness level far from the

Barcoding the food chain: from Sanger to high-throughput sequencing.

Science.gov (United States)

Littlefair, Joanne E; Clare, Elizabeth L

2016-11-01

Society faces the complex challenge of supporting biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, while ensuring food security by providing safe traceable food through an ever-more-complex global food chain. The increase in human mobility brings the added threat of pests, parasites, and invaders that further complicate our agro-industrial efforts. DNA barcoding technologies allow researchers to identify both individual species, and, when combined with universal primers and high-throughput sequencing techniques, the diversity within mixed samples (metabarcoding). These tools are already being employed to detect market substitutions, trace pests through the forensic evaluation of trace "environmental DNA", and to track parasitic infections in livestock. The potential of DNA barcoding to contribute to increased security of the food chain is clear, but challenges remain in regulation and the need for validation of experimental analysis. Here, we present an overview of the current uses and challenges of applied DNA barcoding in agriculture, from agro-ecosystems within farmland to the kitchen table.

Relationship Quality and Innovation Capacity of Chains: The Case of the Traditional Food Sector in the EU

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xavier Gellynck

2011-10-01

Full Text Available The purpose of the paper is to explore how the perceived relationship quality is related to the innovation capacity in chains of the traditional food sector. Based on suggestions from theory and previous studies, empirical evidence is drawn from a survey of 90 traditional food chains including 270 chain partners from three European countries in four traditional food product categories. Heterogeneity across these chains is first examined based on cluster analysis that identifies three distinct clusters interpreted as reflecting three levels of intensity in innovation capacity: high, medium, and low. Next, we define measures of the chain relationship quality through characteristics such as trust, conflict and reputation. Results suggest that various aspects of chain relationship quality and relationship directions are differently important for the innovation capacity levels in traditional food chains. In particular the perception of the relationship quality between the food manufacturer and its supplier (and vice versa is explored to be important. The better this relationship is perceived by one chain partner, the higher is the innovation capacity of the whole chain. Thus, our results strengthen the emerging conclusion that firms benefit from participating in networks but depend on its partner’s choices and perceptions. In future research, it should be explored how different national and cultural environments facilitate or hamper the innovation capacity in traditional food chains. It is also suggested to extend the complexity of the investigated system and to apply our novel approach to other food sectors, than the traditional food sector, in order to improve its generalizability.

Quality, efficiency, and sustainability in the foodservice supply chain

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wang, Yang; Grunow, Martin

Consumers have become more and more demanding with regards to food quality, food safety, sustainability, and associated product attributes. Looking at food supply chains from an integrated point of view has therefore become an industry paradigm. The overall aim of this thesis is to contribute...... to the literature with regards to the development of efficient, high-quality, and sustainable food supply chains; especially focusing on integrated methodologies. In this thesis, research is presented on the inclusion of the specifics of the food industry, food engineering related knowledge, and sustainability...... manufacturers, and wholesalers with consumers and provides prepared food and drinks ready for consumption away from home. This industry has grown significantly in the past years. The thesis starts with a further introduction to the food service industry and a discussion of the research questions dealt...

Integrating Environmental Sustainability Considerations into Food and Nutrition Policies: Insights from Australia's National Food Plan.

Science.gov (United States)

Ridgway, Ella Megan; Lawrence, Mark Andrew; Woods, Julie

2015-01-01

The environmental sustainability (ES) of food systems is a critical challenge for policy makers. This is a highly contested policy area with differing views among stakeholders. The aim of the study was to develop a better understanding of how ES considerations are addressed in Australian food and nutrition policies and the way that consultation processes affect final policy outcomes. A mixed-methods study design combined a detailed chronology of key policy developments (2009-2015), a content analysis of written submissions obtained during the NFP's consultation period (2011-2013) and a frame analysis of the sustainability perspectives - efficiency, demand restraint, and system transformation - in the NFP's Issues, Green, and White Papers. There were 555 written submissions responding to two consultation papers. Stakeholders represented all sectors of Australia's food system including government, non-government organizations, the food supply chain, research and academic institutions, and members of the general public. Around 74% of submissions referred to ES considerations and ~65% supported their inclusion into the final policy. Efficiency frames were most dominant; emphasizing a production-oriented approach that regards the environment as a natural resource base for food production but overlooks consumption and equity concerns. Despite strong support for the inclusion of ES considerations in the NFP, the influence of Australia's socio-political context, powerful, industry-dominated stakeholders, and a reliance on traditional production-oriented perspectives delivered a business-as-usual approach to food policy making. It has since been replaced by an agricultural strategy that provides only cursory attention to ES. Our findings indicate that Australia's political environment is not sufficiently mature for ES considerations to be integrated into food and nutrition policies. We propose reforms to the current consultation process in Australia to better support this

Trophodynamics of mercury and other trace elements in a pelagic food chain from the Baltic Sea

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nfon, Erick; Cousins, Ian T.; Jaervinen, Olli; Mukherjee, Arun B.; Verta, Matti; Broman, Dag

2009-01-01

Mercury (Hg) and 13 other trace elements (Al, Ti, V, Cr, Fe, Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Cd, and Pb) were measured in phytoplankton, zooplankton, mysis and herring in order to examine the trophodynamics in a well-studied pelagic food chain in the Baltic Sea. The fractionation of nitrogen isotopes (δ 15 N) was used to evaluate food web structure and to estimate the extent of trophic biomagnification of the various trace elements. Trophic magnification factors (TMFs) for each trace element were determined from the slope of the regression between trace element concentrations and δ 15 N. Calculated TMFs showed fundamental differences in the trophodynamics of the trace elements in the pelagic food chain studied. Concentrations of Al, Fe, Ni, Zn, Pb and Cd showed statistically significant decreases (TMF 1) in concentration with trophic level i.e. Hg biomagnifies in this Baltic food chain. The estimated TMF for Hg in this food chain was comparable to TMFs observed elsewhere for diverse food chains and locations.

15 years of food-chain modeling in Romania

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gheorghe, R.; Galeriu, D.; Apostoaie, I.; Gheorghe, D.

2002-01-01

In the very begin of Chernobyl accident, the high contamination of food, the large variability and the unexpected behavior posed many problems in order to assess the radiological consequences. A simple dynamic food-chain model was built in early May and used for our first assessment on future food contamination and overall impact of Chernobyl in Romania. This quite primitive model show remarkable performance when compared in late 86 and 87 with measurements and our projection of dose was close to a factor two with 10 years later post assessment. After the slowing down of radiological stress we developed a more advanced, process level model of food chain, using not only all literature available but also all local measurements with quality assurance. This model, named LINDOZ, was first internationally applied in the frame of A4 scenario in BIOMOVS 1. and presented in the 1990 Stockholm conference. It was the first time when fallout solubility and foliar absorption were introduced in such a model, explaining very well the dynamics of grass and milk contamination. Upgrades of the model were done concerning deposition and retention and LINDOZ91 was successfully applied in international comparisons VAMP and BIOMOVS 2., including blind tests. Using local expertise and certified data, correlation between probability distribution of deposition and food contamination were used and successfully applied to predict Cs body content distribution in VAMP scenario. Extension to lake-fish was done and tested with excellent results in BIOMOVS 2. In 1994, the model was applied in the first attempt to assess food contamination in Iput region and this old results have been compared recently with those obtained last year by other modelers using updated scenario information. The key points in LINDOZ and its performances in international comparison exercises are presented. In 90'years the German model ECOSYS was spread in Europe and a variant (FDMT) was developed as a food-chain model for

Mercury in the food chain of the Lagoon of Venice, Italy.

Science.gov (United States)

Dominik, Janusz; Tagliapietra, Davide; Bravo, Andrea G; Sigovini, Marco; Spangenberg, Jorge E; Amouroux, David; Zonta, Roberto

2014-11-15

Sediments and biota samples were collected in a restricted area of the Lagoon of Venice and analysed for total mercury, monomethyl mercury (MMHg), and nitrogen and carbon isotopes. Results were used to examine mercury biomagnification in a complex food chain. Sedimentary organic matter (SOM) proved to be a major source of nutrients and mercury to primary consumers. Contrary to inorganic mercury, MMHg was strongly biomagnified along the food chain, although the lognormal relationship between MMHg and δ(15)N was less constrained than generally reported from lakes or coastal marine ecosystems. The relationship improved when logMMHg concentrations were plotted against trophic positions derived from baseline δ(15)N estimate for primary consumers. From the regression slope a mean MMHg trophic magnification factor of 10 was obtained. Filter-feeding benthic bivalves accumulated more MMHg than other primary consumers and were probably important in MMHg transfer from sediments to higher levels of the food chain. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Ethical Traceability for Improved Transparency in the Food Chain

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Coff, Christian Eyde

2010-01-01

Some practices in the agri-food sector worry consumers. Consumers might for instance be concerned about animal welfare, health, environmental issues, transparency of the food chain and so forth.A question, which confronts consumers today, is how they can become capable of acting upon such ethical...... concerns. Information is often seen as an answer to the mentioned consumer concerns. Paradoxically, although consumers are bombarded with information on food - from the media, the food industry, food authorities, NGOs and interest groups – details about how foods are actually produced is often hard to find....... Much of the information available is superficial, conflicting or partial, and it is hard for consumers seeking to make informed food choices on ethical matters to know which information to trust. Food traceability, which provides a record of the history and journey of a given food, and which...

Basic model for the prediction of 137Cs concentration in the organisms of detritus food chain

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tateda, Yuzuru

1997-01-01

In order to predict 137 Cs concentrations in marine organisms for monitoring, a basic model for the prediction of nuclide levels in marine organisms of detritus food chain was studied. The equilibrated values of ( 137 Cs level in organism)/( 137 Cs level in seawater) derived from calculation agreed with the observed data, indicating validity of modeling conditions. The result of simulation by this basic model showed the following conclusions. 1) ''Ecological half-life'' of 137 Cs in organisms of food chain were 35 and 130 days for detritus feeder and benthic teleosts, respectively, indicating that there was no difference of the ecological half lives in organisms between in detritus food chain and in other food chains. 2) The 137 Cs concentration in organisms showed a peak at 18 and 100 days in detritus and detritus feeder, respectively, after the introduction of 137 Cs into environmental seawater. Their concentration ratios to 137 Cs peak level in seawater were within a range of 2.7-3.8, indicating insignificant difference in the response to 137 Cs change in seawater between in the organisms of detritus food chain and of other food chain. 3) The basic model studies makes it available that the prediction of 137 Cs level in organisms of food chain can be simulated in coastal ecosystem. (author)

Designing food supply chains- a structured methodology: a case on novel protein foods

OpenAIRE

Apaiah, R.K.

2006-01-01

This thesis proposes and implements a structured methodology to aid in chain design and the evaluation and decision making processes that accompany it.It focusesonhow to design the entire chain from start to finish, so that the consumer gets a product that he/she wants, i.e.concentrating on product attributes rather than on the delivery of the product. The novel protein food (NPF) case from the PROFETAS program was used to develop the methodology. Two attributes of quality were investigated w...

Governance for quality management in tropical food chains

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Tilburg, van A.; Trienekens, J.H.; Ruben, R.; Boekel, van M.A.J.S.

2007-01-01

This paper provides a framework that focuses on the linkages between several key dimensions of supply chain organisation and performance of perishable tropical food products. The focus is on the relationship between governance regime and quality management, however, two other related variables are

Stakeholder involvement for countermeasures in the food chain

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carle, B.

2005-01-01

In the aftermath of a large scale radioactive contamination, the authorities will have to decide on protective measures for reducing the contamination of the food chain. The overall aim is to reduce the dose of the population to an acceptable level while still guaranteeing sufficient foodstuffs and feeding stuffs on the market and also to limit the social, environmental and economic impact of the countermeasures implemented. Many countermeasures have been developed over the years, but their large scale feasibility and especially their acceptability have hardly been studied. Within the context of a European research project called Farming (2000-2004). SCK-CEN has organised stakeholder meetings, leading to guidance to the authorities for improvements in the emergency organisation. To improve emergency countermeasure decisions related to the food chain, especially as regards feasibility and acceptability, taking into account stakeholder opinions. The stakeholders include scientists and representatives from both governmental and non-governmental organisations

Analysis of Information Sharing Mechanism in the Food Industry Green Supply Chain Management and Operation Process

OpenAIRE

Liu, Ye-ming; Yin, Fang-fang; Fu, Xian-zhi

2011-01-01

In order to effectively address the issues of environmental pollution and food safety in food industry, the green supply chain management should be used in the food industry. However, information sharing is the basis of supply chain management. For this purpose, on the basis of describing the connotation of food industry green supply chain management, the paper introduces the contents and the effects of information sharing mode in detail. It focuses on the barriers of the implementation of in...

Certification of Markets, Markets of Certificates: Tracing Sustainability in Global Agro-Food Value Chains

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arthur P. J. Mol

2015-09-01

Full Text Available There is a blossoming of voluntary certification initiatives for sustainable agro-food products and production processes. With these certification initiatives come traceability in supply chains, to guarantee the sustainability of the products consumed. No systematic analysis exists of traceability systems for sustainability in agro-food supply chains. Hence, the purpose of this article is to analyze the prevalence of four different traceability systems to guarantee sustainability; to identify the factors that determine the kind of traceability systems applied in particular supply chains; and to assess what the emergence of economic and market logics in traceability mean for sustainability. Two conclusions are drawn. Globalizing markets for sustainable agro-food products induces the emergence of book-and-claim traceability systems, but the other three systems (identity preservation, segregation and mass balance will continue to exist as different factors drive traceability requirements in different supply chains. Secondly, traceability itself is becoming a market driven by economic and market logics, and this may have consequences for sustainability in agro-food supply chains in the future.

Consumer perception of safety in the agri-food chain

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Verbeke, Wim; Scholderer, Joachim; Frewer, Lynn J.

2006-01-01

, former real or perceived food safety problems extended into food scares after extensive mass media coverage. A wide diversity of studies consistently report declining consumer confidence, deteriorating perception and decreasing consumption rates after exposure to adverse food-health communication. After......Introduction: The aim of this section is to describe the scope and objectives of this chapter on consumer perception of safety in the agri-food chain. Furthermore, the rationale for taking consumer behavioural issues into account in agri-food safety debates is provided. In order to shed some light...... on consumer behaviour with respect to food safety issues, this chapter both provides some basic principles of consumer behaviour and a selection of topical case studies. First, this chapter envisages introducing basic principles of consumer behaviour and consumer decision-making that are applicable in food...

Chain-wide consequences of transaction risks and their contractual solutions : managing interdependencies in differentiated agri-food supply chains

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wever, M.

2012-01-01

Agri-food supply chains are characterized by strong interdependencies between the different stages. These interdependencies may lead to risk-spillovers, as when a downstream company is exposed to risks resulting from activities further upstream in the supply chain. For example, a change in the

Sensitivity analysis of the terrestrial food chain model FOOD III

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zach, Reto.

1980-10-01

As a first step in constructing a terrestrial food chain model suitable for long-term waste management situations, a numerical sensitivity analysis of FOOD III was carried out to identify important model parameters. The analysis involved 42 radionuclides, four pathways, 14 food types, 93 parameters and three percentages of parameter variation. We also investigated the importance of radionuclides, pathways and food types. The analysis involved a simple contamination model to render results from individual pathways comparable. The analysis showed that radionuclides vary greatly in their dose contribution to each of the four pathways, but relative contributions to each pathway are very similar. Man's and animals' drinking water pathways are much more important than the leaf and root pathways. However, this result depends on the contamination model used. All the pathways contain unimportant food types. Considering the number of parameters involved, FOOD III has too many different food types. Many of the parameters of the leaf and root pathway are important. However, this is true for only a few of the parameters of animals' drinking water pathway, and for neither of the two parameters of mans' drinking water pathway. The radiological decay constant increases the variability of these results. The dose factor is consistently the most important variable, and it explains most of the variability of radionuclide doses within pathways. Consideration of the variability of dose factors is important in contemporary as well as long-term waste management assessment models, if realistic estimates are to be made. (auth)

Competitiveness of Small Farms and Innovative Food Supply Chains: The Role of Food Hubs in Creating Sustainable Regional and Local Food Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Giaime Berti

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Over the last decades, the economic, social and environmental sustainability of the conventional agri-food system has and continues to be contested within both academic and public institutions. For small farms, the unsustainability of the food system is even more serious; farms’ declining share of profit and the cost-price squeeze of commodity production has increased barriers to market access with the inevitable effect of agricultural abandonment. One way forward to respond to the existing conventional agri-food systems and to create a competitive or survival strategy for small family farms is the re-construction of regional and local agri-food systems, aligning with Kramer and Porter’s concept of shared value strategy. Through a critical literature review, this paper presents “regional and local food hubs” as innovative organizational arrangements capable of bridging structural holes in the agri-food markets between small producers and the consumers—individuals and families as well as big buyers. Food hubs respond to a supply chain (or supply network organizational strategy aiming at re-territorialising the agri-food systems through the construction of what in the economic literature are defined as values-based food supply chains.

Societal Statistical Data for a Food Chain Modeling of the UAE

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shamsi, Maitha Al Fandi; Kim, Sung-yeop; Lim, Ho-Gon

2016-01-01

Nuclear energy was seen as a potential alternative for the current non-renewable energy sources such as oil, gas and coal. Nuclear power was then chosen due to its sustainable qualities as well as sufficiency in the supply of energy for the upcoming years. In addition, it is believed that it will greatly contribute to UAE's economy and energy security. Despite its promising qualities, the risk underlying nuclear fallout can be catastrophic. Therefore, for safety analysis, a prospective assessment on the potential risks associated with the occurrence of such event should be performed. Constructing a food chain model and an exposure pathway that is specific to the UAE is essential, as it could aid in the determination of the potential dose an individual could receive following a routine or accidental release of radionuclides into the environment. This paper includes societal statistical data such as data on the production of food as well as dietary data such as the consumption of food in the UAE. Such data was compiled along with other parameter values from the literature. These findings could potentially be used as input values upon the development of a food chain model. The Barakah nuclear power plant will soon start operating in the UAE, and it is therefore critical that safety assessments in case of nuclear fallout be made. Following fallout, radionuclides can travel along successive trophic levels of a food chain, ultimately affecting humans. Yet, the exposure pathway by which it is transported varies between countries depending on the plant and animal species considered as well as other climatic factors. Hence, developing a food chain model specific to the UAE environment is essential, as it will aid in the determination of the potential dose an exposed individual might receive. Available societal data specific to the UAE from the year 2007 to 2016 were compiled. The data is comprised of UAE food production, domestic and per capita consumption. In addition

Societal Statistical Data for a Food Chain Modeling of the UAE

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shamsi, Maitha Al Fandi; Kim, Sung-yeop; Lim, Ho-Gon [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2016-10-15

Nuclear energy was seen as a potential alternative for the current non-renewable energy sources such as oil, gas and coal. Nuclear power was then chosen due to its sustainable qualities as well as sufficiency in the supply of energy for the upcoming years. In addition, it is believed that it will greatly contribute to UAE's economy and energy security. Despite its promising qualities, the risk underlying nuclear fallout can be catastrophic. Therefore, for safety analysis, a prospective assessment on the potential risks associated with the occurrence of such event should be performed. Constructing a food chain model and an exposure pathway that is specific to the UAE is essential, as it could aid in the determination of the potential dose an individual could receive following a routine or accidental release of radionuclides into the environment. This paper includes societal statistical data such as data on the production of food as well as dietary data such as the consumption of food in the UAE. Such data was compiled along with other parameter values from the literature. These findings could potentially be used as input values upon the development of a food chain model. The Barakah nuclear power plant will soon start operating in the UAE, and it is therefore critical that safety assessments in case of nuclear fallout be made. Following fallout, radionuclides can travel along successive trophic levels of a food chain, ultimately affecting humans. Yet, the exposure pathway by which it is transported varies between countries depending on the plant and animal species considered as well as other climatic factors. Hence, developing a food chain model specific to the UAE environment is essential, as it will aid in the determination of the potential dose an exposed individual might receive. Available societal data specific to the UAE from the year 2007 to 2016 were compiled. The data is comprised of UAE food production, domestic and per capita consumption. In addition

Moving towards Sustainability in Food Chains: Dealing with Costs and Benefits

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gerhard Schiefer

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Sustainability concerns are receiving increasingly attention by society and in turn, the food sector and consumers as the food sector’s final customers. Investments towards improvements in sustainability along the chain are usually not evenly distributed along the chain which affects the balance in the distribution of costs and returns. Transparency is a means for supporting an appropriate link between costs and returns. Various alternatives are being discussed. The chapter utilizes a case study approach for elaborating on the possibilities of regaining costs through price premiums, the communication of sustainability to consumers and the cooperation through horizontal and vertical networking alternatives that could support developments towards sustainability through gains in efficiency and concerted engagements in dealing with sustainability, costs and returns along the chain

Use of calorie information at fast-food and chain restaurants among US adults, 2009.

Science.gov (United States)

Wethington, Holly; Maynard, Leah M; Haltiwanger, Christine; Blanck, Heidi M

2014-09-01

The aim of this study was to examine reading and use of calorie information at fast-food/chain restaurants. A cross-sectional analysis was conducted on a sample of 4363 US adults using the 2009 HealthStyles survey. The outcome variable was reading calorie information when available while ordering at fast-food/chain restaurants. Among those who go to fast-food/chain restaurants, we conducted multivariable logistic regression to examine associations between sociodemographic variables and reading calorie information when available. Among those who report reading calorie information when available, we assessed the proportion using calorie information. Among those who reported eating at fast-food/chain restaurants, 36.4% reported reading calorie information when available. Reading calorie information was not related to race/ethnicity, income or education. Compared with men, women had higher odds [adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 1.8; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.5-2.1] of reading calorie information when available while those who frequented fast-food/chain restaurants ≥3 times/week (aOR = 0.6; 95% CI = 0.4-0.8) had lower odds compared with those going Health 2013. This work is written by (a) US Government employee(s) and is in the public domain in the US.

Tritium in the food chain

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koenig, L.A.

1988-01-01

Tritium is a hydrogen isotope taking part in the global hydrogen cycle as well as in all metabolic processes. The resultant problems with respect to the food chain are summarized briefly with emphasis on 'organically bound tritium'. However, only a small number of the numerous publications on this topic can be taken into consideration. Publications describing experiments under defined conditions are reported, thus allowing a semiempirical interpretation to be made. Tritium activity measurements of food grown in the vicinity of the Karlsruhe Nuclear Research Center have been carried out. A list of the results is given. A dose assessment is performed under simplifying assumptions. Even when the organically bound tritium is taken into account, a radiation exposure of less than 1% of that of K-40 is obtained under these conditions. To avoid misinterpretation, the specific activity (Bq H-3/g H) of water-bound and organically bound tritium has to be considered separately. (orig.) [de

Potentials and Limitations of Regional Organic Food Supply: A Qualitative Analysis of Two Food Chain Types in the Berlin Metropolitan Region

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexandra Doernberg

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Regional food systems and organic agriculture are both considered more sustainable than the conventional, globalized food system they provide an alternative to. The emergence and expansion of alternative forms of food supply are influenced by various factors on different scales. Using the food systems approach we aim to study potentials and limitations of regional organic food supply in the Berlin metropolitan region (BMR. Based on the literature, we developed an analytical framework and identified determinants of regional organic food provision along the three major levels of the supply chain: agricultural production, food chain organization, and consumption. Then, we examined a qualitative case study with two different types of alternative food networks (A organic community supported agriculture (CSA and (B organic retail trade. Factors that hinder or promote the provision of regional organic food were identified through qualitative interviews and assessed by regional stakeholders in a workshop. Our findings show that demand for regional organic food is higher than regional supply, which could offer good possibilities for organic farmers. However, actors in these two food chains need to overcome some obstacles, including limited access to land, increasing renting prices, insufficient processing capacities, and unsupportive political environment for organic farming.

Relationships between food producers and retail chains: From a constructivist perspective

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Skytte, Hans

This paper presents preliminary results from a large project in which we developed a new way of looking at interaction and relationships between companies. Our main focus of interest in the project was the relationships between food producers and retail chains. The project investigated the cooper......This paper presents preliminary results from a large project in which we developed a new way of looking at interaction and relationships between companies. Our main focus of interest in the project was the relationships between food producers and retail chains. The project investigated...... the cooperation between Danish food producers and retail chains in four countries regarding trade in pork and pork-based products. The paradigmatic outset in the project was the constructivist paradigm. Based on theories on organisational identity, organisational image, organisational fields, plausibility......, product development, and construction of meaning and shared meaning, an analytical framework was developed. The theoretical framework subsequently - founded on a grounded theory approach - was used as the basis for the analysis. The paper concludes with a number of recommen¬dations for food producers...

Overview of Food Safety Hazards in the European Dairy Supply Chain

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Asselt, Van E.D.; Fels, van der Ine; Marvin, H.J.P.; Bokhorst-van De Veen, Van H.; Nierop Groot, M.

2017-01-01

Monitoring of dairy products should preferably focus on the most relevant food safety hazards in the dairy supply chain. For this purpose, the possible presence of microbiological, chemical, and physical hazards as well as trends in the dairy supply chain that may affect their presence were

Relationships between food producers and retail chains seen as shared meanings

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Skytte, Hans

This paper presents a new theory on relationships between producers and retail chains. This theory is a result of a project which investigated the cooperation between Danish abattoirs and food processors, and retail chains in four countries. The new theory's main point is that relationships betwe...

AN EXPLORATORY APPROACH TO INTEGRATION OF BUSINESS PRACTICES IN SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Constangioara Alexandru

2014-07-01

After reviewing the literature on supply chain integration, present paper proposes an exploratory analysis of the measurement model corresponding to logistics integration. A Romanian dataset of 21 firms from various industries, covering all levels of a supply chain, from production to commerce is used to conduct a principal factor analysis to test for (a content validity, (b substantive validity, (c uni-dimensionality and (d reliability of scales used to measure integration in supply chains. Also the principal component analysis is used to forecast both dependent and independent variables subsequently used in an OLS estimation of the relationship between supply chain integration and performances in Romanian supply chains. Results support the conclusion that Romanian supply chains focus on a strategy of operational excellence.

Technological Implications of Supply Chain Practices in Agri-Food Sector: A Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rahul Mor

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Today, the global business environment compels enterprises to consider rest of the world in their competitive strategy analysis where firms ignore external factors such as economic trends, competitive positions or technology advancement in other countries. While going truly global with supply chain management, a company develops product in the United States, produce in India and trade in Europe, and they have changed the traditional operation management & logistical activities. This change in trade and the modernization of transport infrastructures have elevated the importance of flow management to new levels. Manufacturers and researchers have noticed many problems concerning supply chain activities, and usually either a system or subcomponent in supply chains is discussed in the literature, but they fails to answer the rational (why, what, how behind them. This paper addresses a review of the principles, bottlenecks and strategies of supply chain practices for organizations with an emphasis on the implications of Indian agri-food sector. Findings of this review reveal that the human & environmental issues, improved product visibility, food safety/quality and the associated economic benefits in sustainable agri-food supply chains can be achieved through innovation, collaboration, elimination of uncertainties and introducing global SCM practices into green & lean initiatives.

Food supply chain disruption due to natural disaster: Entities, risks and strategies for resilience

Science.gov (United States)

The resilience of food supply chain (FSC) to disruptions has not kept pace with the extended, globalized and complex network of modern food chain. This chapter presents a holistic view of the FSC, interactions among its components, risks and vulnerabilities of disruption in the context of natural d...

A false positive food chain error associated with a generic predator gut content ELISA

Science.gov (United States)

Conventional prey-specific gut content ELISA and PCR assays are useful for identifying predators of insect pests in nature. However, these assays are prone to yielding certain types of food chain errors. For instance, it is possible that prey remains can pass through the food chain as the result of ...

Lead in the soil-mulberry (Morus alba L.)-silkworm (Bombyx mori) food chain: translocation and detoxification.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Lingyun; Zhao, Ye; Wang, Shuifeng; Han, Shasha; Liu, Jing

2015-06-01

The translocation of lead (Pb) in the soil-mulberry-silkworm food chain and the process of Pb detoxification in the mulberry-silkworm chain were investigated. The amount of Pb in mulberry, silkworm, feces and silk increased in a dose-responsive manner to the Pb contents in the soils. Mulberry roots sequestered most of the Pb, ranging from 230.78 to 1209.25 mg kg(-1). Over 92% of the Pb in the mulberry leaves was deposited in the cell wall, and 95.29-95.57% of the Pb in the mulberry leaves was integrated with oxalic acid, pectates and protein, and it had low bioavailability. The Pb concentrations in the silkworm feces were 4.50-4.64 times higher than those in the leaves. The synthesis of metallothioneins in three tissues of the silkworms was induced to achieve Pb homeostasis under Pb stress. These results indicated the mechanism involved in Pb transfer along the food chain was controlled by the detoxification of Pb in different trophic levels. Planting mulberry and rearing silkworm could be a promising approach for the remediation of Pb-polluted soils due to the Pb tolerance of mulberry and silkworm. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Dose estimation with the help of food chain compartment models

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Murzin, N.V.

1987-01-01

Food chain chamber models for calculation of human irradiation doses are considered. Chamber models are divided into steady-state (SSCM) and dynamic (DCM) ones according to the type of interaction between chambers. SSCM are built on the ground of the postulate about steady-static equilibrium presence within organism-environment system. DCM are based on two main assumptions: 1) food chain may be divided into several interacting chambers, between which radionuclides exchange occurs. Radionuclide specific activity in all parts of the chamber is identical at any instant of time; 2) radionuclide losses by the chamber are proportional to radionuclide specific activity in the chamber. The construction principles for economic chamber model are considered

Supply chain management problems in the food processing industry: Implications for business performance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Catherine A. Nguegan Nguegan

2017-11-01

Contribution or value-add: Practically, the study enables supply chain professionals in the food processing industry to understand the sources of problems and use this information to develop solutions for the improvement of business performance. Theoretically, the study endorses the view that part of the key to resolving business performance complications in the food processing industry involves streamlining supply chain management by resolving its identifiable problems.

Food Safety: an Integral Part of Food Security

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kilian, Lizette

2012-01-01

In recent years, many countries have developed integrated and harmonized food safety and quality control guidelines in accordance with national legislation and international standards to protect the health of consumers. But food safety standards alone are not enough. Radiation technology can complement and supplement existing technologies to ensure food security, safety and quality.

The significance of avoiding household food waste - A means-end-chain approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Richter, Beate; Bokelmann, Wolfgang

2018-04-01

Many humans suffer from hunger, while edible food is discarded. This study aims at showing the importance of avoiding food waste in households and its causes by applying the means-end-chain analysis. Additional the means-end-chain approach should be examined in how far the method is suitable to get insights towards this topic. Consumer backgrounds in terms of feelings and attitudes regarding food waste should be shown, with the particular question why food waste personally is important. The data collection occurred utilizing the hard laddering method within a quantitative online survey. The results indicate that avoiding food waste is important for the greater part of consumers, as many claim to have a bad conscience, seeing it as morally wrong and reprehensible to waste food. A sample breakdown of gender, age and income points differences among these groups in regards to psychological consequences and value systems. Financial and environmental aspects have a lesser impact on attitudes and feelings regarding food waste in households. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Integrating SMMEs into Value Chains: The Role of South Africa's ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

enterprises (SMMEs) is to deepen their integration into industry value chains. The goal of this article is to analyse the role and changing activities of one South African support programme for SMME development, the Tourism Enterprise Programme, which is committed to integrating SMMEs into tourism value chains.

Sustainable agro-food supply chain design using two-stage hybrid multi-objective decision-making approach

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Allaoui, Hamid; Guo, Yuhan; Choudhary, Alok; Bloemhof-Ruwaard, J.M.

2017-01-01

Sustainability of agro-food supply chains has recently become the subject of greater interest from consumers, firms, governmental organizations and academia as the environment continues to deteriorate. One of the most critical factors influencing the sustainability of an agro-food supply chain is

Nutritional quality at eight U.S. fast-food chains: 14-year trends.

Science.gov (United States)

Hearst, Mary O; Harnack, Lisa J; Bauer, Katherine W; Earnest, Alicia A; French, Simone A; Michael Oakes, J

2013-06-01

Frequent consumption of fast-food menu items that are high in fat, sugar, and sodium contribute to poor dietary quality, increasing individuals' risk for diet-related chronic diseases. To assess 14-year trends in the nutritional quality of menu offerings at eight fast-food restaurant chains in the U.S. Data on menu items and food and nutrient composition were obtained in 2011 from archival versions of the University of Minnesota Nutrition Coordinating Center Food and Nutrient Database for eight fast-food restaurant chains. In this database, ingredient and nutrition information for all foods sold by the fast-food restaurants were updated biannually between 1997/1998 and 2009/2010. Healthy Eating Index (HEI)-2005 scores were calculated for each restaurant menu as a measure of the extent to which menu offerings were consistent with Dietary Guidelines for Americans and compared over time. Of a possible index total of 100 (healthiest), the HEI-2005 score across all eight fast-food restaurants was 45 in 1997/1998 and 48 in 2009/2010. Individually, restaurant scores in 1997/1998 ranged from 37 to 56 and in 2009/2010 ranged from 38 to 56. The greatest improvements in nutritional quality were seen in the increase of meat/beans, decrease in saturated fat, and decrease in the proportion of calories from solid fats and added sugars. The HEI-2005 score improved in six restaurants and decreased in two. The nutritional quality of menu offerings at fast-food restaurant chains included in this study increased over time, but further improvements are needed. Fast-food restaurants have an opportunity to contribute to a healthy diet for Americans by improving the nutritional quality of their menus. Copyright © 2013 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Supersymmetric quantum spin chains and classical integrable systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tsuboi, Zengo; Zabrodin, Anton; Zotov, Andrei

2015-01-01

For integrable inhomogeneous supersymmetric spin chains (generalized graded magnets) constructed employing Y(gl(N|M))-invariant R-matrices in finite-dimensional representations we introduce the master T-operator which is a sort of generating function for the family of commuting quantum transfer matrices. Any eigenvalue of the master T-operator is the tau-function of the classical mKP hierarchy. It is a polynomial in the spectral parameter which is identified with the 0-th time of the hierarchy. This implies a remarkable relation between the quantum supersymmetric spin chains and classical many-body integrable systems of particles of the Ruijsenaars-Schneider type. As an outcome, we obtain a system of algebraic equations for the spectrum of the spin chain Hamiltonians.

Using integrated information systems in supply chain management

Science.gov (United States)

Gonzálvez-Gallego, Nicolás; Molina-Castillo, Francisco-Jose; Soto-Acosta, Pedro; Varajao, Joao; Trigo, Antonio

2015-02-01

The aim of this paper is to empirically test not only the direct effects of information and communication technology (ICT) capabilities and integrated information systems (IS) on firm performance, but also the moderating role of IS integration along the supply chain in the relationship between ICT external and capabilities and business performance. Data collected from 102 large Iberian firms from Spain and Portugal are used to test the research model. The hierarchical multiple regression analysis is employed to test the direct effects and the moderating relationships proposed. Results show that external and internal ICT capabilities are important drivers of firm performance, while merely having integrated IS do not lead to better firm performance. In addition, a moderating effect of IS integration in the relationship between ICT capabilities and business performance is found, although this integration only contributes to firm performance when it is directed to connect with suppliers or customers rather than when integrating the whole supply chain.

Transient behavior of cadmium in a grassland arthropod food chain

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Van Hook, R.I.; Yates, A.J.

1975-01-01

Biological assimilation and transport of cadmium were determined for an arthropod food chain in an east Tennessee grassland community. Laboratory experiments demonstrated that there were no significant differences (P greater than 0.05) in assimilation rates (17 percent assimilation per day) or biological half-lives (7 days) of 109 Cd either as soluble nitrate or insoluble oxide in crickets under identical conditions. Field experiments demonstrated that primary consumers (crickets) accumulated 109 Cd much more rapidly (uptake rate = 0.55 day -1 ) than did the spider predators (uptake rate = 0.08 day -1 ). Equilibrium concentrations in crickets were obtained in 9 days (0.04 ppM cadmium), while equilibrium was not reached in spiders during the 30-day study. Food-chain concentration of cadmium did not occur as crickets accumulated levels of cadmium 60 percent of that in their vegetation food sources and spiders accumulated only 70 percent of the cadmium present in the cricket tissues

Private food law : governing food chains through contracts law, self-regulation, private standards, audits and certification schemes

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Meulen, van der B.M.J.

2011-01-01

Since the turn of the Millennium, world-wide initiatives from the private sector have turned the regulatory environment for food businesses upside down. For the first time in legal literature this book analyses private law initiatives relating to the food chain, often referred to as private

U.S. healthcare fix: leveraging the lessons from the food supply chain.

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, Sameer; Blair, John T

2013-01-01

U.S. healthcare costs consistently outpace inflation, causing growing problems of affordability. This trend cannot be sustained indefinitely. The purpose of this study is to use supply-chain tools for macro-level examination of the U.S. healthcare as a business system and identify options and best use practices. We compare the important and successful U.S. food industry to the essential but problematic U.S. healthcare industry. Supply chain strategies leading to food business operations success are examined and healthcare applications suggested. We emphasize "total cost of ownership" which includes all costs incurred by all stakeholders of U.S. healthcare, including maintenance and cleanup, not just the initial purchase price. U.S. hospitals and clinics can use supply chain strategies in a total cost of ownership framework to reduce healthcare costs while maintaining patient care quality. Supply chain strategies of resource pooling, mass customization, centralized logistics, specialization, postponement and continuous improvement that have been successfully used in the U.S. food industry should be more widely applied to the U.S. healthcare industry. New and growing areas of telemedicine and medical tourism should be included in the supply chain analysis of U.S. healthcare. Valid statistical analysis of results in all areas of U.S. healthcare is an important part of the process. U.S. healthcare industry problems are systematic operational and supply chain problems rather than problems with workforce or technology. Examination of the U.S. healthcare industry through a supply chain framework should lead to significant operational improvement in both prevention and treatment of acute and chronic ailments. A rational and unemotional reorganization of the U.S. healthcare system operations, using supply chain strategies, should help reduce healthcare costs while maintaining quality and increasing accessibility.

Yangian symmetry of long-range gl(N) integrable spin chains

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Beisert, Niklas; Erkal, Denis

2008-01-01

An interesting type of spin chain has appeared in the context of the planar AdS/CFT correspondence: it is based on an integrable nearest-neighbor spin chain, and it is perturbatively deformed by long-range interactions which apparently preserve the integrable structure. Similar models can be constructed by demanding the existence of merely one conserved local charge. Although the latter is not a sufficient integrability condition in general, the models often display convincing signs of full integrability. Here we consider a class of long-range spin chains with spins transforming in the fundamental representation of gl(N). For the most general such model with one conserved local charge we construct a conserved Yangian generator and show that it obeys the Serre relations. We thus provide a formal proof of integrability for this class of models

Supply chain integration opportunities for the offshore wind industry

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Martinez, Ivan

2016-01-01

Purpose - This paper surveys the literature on supply chain integration (SCI) to identify the state of research in the various types of studied industries and manufacturing environments. The purpose of this paper is to identify academic discoveries that could provide offshore wind projects...... with means to overcome their current supply chain challenges. Design/methodology/approach - A comprehensive literature review was conducted involving 162 articles published in 29 peer-reviewed journals. The papers were analyzed in terms of the dimensions of SCI, research methodology, unit of analysis, level...... of analysis, type of industry and manufacturing environment being studied, integrative practices, integrative barriers and the link between SCI and performance. Findings - While SCI has been evolving to become an influential topic in the field of supply chain management, scholars have overlooked industrial...

Economic benefits from food recovery at the retail stage: an application to Italian food chains.

Science.gov (United States)

Giuseppe, Aiello; Mario, Enea; Cinzia, Muriana

2014-07-01

The food supply chain is affected by losses of products near to their expiry date or damaged by improper transportation or production defects. Such products are usually poorly attractive for the consumer in the target market even if they maintain their nutritional properties. On the other hand undernourished people face every day the problem of fulfilling their nutritional needs usually relying on non-profit organizations. In this field the food recovery enabling economic benefits for donors is nowadays seen as a coherent way to manage food products unsalable in the target market for various causes and thus destined to be discarded and disposed to landfill thus representing only a cost. Despite its obvious affordability the food recovery is today not always practiced because the economic benefits that could be achieved are barely known. The paper aims at presenting a deterministic mathematical model for the optimization of the supply chain composed by retailers and potential recipients that practice the food recovery, taking into account the benefits recognized to donors and the management costs of the food recovery. The model determines the optimal time to withdraw the products from the shelves as well as the quantities to be donated to the non-profit organizations and those to be sent to the livestock market maximizing the retailer profit. The results show that the optimal conditions ensuring the affordability of the food recovery strategy including the tax reliefs and cost saving for the retailers outperforms the profit achievable in absence of such a system. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Food Chain Algorithm for Capacitated Vehicle Routing Problem with Recycling in Reverse Logistics

Science.gov (United States)

Song, Qiang; Gao, Xuexia; Santos, Emmanuel T.

2015-12-01

This paper introduces the capacitated vehicle routing problem with recycling in reverse logistics, and designs a food chain algorithm for it. Some illustrative examples are selected to conduct simulation and comparison. Numerical results show that the performance of the food chain algorithm is better than the genetic algorithm, particle swarm optimization as well as quantum evolutionary algorithm.

CASCADE - Chemicals as contaminants in the food chain. A network of excellence for research, risk assessment, and education

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Oeberg, M.; Haakansson, H. [Karolinska Institutet, Insitute of Environmental Medicine, Stockholm (Sweden); Pongratz, I.; Gustavsson, J.Aa. [Karolinska Institutet, Dept. of Biosciences, Huddinge (Sweden)

2004-09-15

Harmful effects of chemical contaminants in food are of major health concern in Europe today. Lack of integration between basic research, risk assessment, and education severely hampers the efforts to reach European excellence in this area. The research activities that are carried out are small in scale and are not well integrated into a coherent structure. To tackle the fragmentation problems and to achieve synergistic effects and full European research potential, the European Commission has initiated a Network of Excellence called CASCADE or ''Chemicals as contaminants in the food chain: a network of excellence for research, risk assessment, and education'' The contract is running for five years and is worth over 14 million with partners from eighteen research centres. The network has the potential and goal to be a world force in knowledge on health issues related to chemical contaminants in food. Focus is on chemical residues that act via and/or interfere with cell regulation at the level of nuclear receptors. The risk assessment integration parts of the network aim to increase the awareness among scientists and others of the need to bring multiple aspects of scientific information into use in risk assessment.

A NEW FOOD CHAIN APPROACH: UNI EN ISO 22005:2008 VOLUNTARY CERTIFICATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

E. Guidi

2011-01-01

Full Text Available This work summarize an experience of auditing according to new UNI EN ISO 22005:2008. This new food chain certification scheme, arisen from two different European schemes of internal and external traceability certification, requires companies to build up their own check plans considering all components in food chain processing. This new approach, also derived from the European legislation, wants to verify if traceability system is under control and to verify if corrective actions to warrant hygienic production standards are built up.

The Effect of Information Security Management on Organizational Processes Integration in Supply Chain

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohsen Shafiei Nikabadi

2012-03-01

Full Text Available : The major purpose of this article was that how information security management has effect on supply chain integration and the effect of implementing "information security management system" on enhancing supplies chain integration. In this respect, current research was seeking a combination overview to these tow approaches (Information Security Management and Organizational Processes Integration by Enterprise Resources Planning System and after that determined factors of these two important issue by factor analysis. Researchers using a series of comments in the automotive experts (production planning and management and supply chain experts and caregivers car makers and suppliers in the first level and second level supply chain industry. In this way, it has been done that impact on how information security management processes enterprise supply chain integration with the help of statistical correlation analysis. The results of this investigation indicated effect of "information security management system" various dimensions that were coordination of information, prevent human errors and hardware, the accuracy of information and education for users on two dimensions of internal and external integration of business processes, supply chain and finally, it can increased integration of business processes in supply chain. At the end owing to quite these results, deployment of "information security management system" increased the integration of organizational processes in supply chain. It could be demonstrate with the consideration of relation of organizational integration processes whit the level of coordination of information, prevent errors and accuracy of information throughout the supply chain.

Supply Chain Management and Sustainability: Procrastinating Integration in Mainstream Research

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marisa P. de Brito

2010-03-01

Full Text Available Research has pointed out opportunities and research agendas to integrate sustainability issues with supply chain and operations management. However, we find that it is still not mainstream practice to systematically take a sustainability approach in tackling supply chain and operations management issues. In this paper, we make use of behavioral theory to explain the current lack of integration. We conclude through abductive reasoning that the reasons for procrastinating integration of sustainability in supply chain and operations management research are the conflicting nature of the task and the inherent context, which is the focus on operations rather than environmental or social issues.

Selective bioaccumulation, biomagnification, and dissipation of hexachlorocyclohexane isomers in a freshwater food chain.

Science.gov (United States)

Di, Shanshan; Liu, Ruiquan; Chen, Li; Diao, Jinling; Zhou, Zhiqiang

2018-04-30

Hexachlorocyclohexane isomers (HCHs) are persistent organic pollutants (POPs), having potential risks to humans and ecosystem. This work evaluated the propensity of organisms to accumulate, eliminate, and transfer HCHs along the food chain (Tubifex tubifex and common carp (Cyprinus carpio)). The accumulation of HCHs from water by worms and carp was observed, and the concentrations increased with exposure time. After 8 days, the HCH concentrations in organisms remained stable. The accumulation factor (AF) values of HCHs in T. tubifex were higher than those in carp, indicating that the bioaccumulation abilities of HCHs in T. tubifex were higher than those in carp. The contaminated worms as a dietary source in the food chain led to significantly higher bioaccumulation in carp. The biomagnification factor (BMF) values of HCH isomers were all greater than 1. In the dissipation experiments, the elimination was fast and the half-lives were shorter than 2.5 days. The enantioselective accumulation and dissipation of α-HCH enantiomers were observed in worms and carp (food chain), and the enantiomeric differences should be taken into consideration in the study of contaminants risk assessment. The results on trophic transfer of HCHs in a freshwater food chain should be helpful for better understanding the fate, transport, and transfer of HCHs in freshwater environments.

SUSTAINABILITY OF SHORT FOOD SUPPLY CHAINS: ANALYSIS OF RAW MATERIAL SUPPLY IN MILAN PUBLIC SCHOOL CATERING

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G. D’Anna

2009-09-01

Full Text Available The demand of short food supply chains is becoming more pressing by consumers, especially in the largest school catering. The implementation of the short chain in a large catering company of Milan, is described in this practical contribution. Several aspects of short food chains sustainability: legal, commercial and economic sustainability, hygienic and gastronomic sustainability, are discussed.

Probabilistic accident consequence uncertainty analysis: Food chain uncertainty assessment. Volume 2: Appendices

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brown, J. [National Radiological Protection Board (United Kingdom); Goossens, L.H.J.; Kraan, B.C.P. [Delft Univ. of Technology (Netherlands)] [and others

1997-06-01

This volume is the second of a two-volume document that summarizes a joint project by the US Nuclear Regulatory and the Commission of European Communities to assess uncertainties in the MACCS and COSYMA probabilistic accident consequence codes. These codes were developed primarily for estimating the risks presented by nuclear reactors based on postulated frequencies and magnitudes of potential accidents. This two-volume report, which examines mechanisms and uncertainties of transfer through the food chain, is the first in a series of five such reports. A panel of sixteen experts was formed to compile credible and traceable uncertainty distributions for food chain transfer that affect calculations of offsite radiological consequences. Seven of the experts reported on transfer into the food chain through soil and plants, nine reported on transfer via food products from animals, and two reported on both. The expert judgment elicitation procedure and its outcomes are described in these volumes. This volume contains seven appendices. Appendix A presents a brief discussion of the MAACS and COSYMA model codes. Appendix B is the structure document and elicitation questionnaire for the expert panel on soils and plants. Appendix C presents the rationales and responses of each of the members of the soils and plants expert panel. Appendix D is the structure document and elicitation questionnaire for the expert panel on animal transfer. The rationales and responses of each of the experts on animal transfer are given in Appendix E. Brief biographies of the food chain expert panel members are provided in Appendix F. Aggregated results of expert responses are presented in graph format in Appendix G.

Probabilistic accident consequence uncertainty analysis: Food chain uncertainty assessment. Volume 2: Appendices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brown, J.; Goossens, L.H.J.; Kraan, B.C.P.

1997-06-01

This volume is the second of a two-volume document that summarizes a joint project by the US Nuclear Regulatory and the Commission of European Communities to assess uncertainties in the MACCS and COSYMA probabilistic accident consequence codes. These codes were developed primarily for estimating the risks presented by nuclear reactors based on postulated frequencies and magnitudes of potential accidents. This two-volume report, which examines mechanisms and uncertainties of transfer through the food chain, is the first in a series of five such reports. A panel of sixteen experts was formed to compile credible and traceable uncertainty distributions for food chain transfer that affect calculations of offsite radiological consequences. Seven of the experts reported on transfer into the food chain through soil and plants, nine reported on transfer via food products from animals, and two reported on both. The expert judgment elicitation procedure and its outcomes are described in these volumes. This volume contains seven appendices. Appendix A presents a brief discussion of the MAACS and COSYMA model codes. Appendix B is the structure document and elicitation questionnaire for the expert panel on soils and plants. Appendix C presents the rationales and responses of each of the members of the soils and plants expert panel. Appendix D is the structure document and elicitation questionnaire for the expert panel on animal transfer. The rationales and responses of each of the experts on animal transfer are given in Appendix E. Brief biographies of the food chain expert panel members are provided in Appendix F. Aggregated results of expert responses are presented in graph format in Appendix G

Bioaccumulation of 14C-Labeled Graphene in an Aquatic Food Chain through Direct Uptake or Trophic Transfer.

Science.gov (United States)

Dong, Shipeng; Xia, Tian; Yang, Yu; Lin, Sijie; Mao, Liang

2018-01-16

The growing applications of graphene materials warrant a careful evaluation of their environmental fate in aquatic food webs. Escherichia coli (Bacteria), Tetrahymena thermophila (protozoa), Daphnia magna (zooplankton), and Danio rerio (vertebrate) were used to build aquatic food chains to investigate the waterborne uptake and trophic transfer of 14 C-labeled graphene. Body burden factor (BBF) and trophic transfer factor (TTF) were analyzed for each organism and food chain to assess the bioaccumulation and biomagnification of graphene. The test organisms have high potential of accumulating graphene via direct uptake from culture medium with log-transformed BBF (log BBF) values of 3.66, 5.1, 3.9, and 1.62 for each organism, respectively. In the food chain from E. coli to T. thermophila, the calculated TTFs of 0.2 to 8.6 indicate the high trophic transfer potential in this aquatic food chain. However, the TTFs calculated for the food chain from T. thermophila to D. magna and from D. magna to D. rerio are much lower than 1, indicating that biomagnification was unlikely to occur in these food chains. Body burden measured for dietary uptake by T. thermophila, D. magna, and D. rerio are higher than that via waterborne exposure in a similar nominal concentration, respectively, indicating that trophic transfer is a nonnegligible route for the bioaccumulation of graphene in organisms.

Improving food safety within the dairy chain: an application of conjoint analysis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Valeeva, N.I.; Meuwissen, M.P.M.; Oude Lansink, A.G.J.M.; Huirne, R.B.M.

2005-01-01

This study determined the relative importance of attributes of food safety improvement in the production chain of fluid pasteurized milk. The chain was divided into 4 blocks: "feed" (compound feed production and its transport), "farm" (dairy farm), "dairy processing" (transport and processing of raw

The phosphorus footprint of China's food chain: implications for food security, natural resource management, and environmental quality

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wang, F.; Sims, J.T.; Ma, L.; Ma, W.; Dou, Z.; Zhang, F.

2011-01-01

Efficient use of phosphorus (P) for producing food, preventing water pollution, and managing a dwindling rock P reserve are major challenges for China. We analyzed P stocks and flows in the Chinese food chain to identify where P use efficiency can be improved, where P leaks to the environment, and

Concentration of actinides in the food chain

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bulman, R.A.

1976-06-01

Considerable concern is now being expressed over the discharge of actinides into the environment. This report presents a brief review of the chemistry of the actinides and examines the evidence for interaction of the actinides with some naturally-occurring chelating agents and other factors which might stimulate actinide concentration in the food chain of man. This report also reviews the evidence for concentration of actinides in plants and for uptake through the gastrointestinal tract. (author)

Barriers to the development of the short supply chain for local food producers in Romania

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lavinia DOVLEAC

2017-07-01

Full Text Available This article highlights the importance of short food supply chains for the development of rural areas in Romania, considering the increasing demand of the population for healthy food. A proper functionality of these local food supply chains brings benefits to producers, consumers and the local community, but some issues must be solved. This article presents the results of a qualitative marketing research study conducted for identifying the difficulties in this sector. The study aimed to identify the small producers’ opinions on the barriers to the development of these supply chains and how they could be helped to sell their products at a fair price.

Supply chain integration and performance : the moderating effect of supply complexity

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Giménez, C.; van der Vaart, T.; van Donk, D.P.

2012-01-01

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effectiveness of supply chain integration in different contexts. More specifically, it aims to show that supply chain integration is only effective in buyer-supplier relationships characterised by high supply complexity.

Supply chain integration: A qualitative exploration of perspectives from plastic manufacturers in Gauteng

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yvonne Vermeulen

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Background: Supply chain integration was identified as a tool to assist an organisation to survive in a competitive marketplace. It was unclear how plastic manufacturers in Gauteng perceived supply chain integration efforts between themselves and their suppliers. Objectives: This study’s main purpose was to investigate the nature and extent of supply chain integration between 10 plastic manufacturers in Gauteng and their suppliers. The focus was on these manufacturers’ commitment to and perceptions of supplier integration efforts. Method: The study was conducted with plastic manufacturing organisations in Gauteng, over a period of 2 months. A total of 10 participants were engaged through semi-structured interviews. Results: The main findings of the study revealed that commitment and trust were found to be the antecedents of supplier integration and closer collaboration, while customer price pressure and limited available resources served as motivating factors for integration efforts. Conclusion: It is recommended that organisations must revisit integration efforts when new markets are penetrated and top management support must be revisited using a strategic framework. Keywords: Supply chain integration; supply chain commitment; organisational integration; performance; visibility; supplier integration; customer integration; qualitative study; semi-structured interview; basic research.

EU Regulatory Risk Management of Marine Biotoxins in the Marine Bivalve Mollusc Food-Chain.

Science.gov (United States)

O'Mahony, Micheál

2018-03-10

Food safety risk assessment in the European Union (EU) recognises consumer illness that arises from marine biotoxins as a risk associated with bivalve mollusc consumption. EU food regulations contain various general food safety obligations, which should contribute significantly to managing this risk. EU food regulations additionally impose various specific obligations on both Food Business Operators and Competent Authorities in order to manage the marine biotoxin food safety risk in the bivalve mollusc food-chain. These have a particular focus on the pre-harvest component of the food-chain. A central component of these specific systems is the requirement for ongoing monitoring of phytoplankton and biotoxin concentrations in water and molluscs, respectively. This monitoring explicitly brings a potential outcome of closing production areas delineated by classification to prohibit the harvest of bivalve molluscs as food from those areas when acceptable biotoxin concentrations are exceeded. This review considers the utility of these systems, at conceptual and practical levels, and explores their contribution to an effective regulatory risk management approach.

Beverages-Food Industry Cluster Development Based on Value Chain in Indonesia

OpenAIRE

Lasmono Tri Sunaryanto; Gatot Sasongko; Ira Yumastuti

2014-01-01

This study wants to develop the cluster-based food and beverage industry value chain that corresponds to the potential in the regions in Java Economic Corridor. Targeted research: a description of SME development strategies that have been implemented, composed, and can be applied to an SME cluster development strategy of food and beverage, as well as a proven implementation strategy of SME cluster development of food and beverage. To achieve these objectives, implemented descriptive methods, ...

Integrated decision making for the optimal bioethanol supply chain

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Corsano, Gabriela; Fumero, Yanina; Montagna, Jorge M.

2014-01-01

Highlights: • Optimal allocation, design and production planning of integrated ethanol plants is considered. • Mixed Integer Programming model is presented for solving the integration problem. • Different tradeoffs can be assessed and analyzed. • The modeling framework represents an useful tool for guiding decision making. - Abstract: Bioethanol production poses different challenges that require an integrated approach. Usually previous works have focused on specific perspectives of the global problem. On the contrary, bioethanol, in particular, and biofuels, in general, requires an integrated decision making framework that takes into account the needs and concerns of the different members involved in its supply chain. In this work, a Mixed Integer Linear Programming (MILP) model for the optimal allocation, design and production planning of integrated ethanol/yeast plants is considered. The proposed formulation addresses the relations between different aspects of the bioethanol supply chain and provides an efficient tool to assess the global operation of the supply chain taking into account different points of view. The model proposed in this work simultaneously determines the structure of a three-echelon supply chain (raw material sites, production facilities and customer zones), the design of each installed plant and operational considerations through production campaigns. Yeast production is considered in order to reduce the negative environmental impact caused by bioethanol residues. Several cases are presented in order to assess the approach capabilities and to evaluate the tradeoffs among all the decisions

Methods for detecting pathogens in the beef food chain: detecting particular pathogens

Science.gov (United States)

The main food-borne pathogens of concern in the beef food chain are Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) and Salmonella spp.; however, the presence of other pathogens, including Listeria monocytogenes, Campylobacter spp., Clostridium spp., Bacillus cereus, and Mycobacterium avium subsp. par...

On Power and Weakness, Capacity and Impotence: Rigidity and Flexibility in Food Chains

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ploeg, van der J.D.; Frouws, J.

1999-01-01

This paper considers the significance of organic food production in the Netherlands. It critically examines the social and political construction of food markets in the context of the dominance of industrial and corporate retailer‐led food supply chains. Two cases are used to illustrate counter or

Finite Time Blowup in a Realistic Food-Chain Model

KAUST Repository

Parshad, Rana; Ait Abderrahmane, Hamid; Upadhyay, Ranjit Kumar; Kumari, Nitu

2013-01-01

We investigate a realistic three-species food-chain model, with generalist top predator. The model based on a modified version of the Leslie-Gower scheme incorporates mutual interference in all the three populations and generalizes several other known models in the ecological literature. We show that the model exhibits finite time blowup in certain parameter range and for large enough initial data. This result implies that finite time blowup is possible in a large class of such three-species food-chain models. We propose a modification to the model and prove that the modified model has globally existing classical solutions, as well as a global attractor. We reconstruct the attractor using nonlinear time series analysis and show that it pssesses rich dynamics, including chaos in certain parameter regime, whilst avoiding blowup in any parameter regime. We also provide estimates on its fractal dimension as well as provide numerical simulations to visualise the spatiotemporal chaos.

Finite Time Blowup in a Realistic Food-Chain Model

KAUST Repository

Parshad, Rana

2013-05-19

We investigate a realistic three-species food-chain model, with generalist top predator. The model based on a modified version of the Leslie-Gower scheme incorporates mutual interference in all the three populations and generalizes several other known models in the ecological literature. We show that the model exhibits finite time blowup in certain parameter range and for large enough initial data. This result implies that finite time blowup is possible in a large class of such three-species food-chain models. We propose a modification to the model and prove that the modified model has globally existing classical solutions, as well as a global attractor. We reconstruct the attractor using nonlinear time series analysis and show that it pssesses rich dynamics, including chaos in certain parameter regime, whilst avoiding blowup in any parameter regime. We also provide estimates on its fractal dimension as well as provide numerical simulations to visualise the spatiotemporal chaos.

Profit Analysis Model of Smart Item Implementation in Integrated Supply Chain Process

Science.gov (United States)

Tritularsih, Yustina; Rinanto, Andhy; Prasetyo, Hoedi; Nur Rosyidi, Cucuk

2018-03-01

Nowadays all links of the entire supply chain need to integrate their different infrastructures and they have better control of them to drive better profits. This integration should offer the ability for companies in order to have an overall and transparent insight to its supply chain activities. An intelligent supply chain which is mainly supported by Smart Items technology can satisfy the need of those integration. By means of Smart Items, a company can benefit some advantages. Those are cost reduction and value creation. However, currently there is no comprehensive Smart Item infrastructure exists yet so it is difficult to calculate the true benefit information. This paper attempts to recommend a model for estimating the benefits of implementing Smart Items in a company which has an integrated supply chain process. The integrated supply chain means that three echelons (supplier, shipper and retailer) of supply chain are belonged to a company. The proposed model was used to determine the shrinkage value and RFID tag price which can give the maximum benefit of Smart Items implementation. A numerical example is also provided to give a better comprehension on model calculation.

Resistance in bacteria of the food chain: epidemiology and control strategies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cavaco, Lina; Aarestrup, Frank Møller

2013-01-01

Antimicrobial agents are widely used for treatment of animals and humans as well as for production purposes in livestock production in several countries. This is exerting a major selective pressure on bacterial populations, and is selecting for populations resistant to the antimicrobials used....... The emergence and spread of resistant bacteria in the food chain is a major concern as food-producing animals may constitute a huge reservoir for antimicrobial resistance. Furthermore, food animals and food of animal origin is traded worldwide, which means that the occurrences of antimicrobial resistance...

Analysis of knowledge tacitness in the transfer of food and beverage practices: Evidence from new chain hotels

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Desiderio García-Almeida

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Knowledge is a valuable resource that can provide a firm competitive advantages. Food and beverage practices require the existence of knowledge to effectively perform the activities in this key department for many hotels. When hotel firms grow by integrating new hotels in the organizational structure, managers usually want to transfer the knowledge underlying the key practices. However, the transfer is affected by the level of knowledge tacitness, since this characteristic is considered to render the transfer more difficult. With data from 93 new chain hotels where F&B knowledge has been transferred, the results shed some light about the tacitness of F&B knowledge and its transfer. Thus, customer service knowledge is the knowledge with the lowest degree of tacitness, and food planning, production and preparation is the most tacit. The most frequent mechanism to transfer the knowledge on food planning, production and preparation and the knowledge on management and control of purchases and consumption is the use of staff from the headquarters or other chain hotels in long-term assignments; the preferred method for F&B customer service is training courses, lectures and seminars. Moreover, the tacitness of knowledge about F&B customer service negatively affects the knowledge transfer process in several success dimensions.

Multiple attractors and crisis route to chaos in a model food-chain

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Upadhyay, Ranjit Kumar

2003-01-01

An attempt has been made to identify the mechanism, which is responsible for the existence of chaos in narrow parameter range in a realistic ecological model food-chain. Analytical and numerical studies of a three species food-chain model similar to a situation likely to be seen in terrestrial ecosystems has been carried out. The study of the model food chain suggests that the existence of chaos in narrow parameter ranges is caused by the crisis-induced sudden death of chaotic attractors. Varying one of the critical parameters in its range while keeping all the others constant, one can monitor the changes in the dynamical behaviour of the system, thereby fixing the regimes in which the system exhibits chaotic dynamics. The computed bifurcation diagrams and basin boundary calculations indicate that crisis is the underlying factor which generates chaotic dynamics in this model food-chain. We investigate sudden qualitative changes in chaotic dynamical behaviour, which occur at a parameter value a 1 =1.7804 at which the chaotic attractor destroyed by boundary crisis with an unstable periodic orbit created by the saddle-node bifurcation. Multiple attractors with riddled basins and fractal boundaries are also observed. If ecological systems of interacting species do indeed exhibit multiple attractors etc., the long term dynamics of such systems may undergo vast qualitative changes following epidemics or environmental catastrophes due to the system being pushed into the basin of a new attractor by the perturbation. Coupled with stochasticity, such complex behaviours may render such systems practically unpredictable

Deformations of N=4 SYM and integrable spin chain models

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Berenstein, David; Cherkis, Sergey A.

2004-01-01

Beginning with the planar limit of N=4 SYM theory, we study planar diagrams for field theory deformations of N=4 which are marginal at the free field theory level. We show that the requirement of integrability of the full one-loop dilatation operator in the scalar sector, places very strong constraints on the field theory, so that the only soluble models correspond essentially to orbifolds of N=4 SYM. For these, the associated spin chain model gets twisted boundary conditions that depend on the length of the chain, but which are still integrable. We also show that theories with integrable subsectors appear quite generically, and it is possible to engineer integrable subsectors to have some specific symmetry, however these do not generally lead to full integrability. We also try to construct a theory whose spin chain has quantum group symmetry SOq(6) as a deformation of the SO(6) R-symmetry structure of N=4 SYM. We show that it is not possible to obtain a spin chain with that symmetry from deformations of the scalar potential of N=4 SYM.We also show that the natural context for these questions can be better phrased in terms of multi-matrix quantum mechanics rather than in four-dimensional field theories

Microbes versus microbes: control of pathogens in the food chain.

Science.gov (United States)

Jordan, Kieran; Dalmasso, Marion; Zentek, Juergen; Mader, Anneluise; Bruggeman, Geert; Wallace, John; De Medici, Dario; Fiore, Alfonsina; Prukner-Radovcic, Estella; Lukac, Maja; Axelsson, Lars; Holck, Askild; Ingmer, Hanne; Malakauskas, Mindaugas

2014-12-01

Foodborne illness continues as a considerable threat to public health. Despite improved hygiene management systems and increased regulation, pathogenic bacteria still contaminate food, causing sporadic cases of illness and disease outbreaks worldwide. For many centuries, microbial antagonism has been used in food processing to improve food safety. An understanding of the mode of action of this microbial antagonism has been gained in recent years and potential applications in food and feed safety are now being explored. This review focuses on the potential opportunities presented, and the limitations, of using microbial antagonism as a biocontrol mechanism to reduce contamination along the food chain; including animal feed as its first link. © 2014 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2014 Society of Chemical Industry.

EFFICIENCY OF RAW MATERIAL INVENTORIES IN IMPROVING SUPPLY CHAIN PERFORMANCE of CV. FIVA FOOD

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Artadi Nugraha

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The production and number of processed food industries have slightly increased; as a result, the companies must compete to maximize their profits by conducting their efficient production process. CV. Fiva Food is one of the companies in the field of processed foods, especially in processed meat that has implemented supply chain management. It is necessary for the company to take measurements of its performance and efficiency for the entire supply chain such as procurement of raw materials. The purposes of this study were to analyze the performance of the company's supply chain and determine the most efficient  method of procurement for its raw materials as well as and to provide recommendations for the company to improve its performance of entire supply chain. This study used SCOR in analyzing the performance of supply chain and EOQ and POQ method to be compared with the method that the company uses to determine which method of procurement for raw materials is the most efficient one. The result showed that based on the matrix, the company's performance is unfavorable when it was compared to the benchmark performance of inventory days of supply. In addition, this study showed that the POQ method produces the lowest total inventory cost with savings of Rp6.647.015 for raw materials of MDM whereas EOQ method produced the lowest total inventory cost with savings of Rp222.153,78 for raw materials of FQ85CL. Keywords: performance suppy chain, SCOR, fiva food, EOQ, POQ

Complex dynamics in a food chain with slow and fast processes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jiang Yongxin; Yang Jianping

2009-01-01

This paper is devoted to the analysis of the dynamic behavior of a three-species food chain model, in which two predators compete for the same prey while one of the predators feeds on the other. Under the assumption that the time responses of the three trophic levels are extremely diversified, the model is proved to have homoclinic orbit. We firstly use geometric singular perturbation method to detect singular homoclinic orbits as well as parameter combinations for which these orbits exist. Then, we show, numerically, that there exist also nonsingular homoclinic orbits that tend toward the singular ones for slightly different parameter values. This analysis is particularly helpful to understanding the chaotic behavior of the food chains.

Radio-ecological studies on the air-soil-vine-wine food chain

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wagner, A.

1987-01-01

The report summarizes the results of the first three years (1983-85) of the radio-ecological studies on wine which were performed on eight sites from major German wine-growing regions involving red and white wine varieties typical of their region. The radionuclides of tritium, carbon 14, strontium 90, cesium 137, radium 226 and sodium 40 were examined for their contents and presence in the food chain of air-soil-vine-wine in order to determine the pollution situation in grapes and wine and to gain information on their behaviour in the food chain. A number of soil parameters important for nutrient uptake were determined to describe the site. (orig./MG) [de

Integrating Environmental Sustainability Considerations into Food and Nutrition Policies: Insights from Australia’s National Food Plan

Science.gov (United States)

Ridgway, Ella Megan; Lawrence, Mark Andrew; Woods, Julie

2015-01-01

The environmental sustainability (ES) of food systems is a critical challenge for policy makers. This is a highly contested policy area with differing views among stakeholders. The aim of the study was to develop a better understanding of how ES considerations are addressed in Australian food and nutrition policies and the way that consultation processes affect final policy outcomes. A mixed-methods study design combined a detailed chronology of key policy developments (2009–2015), a content analysis of written submissions obtained during the NFP’s consultation period (2011–2013) and a frame analysis of the sustainability perspectives – efficiency, demand restraint, and system transformation – in the NFP’s Issues, Green, and White Papers. There were 555 written submissions responding to two consultation papers. Stakeholders represented all sectors of Australia’s food system including government, non-government organizations, the food supply chain, research and academic institutions, and members of the general public. Around 74% of submissions referred to ES considerations and ~65% supported their inclusion into the final policy. Efficiency frames were most dominant; emphasizing a production-oriented approach that regards the environment as a natural resource base for food production but overlooks consumption and equity concerns. Despite strong support for the inclusion of ES considerations in the NFP, the influence of Australia’s socio-political context, powerful, industry-dominated stakeholders, and a reliance on traditional production-oriented perspectives delivered a business-as-usual approach to food policy making. It has since been replaced by an agricultural strategy that provides only cursory attention to ES. Our findings indicate that Australia’s political environment is not sufficiently mature for ES considerations to be integrated into food and nutrition policies. We propose reforms to the current consultation process in Australia to

Integrating environmental sustainability considerations into food and nutrition policies: insights from Australia’s National Food Plan

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ella Megan Ridgway

2015-09-01

Full Text Available The environmental sustainability (ES of food systems is a critical challenge for policy-makers. This is a highly contested policy area with differing views among stakeholders. The aim of the study was to develop a better understanding of how ES considerations are addressed in Australian food and nutrition policies and the way that consultation processes affect final policy outcomes. A mixed-methods study design combined a detailed chronology of key policy developments (2009 – 2015, a content analysis of written submissions obtained during the NFP’s consultation period (2011 – 2013 and a framing analysis of the sustainability perspectives - efficiency, demand restraint and system transformation – in the NFP’s Issues, Green and White Papers. There were 555 written submissions responding to two consultation papers. Stakeholders represented all sectors of Australia’s food system including government, non-government organizations, the food supply chain, research and academic institutions and members of the general public. Around 74% of submissions referred to ES considerations and approximately 65% supported their inclusion into the final policy. Efficiency frames were most dominant; emphasizing a production-oriented approach that regards the environment as a natural resource base for food production but overlooks consumption and equity concerns. Despite strong support for the inclusion of ES considerations in the NFP the influence of Australia’s sociopolitical context, powerful, industry-dominated stakeholders and a reliance on traditional production-oriented perspectives delivered a business-as-usual approach to food policy-making. It has since been replaced by an agricultural strategy that provides only cursory attention to ES. Our findings indicate that Australia’s political environment is not sufficiently mature for ES considerations to be integrated into food and nutrition policies. We propose reforms to the current consultation

A Supply Chain Design Problem Integrated Facility Unavailabilities Management

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fouad Maliki

2016-08-01

Full Text Available A supply chain is a set of facilities connected together in order to provide products to customers. The supply chain is subject to random failures caused by different factors which cause the unavailability of some sites. Given the current economic context, the management of these unavailabilities is becoming a strategic choice to ensure the desired reliability and availability levels of the different supply chain facilities. In this work, we treat two problems related to the field of supply chain, namely the design and unavailabilities management of logistics facilities. Specifically, we consider a stochastic distribution network with consideration of suppliers' selection, distribution centres location (DCs decisions and DCs’ unavailabilities management. Two resolution approaches are proposed. The first approach called non-integrated consists on define the optimal supply chain structure using an optimization approach based on genetic algorithms (GA, then to simulate the supply chain performance with the presence of DCs failures. The second approach called integrated approach is to consider the design of the supply chain problem and unavailabilities management of DCs in the same model. Note that, we replace each unavailable DC by performing a reallocation using GA in the two approaches. The obtained results of the two approaches are detailed and compared showing their effectiveness.

Food value chain analysis: A review of selected studies for Pakistan and guidelines for further research

OpenAIRE

ul Haq, Zahoor

2012-01-01

The study of value chains comprises of two key concepts: value and chain. The term value is synonym to “value added†in the Value Chain Analysis (VCA) as it characterizes the incremental value of a resultant product produced from processing of a product. For agricultural products, value addition can also take place through differentiation of a product based on food safety and food functionality. Price of the resultant product shows its incremental value. The term chain refers to a supply c...

Modelling of the radionuclide transport through terrestrial food chains

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hanusik, V.

1991-01-01

The paper presents a terrestrial food chains model for computing potential human intake of radionuclides released into the atmosphere during normal NPP operation. Attention is paid to the choice of model parameter values. Results obtained by our approach are compared to those applied in current methodology. (orig.) [de

Innovation in a multiple-stage, multiple-product food marketing chain

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Baker, Alister Derek; Christensen, Tove

A model of a 3-stage food marketing chain is presented for the case of two products. Its extension of existing work is its capacity to examine non-competitive input and output markets in two marketing chains at once, and have them related by demand and cost interactions. The simulated impacts...... of market power in a single chain generally reproduce those delivered by previous authors. The impacts of market power in related chains are found to depend on linkages between chains in terms of interactions in consumer demand. Interactions between products in costs (economies of scope) generate...... an interesting result in that a possible market failure is identified that may be offset by the exercise of market power. The generation of farm-level innovation is seen to be largely unaffected by market power, but where market power is exercised the benefits are extracted from farmers and consumers...

RFID Application Strategy in Agri-Food Supply Chain Based on Safety and Benefit Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Min; Li, Peichong

Agri-food supply chain management (SCM), a management method to optimize internal costs and productivities, has evolved as an application of e-business technologies. These days, RFID has been widely used in many fields. In this paper, we analyze the characteristics of agri-food supply chain. Then the disadvantages of RFID are discussed. After that, we study the application strategies of RFID based on benefit and safety degree.

Life cycle assessment and the agri-food chain

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hermansen, John Erik; Nguyen, T Lan T

2012-01-01

Our food consumption is responsible for a major part of the environmental impact related to our total consumption. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a product-oriented tool that can be used efficiently to identify improvement options within the food chain covering a product’s life cycle from cradle...... to grave, which is very complex for many foods, and to support choices of consumption. The LCA methodology is supported by public standards and public policy measures and has proved its value in business development for more environmentally friendly products. It is an essential feature that the effects...... of resource use and emissions associated with a product’s life cycle can be aggregated into impact categories (e.g., nonrenewable energy use, land occupation, global warming, acidification, etc.) and further aggregated into overall damage impacts (e.g., impacts on biodiversity, human health, and resource...

The Fearne Report: Sustainable Food and Wine Value Chains – Opportunity or Imperative for Australian Agrifood and Wine?

OpenAIRE

Mugford, Annabel; Ronan, Glenn

2010-01-01

Released in September 2009, Sustainable Food and Wine Value Chains is the final report of a 12 month residency in South Australia by Adelaide’s 14th Thinker in Residence, Professor Andrew Fearne. The paper overviews the residency journey and its outcomes, including a value chain research report, Vine to Dine; local food and wine enterprise/chain case studies, and the final report and its recommendations. Supply chains and value chains are differentiated as a basis for building value chain cap...

Wal-Mart's Successfully Integrated Supply Chain and the Necessity of Establishing the Triple-A supply Chain in the 21st century

OpenAIRE

Ha Nguyen Thi Thu

2017-01-01

Aim/purpose - The main purposes of the paper are to analyze features creating a Wal-Mart's successful integrated supply chain that contributes its dominant position in the retail market and identify issues existing in Wal-Mart's supply chain. Then some suggestions will be mentioned for Wal-Mart to establish the Triple-A supply chain. Methodology - This paper is based on literature studies for reviewing Wal-Mart's integrated supply chain and designing an ideal Triple-A supply chain. Findings -...

Applications of DART-MS for food quality and safety assurance in food supply chain.

Science.gov (United States)

Guo, Tianyang; Yong, Wei; Jin, Yong; Zhang, Liya; Liu, Jiahui; Wang, Sai; Chen, Qilong; Dong, Yiyang; Su, Haijia; Tan, Tianwei

2017-03-01

Direct analysis in real time (DART) represents a new generation of ion source which is used for rapid ionization of small molecules under ambient conditions. The combination of DART and various mass spectrometers allows analyzing multiple food samples with simple or no sample treatment, or in conjunction with prevailing protocolized sample preparation methods. Abundant applications by DART-MS have been reviewed in this paper. The DART-MS strategy applied to food supply chain (FSC), including production, processing, and storage and transportation, provides a comprehensive solution to various food components, contaminants, authenticity, and traceability. Additionally, typical applications available in food analysis by other ambient ionization mass spectrometers were summarized, and fundamentals mainly including mechanisms, devices, and parameters were discussed as well. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Mass Spec Rev. 36:161-187, 2017. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Options for reducing food waste by quality-controlled logistics using intelligent packaging along the supply chain.

Science.gov (United States)

Heising, Jenneke K; Claassen, G D H; Dekker, Matthijs

2017-10-01

Optimising supply chain management can help to reduce food waste. This paper describes how intelligent packaging can be used to reduce food waste when used in supply chain management based on quality-controlled logistics (QCL). Intelligent packaging senses compounds in the package that correlate with the critical quality attribute of a food product. The information on the quality of each individual packaged food item that is provided by the intelligent packaging can be used for QCL. In a conceptual approach it is explained that monitoring food quality by intelligent packaging sensors makes it possible to obtain information about the variation in the quality of foods and to use a dynamic expiration date (IP-DED) on a food package. The conceptual approach is supported by quantitative data from simulations on the effect of using the information of intelligent packaging in supply chain management with the goal to reduce food waste. This simulation shows that by using the information on the quality of products that is provided by intelligent packaging, QCL can substantially reduce food waste. When QCL is combined with dynamic pricing based on the predicted expiry dates, a further waste reduction is envisaged.

The applicability of LCA to evaluate the key environmental challenges in food supply chains

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Aronsson, Anna K.S.; Landquist, Birgit; Esturo, Aintzane

2014-01-01

System analysis was performed to gain an overview of key environmental challenges and pinpoint hotspots causing environmental impacts in three European food supply chains. An overview was obtained based on a review on LCA studies for beef, dairy, orange juice and aquaculture food supply chains....... Similarities of the main environmental impacts were identified to rationalize and justify the selection of key performance indicators chosen for a simplified web based LCA tool developed within the EC funded project SENSE (FP7). Life Cycle Assessment methodology covered many of the key challenges identified...... but will not be sufficient to address all environmental impacts generated from the food supply chains. Especially for aquaculture impacts that are not taken into account with LCA are i.e. nutrient and organic matter releases, impacts associated with feed provision, diseases introduction, escapes, and changed usage...

EU Regulatory Risk Management of Marine Biotoxins in the Marine Bivalve Mollusc Food-Chain

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Micheál O’Mahony

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Food safety risk assessment in the European Union (EU recognises consumer illness that arises from marine biotoxins as a risk associated with bivalve mollusc consumption. EU food regulations contain various general food safety obligations, which should contribute significantly to managing this risk. EU food regulations additionally impose various specific obligations on both Food Business Operators and Competent Authorities in order to manage the marine biotoxin food safety risk in the bivalve mollusc food-chain. These have a particular focus on the pre-harvest component of the food-chain. A central component of these specific systems is the requirement for ongoing monitoring of phytoplankton and biotoxin concentrations in water and molluscs, respectively. This monitoring explicitly brings a potential outcome of closing production areas delineated by classification to prohibit the harvest of bivalve molluscs as food from those areas when acceptable biotoxin concentrations are exceeded. This review considers the utility of these systems, at conceptual and practical levels, and explores their contribution to an effective regulatory risk management approach.

The Impact of Food Quality Information Services on Food Supply Chain Pricing Decisions and Coordination Mechanisms Based on the O2O E-Commerce Mode

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiaoqiu Yu

2018-01-01

Full Text Available This paper considers the price conflict problem between the online channel of a food processing factory and the offline channel of the food retailers in food supply chains by analyzing the pricing decisions and coordination mechanisms between the food processing factory and food retailers under the influence of a food quality information service. First, the Stackelberg game method and the Bertrand game method are used to optimize the pricing decisions with the goal of maximizing the profits of the food processing factory and retailer. The analysis shows that the food quality information service level is positively correlated with the price of the factory’s own channel, and the influence of the food quality information service level on the price of the food processing factory’s or the food retailer’s own channel is stronger than its influence on the price of a competitor’s channel. Second, the food supply chain members’ pricing decisions are analyzed using the case analysis method by considering practical problems in the food supply chain. The results indicate that the food processing factory should use the Stackelberg game to make pricing decisions. However, it is optimal for the food retailer to make pricing decisions under the Bertrand game, and the total profit of the food supply chain is optimized under centralized decision making. Finally, we use both the quantitative discount mechanism and the Stackelberg game method to analyze the profits obtained by the food processing factory and retailer. The results indicate that the food processing factory should implement a quantitative discount mechanism when the quantity discount coefficient is greater than 0.4, and the retailer should implement a quantity discount mechanism when the quantity discount coefficient is in the range of 0.25 to 0.4.

Integrable multi parametric SU(N) chain

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Foerster, Angela; Roditi, Itzhak; Rodrigues, Ligia M.C.S.

1996-03-01

We analyse integrable models associated to a multi parametric SU(N) R-matrix. We show that the Hamiltonians describe SU(N) chains with twisted boundary conditions and that the underlying algebraic structure is the multi parametric deformation of SU(N) enlarged by the introduction of a central element. (author). 15 refs

Study of a tri-trophic prey-dependent food chain model of interacting populations.

Science.gov (United States)

Haque, Mainul; Ali, Nijamuddin; Chakravarty, Santabrata

2013-11-01

The current paper accounts for the influence of intra-specific competition among predators in a prey dependent tri-trophic food chain model of interacting populations. We offer a detailed mathematical analysis of the proposed food chain model to illustrate some of the significant results that has arisen from the interplay of deterministic ecological phenomena and processes. Biologically feasible equilibria of the system are observed and the behaviours of the system around each of them are described. In particular, persistence, stability (local and global) and bifurcation (saddle-node, transcritical, Hopf-Andronov) analysis of this model are obtained. Relevant results from previous well known food chain models are compared with the current findings. Global stability analysis is also carried out by constructing appropriate Lyapunov functions. Numerical simulations show that the present system is capable enough to produce chaotic dynamics when the rate of self-interaction is very low. On the other hand such chaotic behaviour disappears for a certain value of the rate of self interaction. In addition, numerical simulations with experimented parameters values confirm the analytical results and shows that intra-specific competitions bears a potential role in controlling the chaotic dynamics of the system; and thus the role of self interactions in food chain model is illustrated first time. Finally, a discussion of the ecological applications of the analytical and numerical findings concludes the paper. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Food-chain and dose model, CALDOS, for assessing Canada's Nuclear Fuel Waste Management concept

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zach, R.; Sheppard, S.C.

1991-01-01

The food-chain and dose model, CALculation of DOSe (CALDOS), was developed for assessing Canada's concept for nuclear fuel waste disposal in a vault deep in crystalline rock of the Canadian Shield. The model is very general and based on the Shield as a whole. The critical group is totally self-sufficient and represented by ICRP (1975) Reference Man for dose prediction. CALDOS assumes steady-state conditions and deals with variation and uncertainty through Monte Carlo simulation techniques. Ingrowth of some radioactive daughters is considered during food-chain transfer. A limit is set on root uptake to avoid unrealistic plant concentrations. Integrated ingestion and inhalation rates of man are calculated in a unique way, based on energy needs. Soil ingestion by man and external exposure from building material are unique pathways considered. Tritium, 129 I, and 222 Rn are treated through special models, and 14 C and 129 I involve unique geosphere dose limits. All transfer coefficients are lognormally distributed, and the plant/soil concentration ratio is correlated with the soil partition coefficient. Animals' ingestion rates are normally distributed and correlated with each other. Comprehensive sets of internal and external dose conversion factors were calculated for CALDOS. Sample calculations show that dose distributions tend to be strongly right-skewed. Many features of CALDOS are relevant for environmental assessment in general

News from EU Research: SAFE FOODS : Promoting Food Safety through a New, Integrated Risk Analysis Approach for Foods

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Cnudde, F.

2005-01-01

The European food chain is generally considered as one of the safest in the world. Paradoxically, consumers in Europe have little confidence in the safety of their food supply and remain sceptical and distrustful of the institutions and the procedures currently in place. Consumer trust has declined

Towards a More Sustainable Food Supply Chain: Opening up Invisible Waste in Food Service

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Belén Derqui

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Future challenges to the global food supply chain are complex. In order to embrace sustainability, companies should change their management practices towards more efficient resource use. Food waste being a misuse of resources, we identify its causes and possible ways of minimising it. To achieve this goal, we conducted explorative research with qualitative and quantitative data through in-depth semi-structured interviews and an open questionnaire with top Spanish food service companies. Results show that most businesses mainly tend to minimise food waste according to economic criteria, without taking into account the social, ethical or environmental factors. As a consequence, just “visible” food waste that has an economic impact on the results is minimised. Nevertheless, visibility of real waste is often low. At the same time, awareness of (and therefore initiatives to reduce food waste that does not directly affect a firm’s profit can be increased through multi-stakeholder collaboration. Opportunities for reducing food waste therefore arise from increasing the visibility of food that is discarded as well as addressing plate waste. We identify best practices that could lead to a reduction of the amount of food waste generated in the out of home channel in Spain.

Global dynamics in a stoichiometric food chain model with two limiting nutrients.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Ming; Fan, Meng; Kuang, Yang

2017-07-01

Ecological stoichiometry studies the balance of energy and multiple chemical elements in ecological interactions to establish how the nutrient content affect food-web dynamics and nutrient cycling in ecosystems. In this study, we formulate a food chain with two limiting nutrients in the form of a stoichiometric population model. A comprehensive global analysis of the rich dynamics of the targeted model is explored both analytically and numerically. Chaotic dynamic is observed in this simple stoichiometric food chain model and is compared with traditional model without stoichiometry. The detailed comparison reveals that stoichiometry can reduce the parameter space for chaotic dynamics. Our findings also show that decreasing producer production efficiency may have only a small effect on the consumer growth but a more profound impact on the top predator growth. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

An Integrated Method of Supply Chains Vulnerability Assessment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jiaguo Liu

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Supply chain vulnerability identification and evaluation are extremely important to mitigate the supply chain risk. We present an integrated method to assess the supply chain vulnerability. The potential failure mode of the supply chain vulnerability is analyzed through the SCOR model. Combining the fuzzy theory and the gray theory, the correlation degree of each vulnerability indicator can be calculated and the target improvements can be carried out. In order to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method, we use Kendall’s tau coefficient to measure the effect of different methods. The result shows that the presented method has the highest consistency in the assessment compared with the other two methods.

Assessing alternative production options for eco-efficient food supply chains using multi-objective optimization

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Banasik, Aleksander; Kanellopoulos, Argyris; Claassen, G.D.H.; Bloemhof-Ruwaard, Jacqueline M.; Vorst, van der Jack G.A.J.

2017-01-01

Due to tremendous losses of resources in modern food supply chains, higher priority should be given to reducing food waste and environmental impacts of food production. In practice, multiple production options are available, but must be quantitatively assessed with respect to economic and

Levels & Barriers to Supply Chain Integration: A conceptual model of Supply Chain Performance

OpenAIRE

RajaIrfan Sabir; Muhammad Irfan

2014-01-01

In modern business scenario Supply chain has become the back bone for every business organization. All supply chain partners are joined together in value delivery network of company that no one can perform better without support of other. The ultimate objective of this cohesive relationship is to deliver value to customers and gets desired state of customer satisfaction & loyalty for the organization. For this purpose it is necessary to integrate the internal and external partners of Supply c...

Nitrogen and phosphorus use efficiencies and losses in the food chain in China at regional scales in 1980 and 2005.

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, L; Velthof, G L; Wang, F H; Qin, W; Zhang, W F; Liu, Z; Zhang, Y; Wei, J; Lesschen, J P; Ma, W Q; Oenema, O; Zhang, F S

2012-09-15

Crop and animal production in China has increased significantly during the last decades, but at the cost of large increases in nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) losses, which contribute to ecosystem degradation and human health effects. This information is largely based on scattered field experiments, surveys and national statistics. As a consequence, there is as yet no comprehensive understanding of the changes in N and P cycling and losses at regional and national scales. Here, we present the results of an integrated assessment of the N and P use efficiencies (NUE and PUE) and N and P losses in the chain of crop and animal production, food processing and retail, and food consumption at regional scale in 1980 and 2005, using a uniform approach and databases. Our results show that the N and P costs of food production-consumption almost doubled between 1980 and 2005, but with large regional variation. The NUE and PUE of crop production decreased dramatically, while NUE and PUE in animal production increased. Interestingly, NUE and PUE of the food processing sector decreased from about 75% to 50%. Intake of N and P per capita increased, but again with large regional variation. Losses of N and P from agriculture to atmosphere and water bodies increased in most regions, especially in the east and south of the country. Highest losses were estimated for the Beijing and Tianjin metropolitan regions (North China), Pearl River Delta (South China) and Yangzi River Delta (East China). In conclusion, the changes and regional variations in NUE and PUE in the food chain of China are large and complex. Changes occurred in the whole crop and animal production, food processing and consumption chain, and were largest in the most populous areas between 1980 and 2005. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Food safety management systems performance in the lamb production chain

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Oses, S.M.; Luning, P.A.; Jacxsens, L.; Jaime, I.; Rovira, J.

2012-01-01

This study describes a performance measurement of implemented food safety management system (FSMS) along the lamb chain using an FSMS-diagnostic instrument (FSMS-DI) and a Microbiological Assessment Scheme (MAS). Three slaughterhouses, 1 processing plant and 5 butcher shops were evaluated. All the

Business Process Modelling in Demand-Driven Agri-Food Supply Chains

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Verdouw, C.N.; Beulens, A.J.M.; Trienekens, J.H.; Wolfert, J.

2010-01-01

Agri-food companies increasingly participate in demand-driven supply chains that are able to adapt flexibly to changes in the marketplace. The objective of this presentation is to discuss a process modelling framework, which enhances the interoperability and agility of information systems as

An updated generic architecture describingcompliance in Agri-Food Supply Chains

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kruize, J.W.; Robbemond, R.M.; Verwaart, T.

2016-01-01

In this report a generic architecture is presented comprising an inventory of the most important actors, roles, processes and information that are relevant in the processes of standardisation, certification and compliance in Agri-Food Supply Chains. This architecture becomes part of an architectural

Governance for quality management in smallholder-based tropical food chains

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Tilburg, van A.; Trienekens, J.H.; Ruben, R.; Boekel, van M.A.J.S.

2008-01-01

Abstract The paper provides a framework that focuses on the linkages between several key dimensions of supply chain organization and performance of perishable tropical food products. The focus is on the relationship between governance regime and quality management. However, two other but related

The concept of sustainable food chain (case study – the dairy food chain Koncepcja zrównoważonego łańcucha żywnościowego (mleczny łańcuch żywnościowy - studium przypadku

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michał Sznajder

2008-06-01

Full Text Available The paper proposes definition of food chain in natural and economic approach. In paper is presented classical economics approach to issues of sustainable development. Idea of sustainable food chain and its goals were defined. Also macroeconomics and micro-economics interpretation of sustainable development and econometric model of sustainable dairy food chain were shown. For analysing impact of activities on sustainable development linear programming was suggested. This article shows that life styles are the base and driv-ing force behind sustainable development. Latest technological and economical solutions in dairy sector and their links with sustainable development were described.

Disentangling the root- and detritus-based food chain in the micro-food web of an arable soil by plant removal.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Olena Glavatska

Full Text Available Soil food web structure and function is primarily determined by the major basal resources, which are living plant tissue, root exudates and dead organic matter. A field experiment was performed to disentangle the interlinkage of the root-and detritus-based soil food chains. An arable site was cropped either with maize, amended with maize shoot litter or remained bare soil, representing food webs depending on roots, aboveground litter and soil organic matter as predominant resource, respectively. The soil micro-food web, i.e. microorganisms and nematodes, was investigated in two successive years along a depth transect. The community composition of nematodes was used as model to determine the changes in the rhizosphere, detritusphere and bulk soil food web. In the first growing season the impact of treatments on the soil micro-food web was minor. In the second year plant-feeding nematodes increased under maize, whereas after harvest the Channel Index assigned promotion of the detritivore food chain, reflecting decomposition of root residues. The amendment with litter did not foster microorganisms, instead biomass of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria as well as that of fungi declined in the rooted zone. Likely higher grazing pressure by nematodes reduced microbial standing crop as bacterial and fungal feeders increased. However, populations at higher trophic levels were not promoted, indicating limited flux of litter resources along the food chain. After two years of bare soil microbial biomass and nematode density remained stable, pointing to soil organic matter-based resources that allow bridging periods with deprivation. Nematode communities were dominated by opportunistic taxa that are competitive at moderate resource supply. In sum, removal of plants from the system had less severe effects than expected, suggesting considerable food web resilience to the disruption of both the root and detrital carbon channel, pointing to a legacy of

Disentangling the root- and detritus-based food chain in the micro-food web of an arable soil by plant removal.

Science.gov (United States)

Glavatska, Olena; Müller, Karolin; Butenschoen, Olaf; Schmalwasser, Andreas; Kandeler, Ellen; Scheu, Stefan; Totsche, Kai Uwe; Ruess, Liliane

2017-01-01

Soil food web structure and function is primarily determined by the major basal resources, which are living plant tissue, root exudates and dead organic matter. A field experiment was performed to disentangle the interlinkage of the root-and detritus-based soil food chains. An arable site was cropped either with maize, amended with maize shoot litter or remained bare soil, representing food webs depending on roots, aboveground litter and soil organic matter as predominant resource, respectively. The soil micro-food web, i.e. microorganisms and nematodes, was investigated in two successive years along a depth transect. The community composition of nematodes was used as model to determine the changes in the rhizosphere, detritusphere and bulk soil food web. In the first growing season the impact of treatments on the soil micro-food web was minor. In the second year plant-feeding nematodes increased under maize, whereas after harvest the Channel Index assigned promotion of the detritivore food chain, reflecting decomposition of root residues. The amendment with litter did not foster microorganisms, instead biomass of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria as well as that of fungi declined in the rooted zone. Likely higher grazing pressure by nematodes reduced microbial standing crop as bacterial and fungal feeders increased. However, populations at higher trophic levels were not promoted, indicating limited flux of litter resources along the food chain. After two years of bare soil microbial biomass and nematode density remained stable, pointing to soil organic matter-based resources that allow bridging periods with deprivation. Nematode communities were dominated by opportunistic taxa that are competitive at moderate resource supply. In sum, removal of plants from the system had less severe effects than expected, suggesting considerable food web resilience to the disruption of both the root and detrital carbon channel, pointing to a legacy of organic matter

Multidimensionality evaluation of supply chain management integration

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fernanda Paes Arantes

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Integration is constantly reported in the literature as an essential feature of SCM. However, it is as difficult to define as to operationalize it, resulting in a lack of information on how to increase the level of integration among members. Thus, this research aims to evaluate the dimensionality of SCI, to check alignment with the features identified in the literature using multivariate statistical analysis. The methodology used was based on a questionnaire to assess the level of companies integration with suppliers of its supply chain. This instrument consisted of 21 items, with response options: yes, no or not applicable. The questions focused on evaluating the integration with suppliers, so each company consulted could answer a questionnaire for each supplier, since the intensity of relationships varies. Thus, 41 companies participated in the survey, resulting in 205 responses. Full-information item factor analysis and principal component analysis on the correlation matrix tetrachoric were used for the instrument dimensionality analysis. They are appropriate procedures for analysis of dichotomous variables. The results of this analysis enabled grouping the questionnaire items in the following underlying factors: trust, information sharing, partnership, collaboration or cooperation, and coordination. The identification of such factors such as dimensions of SCI enables greater understanding on how to raise the level of integration among the members of a supply chain.

Labour Quality Model for Organic Farming Food Chains

OpenAIRE

Gassner, B.; Freyer, B.; Leitner, H.

2008-01-01

The debate on labour quality in science is controversial as well as in the organic agriculture community. Therefore, we reviewed literature on different labour quality models and definitions, and had key informant interviews on labour quality issues with stakeholders in a regional oriented organic agriculture bread food chain. We developed a labour quality model with nine quality categories and discussed linkages to labour satisfaction, ethical values and IFOAM principles.

Arsenic contamination in food chain: Thread to food security

Science.gov (United States)

Shekhar Azad Kashyap, Chandra; Singh, Swati

2017-04-01

The supply of good quality food is a necessity for economic and social health welfare of urban and rural population. Over the last several decades groundwater contamination in developing countries has assumed dangerous levels as a result millions of people are at risk. This is so particularly with respect to arsenic that has registered high concentration in groundwater in countries like India and Bangladesh. The arsenic content in groundwater varies from 10 to 780 µg/L, which is far above the levels for drinking water standards prescribed by World Health Organization (WHO). Currently arsenic has entered in food chain due to irrigation with arsenic contaminated water. In the present study reports the arsenic contamination in groundwater that is being used for irrigating paddy in Manipur and West Bengal. The arsenic content in irrigation water is 475 µg/L and 780 µg/L in Manipur and West Bengal, respectively. In order to assess the effect of such waters on the rice crop, we collected rice plant from Manipur and determined the arsenic content in roots, stem, and grain. The arsenic content in grain varies from 110 to 190 mg/kg while the limit of arsenic intake by humans is 10 mg/kg (WHO). This problem is not confine to the area, it spread global level, and rice being cultivated in these regions is export to the other countries like USA, Middle East and Europe and will be thread to global food security.

A Review of Theoretical Frameworks for Supply Chain Integration

Science.gov (United States)

Thoo, AC; Tan, LC; Sulaiman, Z.; Zakuan, N.

2017-06-01

In a world of fierce competition and business driven by speed to market, good quality and low costs, this environment requires firms to have a source of competitive advantage that is inimitable and non-substitutable. For a supply chain integration (SCI) strategy to achieve sustainable competitive advantage it must be non-substitutable, inimitable, path-dependent and developed over time. Also, an integrated supply chain framework is needed to tie the whole network together in order to reduce perennial supply chain challenges such as functional silos, poor transparency of knowledge and information and the inadequate formation of appropriate customer and supplier relationships. Therefore, this paper aims to evaluate the competitive impact of a SCI strategy on firm performance using the theory of Resource-based View (RBV) and relational view.

Effectiveness of the food recovery at the retailing stage under shelf life uncertainty: An application to Italian food chains

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Muriana, Cinzia

2015-01-01

Highlights: • The food recovery is seen as suitable way to manage food near to its expiry date. • The variability of the products shelf life must be taken into account. • The paper addresses the mathematic modeling of the profit related to food recovery. • The optimal time to withdraw the products is determinant for food recovery. - Abstract: Food losses represent a significant issue affecting food supply chains. The possibility of recovering such products can be seen as an effective way to reduce such a phenomenon, improve supply chain performances and ameliorate the conditions of undernourished people. The topic has been already investigated by a previous paper enforcing the hypothesis of deterministic and constant Shelf Life (SL) of products. However, such a model cannot be properly extended to products affected by uncertainties of the SL as it does not take into account the deterioration costs and loss of profits due to the overcoming of the SL within the cycle time. Thus the present paper presents an extension of the previous one under stochastic conditions of the food quality. Differently from the previous publication, this work represents a general model applicable to all supply chains, especially to those managing fresh products characterized by uncertain SL such as fruits and vegetables. The deterioration costs and loss of profits are included in the model and the optimal time at which to withdraw the products from the shelves as well as the quantities to be shipped at each alternative destination have been determined. A comparison of the proposed model with that reported in the previous publication has been carried out in order to underline the impact of the SL variability on the optimality conditions. The results show that the food recovery strategy in the presence of uncertainty of the food quality is rewarding, even if the optimal profit is lower than that of the deterministic case

Effectiveness of the food recovery at the retailing stage under shelf life uncertainty: An application to Italian food chains

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Muriana, Cinzia, E-mail: cinzia.muriana@unipa.it

2015-07-15

Highlights: • The food recovery is seen as suitable way to manage food near to its expiry date. • The variability of the products shelf life must be taken into account. • The paper addresses the mathematic modeling of the profit related to food recovery. • The optimal time to withdraw the products is determinant for food recovery. - Abstract: Food losses represent a significant issue affecting food supply chains. The possibility of recovering such products can be seen as an effective way to reduce such a phenomenon, improve supply chain performances and ameliorate the conditions of undernourished people. The topic has been already investigated by a previous paper enforcing the hypothesis of deterministic and constant Shelf Life (SL) of products. However, such a model cannot be properly extended to products affected by uncertainties of the SL as it does not take into account the deterioration costs and loss of profits due to the overcoming of the SL within the cycle time. Thus the present paper presents an extension of the previous one under stochastic conditions of the food quality. Differently from the previous publication, this work represents a general model applicable to all supply chains, especially to those managing fresh products characterized by uncertain SL such as fruits and vegetables. The deterioration costs and loss of profits are included in the model and the optimal time at which to withdraw the products from the shelves as well as the quantities to be shipped at each alternative destination have been determined. A comparison of the proposed model with that reported in the previous publication has been carried out in order to underline the impact of the SL variability on the optimality conditions. The results show that the food recovery strategy in the presence of uncertainty of the food quality is rewarding, even if the optimal profit is lower than that of the deterministic case.

Food fraud and the perceived integrity of European food imports into China

Science.gov (United States)

Raley, M.; Dean, M.; Clark, B.; Stolz, H.; Home, R.; Chan, M. Y.; Zhong, Q.; Brereton, P.; Frewer, L. J.

2018-01-01

Background/Aims Persistent incidents of food fraud in China have resulted in low levels of consumer trust in the authenticity and safety of food that is domestically produced. We examined the relationship between the concerns of Chinese consumers regarding food fraud, and the role that demonstrating authenticity may play in relieving those concerns. Methods A two-stage mixed method design research design was adopted. First, qualitative research (focus groups n = 7) was conducted in three Chinese cities, Beijing, Guangzhou and Chengdu to explore concerns held by Chinese consumers in relation to food fraud. A subsequent quantitative survey (n = 850) tested hypotheses derived from the qualitative research and theoretical literature regarding the relationship between attitudinal measures (including risk perceptions, social trust, and perceptions of benefit associated with demonstrating authenticity), and behavioral intention to purchase “authentic” European products using structural equation modelling. Results Chinese consumers perceive food fraud to be a hazard that represents a food safety risk. Food hazard concern was identified to be geographically influenced. Consumers in Chengdu (tier 2 city) possessed higher levels of hazard concern compared to consumers in Beijing and Guangzhou (tier 1). Structural trust (i.e. trust in actors and the governance of the food supply chain) was not a significant predictor of attitude and intention to purchase authenticated food products. Consumers were shown to have developed ‘risk-relieving’ strategies to compensate for the lack of trust in Chinese food and the dissonance experienced as a consequence of food fraud. Indexical and iconic authenticity cues provided by food manufacturers and regulators were important elements of product evaluations, although geographical differences in their perceived importance were observed. Conclusions Targeted communication of authenticity assurance measures, including; regulations

Food fraud and the perceived integrity of European food imports into China.

Science.gov (United States)

Kendall, H; Naughton, P; Kuznesof, S; Raley, M; Dean, M; Clark, B; Stolz, H; Home, R; Chan, M Y; Zhong, Q; Brereton, P; Frewer, L J

2018-01-01

Persistent incidents of food fraud in China have resulted in low levels of consumer trust in the authenticity and safety of food that is domestically produced. We examined the relationship between the concerns of Chinese consumers regarding food fraud, and the role that demonstrating authenticity may play in relieving those concerns. A two-stage mixed method design research design was adopted. First, qualitative research (focus groups n = 7) was conducted in three Chinese cities, Beijing, Guangzhou and Chengdu to explore concerns held by Chinese consumers in relation to food fraud. A subsequent quantitative survey (n = 850) tested hypotheses derived from the qualitative research and theoretical literature regarding the relationship between attitudinal measures (including risk perceptions, social trust, and perceptions of benefit associated with demonstrating authenticity), and behavioral intention to purchase "authentic" European products using structural equation modelling. Chinese consumers perceive food fraud to be a hazard that represents a food safety risk. Food hazard concern was identified to be geographically influenced. Consumers in Chengdu (tier 2 city) possessed higher levels of hazard concern compared to consumers in Beijing and Guangzhou (tier 1). Structural trust (i.e. trust in actors and the governance of the food supply chain) was not a significant predictor of attitude and intention to purchase authenticated food products. Consumers were shown to have developed 'risk-relieving' strategies to compensate for the lack of trust in Chinese food and the dissonance experienced as a consequence of food fraud. Indexical and iconic authenticity cues provided by food manufacturers and regulators were important elements of product evaluations, although geographical differences in their perceived importance were observed. Targeted communication of authenticity assurance measures, including; regulations; enforcement; product testing; and actions taken by

Spin chain from membrane and the Neumann-Rosochatius integrable system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bozhilov, P.

2007-01-01

We find membrane configurations in AdS 4 xS 7 , which correspond to the continuous limit of the SU(2) integrable spin chain, considered as a limit of the SU(3) spin chain, arising in N=4 SYM in four dimensions, dual to strings in AdS 5 xS 5 . We also discuss the relationship with the Neumann-Rosochatius integrable system at the level of Lagrangians, comparing the string and membrane cases

Application of Cold Chain Logistics Safety Reliability in Fresh Food Distribution Optimization

OpenAIRE

Zou Yifeng; Xie Ruhe

2013-01-01

In view of the nature of fresh food’s continuous decrease of safety during distribution process, this study applied safety reliability of food cold chain logistics to establish fresh food distribution routing optimization model with time windows, and solved the model using MAX-MIN Ant System (MMAS) with case analysis. Studies have shown that the mentioned model and algorithm can better solve the problem of fresh food distribution routing optimization with time windows.

Implications for the human food chain of models of cadmium accumulation in sheep

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Prankel, S.H.; Nixon, R.M.; Phillips, C.J.C.

2005-01-01

Critical limits for cadmium in parts of the human food chain are considered to have too small margins of safety and some limits are regularly exceeded. There is concern about the exposure of some sections of the population to cadmium in the human food chain, in particular regarding offal, which is a major source of cadmium to some sectors. The kidney is the first organ of sheep to reach the limit of fitness for human consumption. A model (based on a meta-analysis) predicts that this would occur after a mean of just 130 days of feeding sheep the maximum permitted cadmium concentration in feed (in the European Union) in the organic form. Thus it is not surprising that sheep organs are found routinely to exceed cadmium limits. Since reduction of maximum cadmium levels in sheep feed or of the duration of their exposure are not economically viable measures of control, routine removal of liver and kidney from older sheep from the food chain is recommended as the best option to reduce human dietary cadmium intake from sheep origin

Supply chain integration: A qualitative exploration of perspectives from plastic manufacturers in Gauteng

OpenAIRE

Yvonne Vermeulen; Wesley Niemann; Theuns Kotzé

2016-01-01

Background: Supply chain integration was identified as a tool to assist an organisation to survive in a competitive marketplace. It was unclear how plastic manufacturers in Gauteng perceived supply chain integration efforts between themselves and their suppliers. Objectives: This study’s main purpose was to investigate the nature and extent of supply chain integration between 10 plastic manufacturers in Gauteng and their suppliers. The focus was on these manufacturers’ commitment to and p...

The dynamic complexity of a three species food chain model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lv Songjuan; Zhao Min

2008-01-01

In this paper, a three-species food chain model is analytically investigated on theories of ecology and using numerical simulation. Bifurcation diagrams are obtained for biologically feasible parameters. The results show that the system exhibits rich complexity features such as stable, periodic and chaotic dynamics

How social unrest started innovations in a food supply chain

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Buurma, Jan; Hennen, Wil; Verwaart, Tim

2017-01-01

Transitions leading to sociotechnical innovations in food supply chains have been described in dramaturgical analyses on the basis of newspaper articles and parliamentary records. The time scale of the transitions driven by aroused public opinion on issues such as animal welfare, is typically a

Application of nitrogen and carbon stable isotopes (δ(15N and δ(13C to quantify food chain length and trophic structure.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Matthew J Perkins

Full Text Available Increasingly, stable isotope ratios of nitrogen (δ(15N and carbon (δ(13C are used to quantify trophic structure, though relatively few studies have tested accuracy of isotopic structural measures. For laboratory-raised and wild-collected plant-invertebrate food chains spanning four trophic levels we estimated nitrogen range (NR using δ(15N, and carbon range (CR using δ(13C, which are used to quantify food chain length and breadth of trophic resources respectively. Across a range of known food chain lengths we examined how NR and CR changed within and between food chains. Our isotopic estimates of structure are robust because they were calculated using resampling procedures that propagate variance in sample means through to quantified uncertainty in final estimates. To identify origins of uncertainty in estimates of NR and CR, we additionally examined variation in discrimination (which is change in δ(15N or δ(13C from source to consumer between trophic levels and among food chains. δ(15N discrimination showed significant enrichment, while variation in enrichment was species and system specific, ranged broadly (1.4‰ to 3.3‰, and importantly, propagated variation to subsequent estimates of NR. However, NR proved robust to such variation and distinguished food chain length well, though some overlap between longer food chains infers a need for awareness of such limitations. δ(13C discrimination was inconsistent; generally no change or small significant enrichment was observed. Consequently, estimates of CR changed little with increasing food chain length, showing the potential utility of δ(13C as a tracer of energy pathways. This study serves as a robust test of isotopic quantification of food chain structure, and given global estimates of aquatic food chains approximate four trophic levels while many food chains include invertebrates, our use of four trophic level plant-invertebrate food chains makes our findings relevant for a majority

Application of Nitrogen and Carbon Stable Isotopes (δ15N and δ13C) to Quantify Food Chain Length and Trophic Structure

Science.gov (United States)

Perkins, Matthew J.; McDonald, Robbie A.; van Veen, F. J. Frank; Kelly, Simon D.; Rees, Gareth; Bearhop, Stuart

2014-01-01

Increasingly, stable isotope ratios of nitrogen (δ15N) and carbon (δ13C) are used to quantify trophic structure, though relatively few studies have tested accuracy of isotopic structural measures. For laboratory-raised and wild-collected plant-invertebrate food chains spanning four trophic levels we estimated nitrogen range (NR) using δ15N, and carbon range (CR) using δ13C, which are used to quantify food chain length and breadth of trophic resources respectively. Across a range of known food chain lengths we examined how NR and CR changed within and between food chains. Our isotopic estimates of structure are robust because they were calculated using resampling procedures that propagate variance in sample means through to quantified uncertainty in final estimates. To identify origins of uncertainty in estimates of NR and CR, we additionally examined variation in discrimination (which is change in δ15N or δ13C from source to consumer) between trophic levels and among food chains. δ15N discrimination showed significant enrichment, while variation in enrichment was species and system specific, ranged broadly (1.4‰ to 3.3‰), and importantly, propagated variation to subsequent estimates of NR. However, NR proved robust to such variation and distinguished food chain length well, though some overlap between longer food chains infers a need for awareness of such limitations. δ13C discrimination was inconsistent; generally no change or small significant enrichment was observed. Consequently, estimates of CR changed little with increasing food chain length, showing the potential utility of δ13C as a tracer of energy pathways. This study serves as a robust test of isotopic quantification of food chain structure, and given global estimates of aquatic food chains approximate four trophic levels while many food chains include invertebrates, our use of four trophic level plant-invertebrate food chains makes our findings relevant for a majority of ecological systems

Application of nitrogen and carbon stable isotopes (δ(15)N and δ(13)C) to quantify food chain length and trophic structure.

Science.gov (United States)

Perkins, Matthew J; McDonald, Robbie A; van Veen, F J Frank; Kelly, Simon D; Rees, Gareth; Bearhop, Stuart

2014-01-01

Increasingly, stable isotope ratios of nitrogen (δ(15)N) and carbon (δ(13)C) are used to quantify trophic structure, though relatively few studies have tested accuracy of isotopic structural measures. For laboratory-raised and wild-collected plant-invertebrate food chains spanning four trophic levels we estimated nitrogen range (NR) using δ(15)N, and carbon range (CR) using δ(13)C, which are used to quantify food chain length and breadth of trophic resources respectively. Across a range of known food chain lengths we examined how NR and CR changed within and between food chains. Our isotopic estimates of structure are robust because they were calculated using resampling procedures that propagate variance in sample means through to quantified uncertainty in final estimates. To identify origins of uncertainty in estimates of NR and CR, we additionally examined variation in discrimination (which is change in δ(15)N or δ(13)C from source to consumer) between trophic levels and among food chains. δ(15)N discrimination showed significant enrichment, while variation in enrichment was species and system specific, ranged broadly (1.4‰ to 3.3‰), and importantly, propagated variation to subsequent estimates of NR. However, NR proved robust to such variation and distinguished food chain length well, though some overlap between longer food chains infers a need for awareness of such limitations. δ(13)C discrimination was inconsistent; generally no change or small significant enrichment was observed. Consequently, estimates of CR changed little with increasing food chain length, showing the potential utility of δ(13)C as a tracer of energy pathways. This study serves as a robust test of isotopic quantification of food chain structure, and given global estimates of aquatic food chains approximate four trophic levels while many food chains include invertebrates, our use of four trophic level plant-invertebrate food chains makes our findings relevant for a majority of

Integrated planning in supply chains with buy-side and sell-side

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Supply chain management; dynamic pricing; partner selection; supply chain planning; electronic marketplaces. Abstract. In this paper we develop a quadratic programming model for partner selection and planning in integrated supply chain networks embedded with both sell-side and buy-side electronic marketplaces.

Franchising and the internationalization of businesses: the case of fast food chains

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fadil Alnassar

2017-09-01

Full Text Available The objective of this paper is to investigate the role of franchising in the process of internationalization of the fast food industry. The paper hypothesizes that franchising is an effective means of internationalization in the fast food industry that increases the revenues of the company. The hypothesis of the paper will be tested using the linear regression analysis. This analysis studies the relationship between revenues (dependent variable and the number of outlets and the number of employees (independent variables. The sample includes 15 fast food chains from the list of 100 top franchises of 2017. The study of the annual reports of these 15 fast food chains revealed a correlation between the company’s decision to go global through franchising and the growth of its revenues. It is necessary to build a literature on the role of franchising in the internationalization of business. The originality of this paper lies in the way it seeks to illuminate future academic research on the impact of franchising as an internationalization process on business revenues.

Applying Fuzzy Multiobjective Integrated Logistics Model to Green Supply Chain Problems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chui-Yu Chiu

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is attempting to explore the optimal way of supply chain management within the domain of environmental responsibility and concerns. The background of this research involves the issue of green supply chain management (GSCM and the concept of the multiobjective integrated logistics model. More specifically, in this paper, we suggest the fuzzy multiobjective integrated logistics model with the transportation cost and demand fuzziness to solve green supply chain problems in the uncertain environment which is illustrated via the detailed numerical example. Results and the sensitivity analysis of the numerical example indicate that when the governmental subsidy value increased the profits of the reverse chain also increased. The finding shows that the governmental subsidy policy could remain of significant influence for used-product reverse logistics chain.

Options for reducing food waste by ‘Quality Controlled Logistics’ using intelligent packaging along the supply chain

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Heising, J.K.; Claassen, G.D.H.; Dekker, M.

2017-01-01

Optimizing supply chain management can help to reduce food waste. This article describes how intelligent packaging can be used to reduce food waste when used in supply chain management based on Quality Controlled Logistics (QCL). Intelligent packaging senses compounds in the package that correlate

Probabilistic Accident Consequence Uncertainty Analysis of the Food Chain Module in the COSYMA Package (invited paper)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brown, J.; Jones, J.A.

2000-01-01

This paper describes the uncertainty analysis of the food chain module of COSYMA and the uncertainty distributions on the input parameter values for the food chain model provided by the expert panels that were used for the analysis. Two expert panels were convened, covering the areas of soil and plant transfer processes and transfer to and through animals. The aggregated uncertainty distributions from the experts for the elicited variables were used in an uncertainty analysis of the food chain module of COSYMA. The main aim of the module analysis was to identify those parameters whose uncertainty makes large contributions to the overall uncertainty and so should be included in the overall analysis. (author)

Use of calorie information at fast food and chain restaurants among US youth aged 9-18 years, 2010.

Science.gov (United States)

Wethington, H; Maynard, L M; Blanck, H M

2013-09-01

To examine whether youth use calorie information when it is available at fast food/chain restaurants and what factors are associated with using this information to make their food selection. A cross-sectional analysis was conducted on a sample of 721 youth (9-18 years) using the 2010 YouthStyles and HealthStyles surveys. The outcome measure was reported use of calorie information at fast food/chain restaurants. Multivariable logistic regression was used to examine the associations between sociodemographic variables and the use of calorie information at fast food/chain restaurants. Of those who visited fast food/chain restaurants, 42.4% reported using calorie information at least sometimes. Girls were more likely than boys (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 1.8, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.2-2.5) and youth who were obese were more likely than those at a healthy weight (aOR = 1.7, 95% CI = 1.04-2.9) to use calorie information, and youth eating at a fast food/chain restaurant twice a week or more versus once a week or less were half as likely to report using calorie information (aOR = 0.5, 95% CI = 0.4-0.8). Public health education efforts can benefit from research to determine how to increase usage among youth so that their food choices are appropriate for their caloric needs.

Occurrence and sequestration of toxins in food chains.

Science.gov (United States)

Mebs, D

1998-11-01

Animals may acquire toxicity by absorbing toxic compounds from their food, e.g. from plants or other animals. Sequestration and accumulation of toxins may provide protection from predators, which learn to avoid this prey because of unpleasant experiences such as bitter taste. This is a common phenomenon in marine as well as in terrestrial ecosystems. Moreover, toxins may enter food chains where they accumulate reaching high, often lethal concentrations. Palytoxin which had been primarily detected in marine zoanthids (Palythoa sp.), occurs also in a wide range of other animals, e.g. in sponges, corals, shellfish, polychaetes and crustaceans, but also in fish, which feed on crustaceans and zoanthids as well. These animals exhibit a high resistance to the toxin's action. The mechanisms which protect the Na+, K+-ATPase of their cell membranes, the primary target of palytoxin, is unknown. Sequestration of the toxin by other animals may cause health problems due to food poisoning.

Effects of climate change on food safety hazards in the dairy production chain

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Spiegel, van der M.; Fels-Klerx, van der H.J.; Marvin, H.J.P.

2012-01-01

The aim of this study is to analyse the effect of climate change on emerging food safety hazards in the dairy production chain. For this purpose, a holistic approach was used to select critical factors from inside and outside the production chain that are affected by climatic factors. An expert

Effectiveness of the food recovery at the retailing stage under shelf life uncertainty: An application to Italian food chains.

Science.gov (United States)

Muriana, Cinzia

2015-07-01

Food losses represent a significant issue affecting food supply chains. The possibility of recovering such products can be seen as an effective way to reduce such a phenomenon, improve supply chain performances and ameliorate the conditions of undernourished people. The topic has been already investigated by a previous paper enforcing the hypothesis of deterministic and constant Shelf Life (SL) of products. However, such a model cannot be properly extended to products affected by uncertainties of the SL as it does not take into account the deterioration costs and loss of profits due to the overcoming of the SL within the cycle time. Thus the present paper presents an extension of the previous one under stochastic conditions of the food quality. Differently from the previous publication, this work represents a general model applicable to all supply chains, especially to those managing fresh products characterized by uncertain SL such as fruits and vegetables. The deterioration costs and loss of profits are included in the model and the optimal time at which to withdraw the products from the shelves as well as the quantities to be shipped at each alternative destination have been determined. A comparison of the proposed model with that reported in the previous publication has been carried out in order to underline the impact of the SL variability on the optimality conditions. The results show that the food recovery strategy in the presence of uncertainty of the food quality is rewarding, even if the optimal profit is lower than that of the deterministic case. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Risk assessment of metals and organic pollutants for herbivorous and carnivorous small mammal food chains in a polluted floodplain (Biesbosch, The Netherlands)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hamers, Timo; Berg, Johannes H.J. van den; Gestel, Cornelis A.M. van; Schooten, Frederik-Jan van; Murk, Albertinka J.

2006-01-01

A risk assessment was made for a carnivorous and a herbivorous food chain in a heavily polluted natural estuary (Biesbosch), by determining the most critical pollutants and the food chain most at risk. Exposure of food chains to metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) was assessed by analyzing dietary concentrations, internal concentrations, and biomarkers of exposure. Common shrew (Sorex araneus) and bank vole (Clethrionomys glareolus) were selected as representative small mammal species for the carnivorous and herbivorous food chain, respectively, and earthworms (Lumbricus rubellus) and snails (Cepaea nemoralis) as representative prey species for the carnivorous food chain. Metals contributed most to the total risk for small mammals and earthworms. PCBs, but not PAHs, contributed to the overall risk for S. araneus at regularly flooded locations. The carnivorous food chain appeared most at risk given the higher exposure levels and bioaccumulating potency found for contaminants in S. araneus. - In polluted floodplain areas, dietary exposure to metals poses a larger risk for small mammals in a carnivorous than in a herbivorous food chain

African Regional Integration: Implications for Food Security

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dijk, van M.

2011-01-01

This report looks at the African regional trade, regional integration agreements (RIAs) and the implications for food security. An overview is presented on the present state of African regional integration and the determinants of regional trade in agriculture and food commodities. In particular the

Supply Chain Management and Sustainability : Procrastinating Integration in Mainstream Research

NARCIS (Netherlands)

De Brito, M.P.; Van der Laan, E.A.

2010-01-01

Research has pointed out opportunities and research agendas to integrate sustainability issues with supply chain and operations management. However, we find that it is still not mainstream practice to systematically take a sustainability approach in tackling supply chain and operations management

Supply Chain Management and Sustainability: Procrastinating Integration in Mainstream Research

NARCIS (Netherlands)

M.P. de Brito (Marisa); E.A. van der Laan (Erwin)

2010-01-01

textabstractResearch has pointed out opportunities and research agendas to integrate sustainability issues with supply chain and operations management. However, we find that it is still not mainstream practice to systematically take a sustainability approach in tackling supply chain and operations

Systematic classical continuum limits of integrable spin chains and emerging novel dualities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Avan, Jean; Doikou, Anastasia; Sfetsos, Konstadinos

2010-01-01

We examine certain classical continuum long wave-length limits of prototype integrable quantum spin chains. We define the corresponding construction of classical continuum Lax operators. Our discussion starts with the XXX chain, the anisotropic Heisenberg model and their generalizations and extends to the generic isotropic and anisotropic gl n magnets. Certain classical and quantum integrable models emerging from special 'dualities' of quantum spin chains, parametrized by c-number matrices, are also presented.

Quality baseline of the castilla blackberry (Rubus glaucus in its food chain

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fernanda Iza

2016-09-01

Full Text Available A proposal for improvement in the performance of the food chain of castilla blackberry (Rubus glaucus in order to potentiate their productivity can only start from a baseline or situational diagnosis of the quality of the fruit and hence identify the main points of improvement. The food chain of the fruit identifies three stages, harvest, post-harvest (storage and transport and marketing or sale. The diagnosis in each stage began with reverse mode. It was identified the most representative producer and the supplying for traders to the point of sale. The quality evaluation of the fruit was performed through chemical and physical characterization in the four stages. Weight loss or losses were evident in all stages, light no significant changes of color from bright red bluish hue in the collection stage until opaque bluish red or off, at the stage of sale due to the short cycle time and the characteristics non-climacteric fruit. However, at all stages of collection, storage, transportation and sale, they presented significant changes in the indices of maturity which meant an increase of sugars, decreased of pH, and increase acidity. The results indicate that the fruit changed its physicochemical characteristics during the stages of the food chain affecting its productivity.

Strengthening European Food Chain Sustainability by Quality and Procurement Policy : Methods and indicators for measuring the social, environmental and economic impacts of food quality schemes

OpenAIRE

Bellassen , Valentin; Giraud , Georges; Hilal , Mohamed; Arfini , Filippo; Barczak , Aleksandra; Bodini , Antonio; Brennan , Mary; DRUT , Marion; Duboys de Labarre , Matthieu; Gorton , Matthew; Hartmann , Monika; Majewski , Edward; Muller , Paul; Monier-Dilhan , Sylvette; Poméon , Thomas

2016-01-01

The present methodological handbook provides the methodologies which will be applied in each work package of the Strength2Food project. In particular, it contains a list of indicators on how to assess sustainability in food and agro-food supply chains. This methodological handbook aims at facilitating the task for field studies, both proposing several prioritizations (indicator, variable, value chain level), detailing how we will combine relatively common variables (eg., number of animals per...

Management options in the food chain for accidental radionuclide deposition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rantavaara, A.

2005-12-01

Finland with four other countries participated in the European Union's network project FARMING in 2000 - 2004. The aim of the project was to invite participants from each country representing the food supply chain in a stakeholder group and advance with the groups the networking in building preparedness for accidental contamination of the food production systems. The task of the groups was to evaluate the practicability of management options suggested for reduction of radiation exposure through foodstuffs, and for disposal of waste generated in implementation of these options. The criteria for practicability were effectiveness in reduction of radiation exposure through foodstuffs, technical feasibility, capacity, costs for implementation, secondary costs for waste disposal, socio-economic impact, and acceptability concerning ecology and protection of environment and landscape. Practicable management options aimed at sustainable restoration of food production systems after accidental contamination. The Finnish stakeholder group represented farm production, processing industry, food marketing, catering, advisor organisations for households and agriculture, consumers, nature conservation, the media, experts on environmental impact and authorities responsible for production, safety and security of foodstuffs, food supply and feedstuffs. The group was expected to examine the effect of the Finnish, and, also more generally, northern production conditions on the practicability of the suggested management options. The stakeholder group members first familiarized themselves with intervention after accidental contamination of a large milk production area and thereafter with practicability of individual management options. The evaluation was based on the group members' complementary expertise that very well covered the chain 'from field to fork' whether the issue was related to legislation, production methods, logistics, environmental impacts, or the issues of consumers and

Legal-Economic Barriers To Price Transfers in Food Supply Chains

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bremmers, H.J.; Meulen, van der B.M.J.; Sredojevic, Z.; Wijnands, J.H.M.

2012-01-01

Recent price movements have put food supply chains under pressure. On the one side, upward price tendencies on commodity markets result in higher costs to processing firms. On the other side, these firms are confronted with a strong retail sector that is able to prevent compensation to protect

DNA markers as a tool for genetic traceability of primary product in agri-food chains

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daria Scarano

2012-11-01

Full Text Available The agri-food components of the Made in Italy are well known all over the world, therefore they may significantly contribute to the Italian economy. However, also owing to a large number of cases of improper labelling, the Italian agro-food industry faces an ever-increasing competition. For this reason, there is a decline of consumers’ confidence towards food production systems and safety controls. To prevent erroneous classification of products and to protect consumers from false instore information, it is important to develop and validate techniques that are able to detect mislabelling at any stage of the food-chain. This paper describes some examples of genetic traceability of primary products in some important plant food chains such as durum wheat, olive and tomato, based on DNA analysis both of raw material and of processed food (pasta, olive oil, and peeled tomato.

Ranking of integration factors within supply chains of forward and backward types - recommendations from researches

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bernd Hentschel

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Background: Integration trends are one of main determinants of the development of modern logistics. After the period of interest focused mainly on supply chains realizing one-way flows only, at present there is a time for supply chains characterized by two-way flows, realizing at the same time both forward and backward flows. The possibility of various configurations of such chains requires identification of integration factors and determination of their influence on the results of the whole supply chain. Experiences of the science as well as the practice of supply chains show the urgent need of learning of reasons of the integration within supply chains of the two-way type.  Material and methods: The researches on modeling and simulation of integration processes within supply chains of forward and backward type were carried out in the environment of iGrafx Process 2013 for Six Sigma. The empirical material obtained in these researches was put to the statistical analysis by the used of Minitab 17. The identification of the significance of differences was made with the help of analysis of variance ANOVA. Additionally the analysis of differences in form of absolute averages was made.  The following measures are main ones for the evaluation of the integration of a supply chain of forward and backward types: cashflow, profitability, service level.  Results: 8 192 simulation experiments were made for 6 integration factors: accessibility of recycled materials, production planning, stock management, integration of transport, unification of packing materials and optimization of the material flow. Based on the analysis of the significance and values of differences, the results of the influence of each integration factor on global results of supply chains of forward and backward type were obtained. They were used to prepare the ranking of integration factors. The main factors, forming the integration shape of two-way supply chains were: stock

THE IDENTIFICATION OF KEY SUCCESS FACTORS IN SUSTAINABLE COLD CHAIN MANAGEMENT: INSIGHTS FROM THE INDIAN FOOD INDUSTRY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shashi

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Supply chain sustainability has emerged as an indispensable research agenda for the government, industry as well as non-profit orientation bodies. As a developing country, cold supply chain management in India is still in infancy. The demand pattern of food products has been dramatically changing since last few years. Nowadays, the customers are more conscious to use products for better health and highly expecting for food safety, toxic free and eco-friendly delivery of food products. However, sustainable cold supply chain has not yet received good heed throughout the world. Hence, in this paper an attempt has been made to address these important issues. A conceptual model was proposed in the consultation of practitioners and literature support to address the important issues in cold supply chain management for food companies. Therefore, in order to identify the key success factors for sustainable cold chain management, in this study a conceptual model developed. The proposed framework is then validated by an empirical research in the Indian food industry. This research has several alarming findings. Explicitly, in India i environmental issues and social responsibility are not as important as other ‎economical supplier selection criteria, ii among 19 food supplier selection criteria, the rank of social responsibility is 18‎, iii low carbon emission is less important value addition trait as compare to ‎other sustainable cold chain value addition (which means in India the buyers focus more on their individual and prompt received ‎benefits rather than long ‎lasting advantages, iv the use of life cycle analysis, renewable energy sources and passive cold chain are the least important ‎implemented sustainable cold chain practices (although this might be because of utilization complexities, v the joint development of product is implemented at the lowest extent judging against other dynamic capacity ‎factors, vii government usually backed

O2O - Based Agricultural Products Supply Chain Process Integration Optimization Based on Internet +

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Li Huijuan

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Traditional wholesale and retail, electricity supplier of agricultural products supply chain have many difficulties. The O2O supply chain of agricultural products of “Internet+”, committed to the integration of online and offline advantage process, has become the main direction of the agricultural products supply chain transformation. Practice operation results show that O2O supply chain can effectively play the advantages of online and offline process integration, but its further development is still subject to the logistics, information flow of the dispersion, fracture and high cost. The integrated optimization of various regions and various enterprises and all sectors of the supply chain process is the key to optimize the process Internet plus era of agricultural products supply chain.

AN EXPLORATORY APPROACH TO INTEGRATION OF BUSINESS PRACTICES IN SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT

OpenAIRE

Constangioara Alexandru

2014-01-01

Literature on supply chain management focuses increasingly on the topic of supply chain integration. Morash and Bowersox (1989) show that integration links relationships, activities, functions, processes and locations. Integration links a firm with its customers, suppliers and other channel members. The empirical research brings supporting evidence on the theory that organizations achieve the desired competitive advantage only by focusing on one strategy – either collaborative closeness or op...

US-Based Food and Agricultural Value Chains and Their Relevance to Healthy Diets.

Science.gov (United States)

Gereffi, Gary; Lee, Joonkoo; Christian, Michelle

2009-07-01

This article examines the structure and health implications of two industries, chicken and tomatoes, that play prominent roles in US food and agricultural competitiveness. Both industries have become more concentrated over time, with powerful "lead firms" driving geographical, technological, and marketing changes. Overall, a processed food revolution has taken place in agricultural products that transforms the types of food and dietary options available to consumers. The nature of contemporary food and agricultural value chains affects the strategies and policies that can be effectively employed to address major health goals such as improved nutrition, food safety, and food security.

Managing Capabilities for Supply Chain Resilience Through it Integration

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gružauskas Valentas

2017-08-01

Full Text Available The trend for e-commerce, estimated population size to 11 billion by 2050, and an increase in urbanization level to 70 % is requiring to re-think the current supply chain. These trends changed the distribution process: delivery distances are decreasing, the product variety is increasing, and more products are being sold in smaller quantities. Therefore, the concept of supply chain resilience has gained more recognition in recent years. The scientific literature analysis conducted by the authors indicate several capabilities that influence supply chain resilience. Collaboration, flexibility, redundancy and integration are the most influential capabilities to supply chain resilience. However, the authors identify that the combination of these capabilities to supply chain resilience is under researched. The authors indicate that by combining these capabilities with the upcoming technologies of industry 4.0, supply chain resilience can be achieved. In the future, the authors are planning to conduct further research to identify the influence of these capabilities to supply chain resilience, to quantify supply chain resilience, and to provide further practices of industry 4.0 concept usage for supply chain resilience.

The Retail Chain Design for Perishable Food: The Case of Price Strategy and Shelf Space Allocation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yujie Xiao

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Managing perishable food in a retail store is quite difficult because of the product’s short lifetime and deterioration. Many elements, such as price, shelf space allocation, and quality, which can affect the consumption rate, should be taken into account when the perishable food retail chain is designed. The modern tracking technologies provide good opportunities to improve the management of the perishable food retail chain. In this research, we develop a mathematical model for a single-item retail chain and determine the pricing strategy, shelf space allocation, and order quantity to maximize the retailer’s total profit with the application of tracking technologies. Then the single-item retail chain is extended into a multi-item one with a shelf space capacity and a simple algorithm is developed to find the optimal allocation of shelf space among these items. Finally, numerical experiments and real-life examples are conducted to illustrate the proposed models.

Risk assessment of metals and organic pollutants for herbivorous and carnivorous small mammal food chains in a polluted floodplain (Biesbosch, The Netherlands)

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hamers, T.H.M.; Berg, van den J.H.J.; Gestel, van C.A.M.; Schooten, van F.J.; Murk, A.J.

2006-01-01

A risk assessment was made for a carnivorous and a herbivorous food chain in a heavily polluted natural estuary (Biesbosch), by determining the most critical pollutants and the food chain most at risk. Exposure of food chains to metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and polychlorinated

Natural radionuclides in select matrices of terrestrial food chain around Kudankulam nuclear power station, India

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ross, E.M.; Wesley, S.G.

2016-01-01

Natural radionuclides entering the food chain are mostly derived from the soil. There is a variation in soil radionuclide content in different geographic regions. Uptake of radionuclides by plants also varies from species to species and depends on many factors. Human food and animal feed derived from such regions may have varying levels of radionuclides. Intake of food/feed will be reflected in the next consumer level of the food chain. Such studies are essential around a nuclear power plant where there can be exposure from natural as well as artificial radionuclides. In this study an effort was taken to study the intake and excretion of 40 K, 226 Ra and 228 Ra levels along the soil-grass-cow pathway

Productivity, disturbance and ecosystem size have no influence on food chain length in seasonally connected rivers.

Science.gov (United States)

Warfe, Danielle M; Jardine, Timothy D; Pettit, Neil E; Hamilton, Stephen K; Pusey, Bradley J; Bunn, Stuart E; Davies, Peter M; Douglas, Michael M

2013-01-01

The food web is one of the oldest and most central organising concepts in ecology and for decades, food chain length has been hypothesised to be controlled by productivity, disturbance, and/or ecosystem size; each of which may be mediated by the functional trophic role of the top predator. We characterised aquatic food webs using carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes from 66 river and floodplain sites across the wet-dry tropics of northern Australia to determine the relative importance of productivity (indicated by nutrient concentrations), disturbance (indicated by hydrological isolation) and ecosystem size, and how they may be affected by food web architecture. We show that variation in food chain length was unrelated to these classic environmental determinants, and unrelated to the trophic role of the top predator. This finding is a striking exception to the literature and is the first published example of food chain length being unaffected by any of these determinants. We suggest the distinctive seasonal hydrology of northern Australia allows the movement of fish predators, linking isolated food webs and potentially creating a regional food web that overrides local effects of productivity, disturbance and ecosystem size. This finding supports ecological theory suggesting that mobile consumers promote more stable food webs. It also illustrates how food webs, and energy transfer, may function in the absence of the human modifications to landscape hydrological connectivity that are ubiquitous in more populated regions.

Productivity, disturbance and ecosystem size have no influence on food chain length in seasonally connected rivers.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Danielle M Warfe

Full Text Available The food web is one of the oldest and most central organising concepts in ecology and for decades, food chain length has been hypothesised to be controlled by productivity, disturbance, and/or ecosystem size; each of which may be mediated by the functional trophic role of the top predator. We characterised aquatic food webs using carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes from 66 river and floodplain sites across the wet-dry tropics of northern Australia to determine the relative importance of productivity (indicated by nutrient concentrations, disturbance (indicated by hydrological isolation and ecosystem size, and how they may be affected by food web architecture. We show that variation in food chain length was unrelated to these classic environmental determinants, and unrelated to the trophic role of the top predator. This finding is a striking exception to the literature and is the first published example of food chain length being unaffected by any of these determinants. We suggest the distinctive seasonal hydrology of northern Australia allows the movement of fish predators, linking isolated food webs and potentially creating a regional food web that overrides local effects of productivity, disturbance and ecosystem size. This finding supports ecological theory suggesting that mobile consumers promote more stable food webs. It also illustrates how food webs, and energy transfer, may function in the absence of the human modifications to landscape hydrological connectivity that are ubiquitous in more populated regions.

Accumulation of organochlorines and brominated flame retardants in estuarine and marine food chains: Field measurements and model calculations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Veltman, K.; Hendriks, J.; Huijbregts, M.; Leonards, P.E.G.; Heuvel-Greve, van den M.J.; Vethaak, D.

2005-01-01

Food chain accumulation of organochlorines and brominated flame retardants in estuarine and marine environments is compared to model estimations and fresh water field data. The food chain consists of herbivores, detritivores and primary and secondary carnivores i.e. fish, fish-eating birds and

A general model for the transfer of radioactive materials in terrestrial food chains

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Simmonds, J.R.; Linsley, G.S.; Jones, J.A.

1979-09-01

A general methodology for modelling the transfer of radionuclides in the food chains to man is described. The models are dynamic in nature so that the long-term time dependence of processes in environmental materials can be represented, for example, the build-up of activity concentrations in soils during continuous deposition from atmosphere. Modules for radionuclide migration are described in well-mixed (cultivated) soil and undisturbed soil (pasture). The methods by which the transfer coefficients used in plant and animal modules are derived are also given. The foodstuffs considered are those derived from green vegetables, grain, and root vegetables together with meat and liver products from the cow and sheep and cow dairy products. The dynamic model permits the time dependence of food chain transfer processes to be represented for different land contamination scenarios; in particular, the model can be adapted to represent behaviour following a single deposit. Using the sensitivity of results to the variation of transfer parameters the model can be used to determine the parts of the food chain where improved data would be most effective in increasing the reliability of radiological assessments; a worked example is given. (author)

Trophic assimilation efficiency markedly increases at higher trophic levels in four-level host-parasitoid food chain.

Science.gov (United States)

Sanders, Dirk; Moser, Andrea; Newton, Jason; van Veen, F J Frank

2016-03-16

Trophic assimilation efficiency (conversion of resource biomass into consumer biomass) is thought to be a limiting factor for food chain length in natural communities. In host-parasitoid systems, which account for the majority of terrestrial consumer interactions, a high trophic assimilation efficiency may be expected at higher trophic levels because of the close match of resource composition of host tissue and the consumer's resource requirements, which would allow for longer food chains. We measured efficiency of biomass transfer along an aphid-primary-secondary-tertiary parasitoid food chain and used stable isotope analysis to confirm trophic levels. We show high efficiency in biomass transfer along the food chain. From the third to the fourth trophic level, the proportion of host biomass transferred was 45%, 65% and 73%, respectively, for three secondary parasitoid species. For two parasitoid species that can act at the fourth and fifth trophic levels, we show markedly increased trophic assimilation efficiencies at the higher trophic level, which increased from 45 to 63% and 73 to 93%, respectively. In common with other food chains, δ(15)N increased with trophic level, with trophic discrimination factors (Δ(15)N) 1.34 and 1.49‰ from primary parasitoids to endoparasitic and ectoparasitic secondary parasitoids, respectively, and 0.78‰ from secondary to tertiary parasitoids. Owing to the extraordinarily high efficiency of hyperparasitoids, cryptic higher trophic levels may exist in host-parasitoid communities, which could alter our understanding of the dynamics and drivers of community structure of these important systems. © 2016 The Authors.

INTEGRATION OF THE FOOD INDUSTRY AND RELATED SECTORS BASED ON THE CLUSTER APPROACH

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. M. Bautin

2015-01-01

Full Text Available In a diversified agro-industrial complex structure of the Voronezh region there are more than 200 enterprises of food and processing industry. However, due to the growth disparity in prices for agricultural and industrial products, the collapse of a single process has been a sharp decline in the production of final products of agribusiness. In the conditions of Russia's accession to the WTO and the growth in this regard competition in the market of raw materials and finished products, problems of high relevance of search for effective strategies for the development of the food industry. The emphasis of these reforms should be a priori biased towards the crea tion of favorable conditions for the formation of optimal institutional innovation structures and prospects of development of the national agro-food system at all levels. In this regard, the formation of institutional models of integration in the agricultural sector, we regard the system approach, where the newly created integrated structure is defined as a social institution, characterized by composition, structure, objectives, functions, internal and external bounding box defined inputs and outputs. Under these conditions, there is a need to develop partnerships and coo peration between enterprises of the technological chain of the final product agribusiness, finds its expression in a variety of forms, one of which is the formation of clusters, creating the conditions for effective interaction of producers of raw materials and finished products, research and educational institutions, service infrastructure of organizations and representatives of other areas to ensure. However, the analysis showed that, across a variety of alternative strategies for the development of the food industry, the most optimal in today's economic conditions appear to integration strategies that involve the union of disparate market participants on the principles of economic integr ation, which results in a synergy

Transfer of long-lived radionuclides through marine food chains: a review of transfer data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Belot, Y.

1986-01-01

Experimental data on the transfer of long-lived radionuclides through food chains have been summarized from the available literature. The transfer to a given organism is characterized by a transfer factor (TF), defined as the activity in the organism relative to that in the ingested food or sediment. The TFs of Pu, Am and Tc from sediment to benthic species have been directly measured and generally do not exceed a value of 0.1. The TFs from prey to predator are related to uptake and retention parameters whose values can be derived from experimental data. It was estimated that these TFs do not generally exceed unity and that an increase of concentration through a food chain is very unlikely. (author)

Consequences of population models on the dynamics of food chains.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kooi, B.W.; Boer, M.P.; Kooijman, S.A.L.M.

1998-01-01

A class of bioenergetic ecological models is studied for the dynamics of food chains with a nutrient at the base. A constant influx rate of the nutrient and a constant efflux rate for all trophic levels is assumed. Starting point is a simple model where prey is converted into predator with a fixed

Nitrogen surplus: An environmental performance indicator for sustainable food supply chains

Science.gov (United States)

Nitrogen pollution and negative impacts on human and environmental health are embodied in crop commodities traded domestically and internationally. Food supply chain companies can play a catalytic role in reducing that burden by helping to decrease the environmental nitrogen load from agriculture. T...

Beyond the vertical? Using value chains and governance as a framework to analyse private standards initiatives in agri-food chains

OpenAIRE

2009-01-01

Abstract The significance of private standards and associated local level initiatives in agri-food value chains are increasingly recognised. However whilst issues related to compliance and impact at the smallholder or worker level have frequently been analysed, the governance implications in terms of how private standards affect national level institutions, public, private and non-governmental, have had less attention. This article applies an extended value chain framework for crit...

Research on the performance evaluation of agricultural products supply chain integrated operation

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, Jiake; Wang, Xifu; Liu, Yang

2017-04-01

The agricultural product supply chain integrated operation can ensure the quality and efficiency of agricultural products, and achieve the optimal goal of low cost and high service. This paper establishes a performance evaluation index system of agricultural products supply chain integration operation based on the development status of agricultural products and SCOR, BSC and KPI model. And then, we constructing rough set theory and BP neural network comprehensive evaluation model with the aid of Rosetta and MATLAB tools and the case study is about the development of agricultural products integrated supply chain in Jing-Jin-Ji region. And finally, we obtain the corresponding performance results, and give some improvement measures and management recommendations to the managers.

Fostering food security in areas of extreme poverty through Integrated Farm Management: the case of Burundi

Science.gov (United States)

Kessler, Aad; van Duivenbooden, Niek; van Beek, Christy

2014-05-01

Extreme poverty in Burundi's rural area and tensions between families with limited access to arable land hinder development towards a more stable and peaceful society. Due to these tensions and a rapid population growth, agricultural land is currently subject to increased degradation and low agricultural productivity. A whole range of other limiting factors contributes to this, such as: poor seed quality, poor nutrient management combined with low soil fertility, inadequate agronomic practices, pests and crop diseases, poorly developed supply chains, health problems, difficult access to credit, and insecurity. Solving one of these problems will not solve the chain that eventually leads to low food production; it will simply move the emphasis to the next constraining factor. An integrated rural development approach is therefore required to break this vicious circle. The project Fanning the Spark, a Public-Private-Partnership between Achmea Foundation, Alterra of Wageningen University and Research Centre, and HealthNet-TPO in Burundi started in September 2013 with an intervention in several rural villages in Gitega. The project's objective is to increase food production at village level, by means of investments in crop production, a family (income) insurance package that protects rural families against the financial consequences of catastrophic events (natural and health) and making micro-credits available. This will enhance farmers' workability and generate income from agricultural activities in order to break the poverty cycle and enhance food security. The insurance package comprises agricultural and health insurances, and will be jointly implemented with the sustainable agriculture component. The latter component focuses on Integrated Farm Management and the use of innovative soil management practices. Farmer-to-farmer training and scaling-up are crucial components, and in the first phase of the project "innovative farmer groups" have a central role in the

What shapes food value chains? Lessons from aquaculture in Asia

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jespersen, Karen Sau; Kelling, I; Ponte, Stefano

2014-01-01

In this article, we explain what shapes food value chains through the analysis of selected aquaculture industries in four key Asian producing countries. Worldwide production of aquatic resources has grown rapidly in the past few decades, and aquaculture production in Asia has played a decisive role...... in this growth. We examine the main forms of coordination found along these value chains and the role that institutional frameworks play in governing them. We observe that negative publicity, driven by NGO and media campaigns, has led to increased use of third-party certification and the adoption of public...... and private standards. We find that the most sophisticated aquaculture operations in Asia are found in value chains led by retailers and branded processors and where the quality of domestic institutional frameworks has facilitated compliance with increasing demands from buyers overseas. Finally, we reflect...

Arsenic contamination in food chain: Thread to global food security

Science.gov (United States)

Kashyap, C. A.

2016-12-01

The supply of good quality food is a necessity for economic and social health of urban and rural population. Over the last several decades groundwater contamination in developing countries has assumed dangerous levels as a result millions of people are at risk. This is so particularly with respect to arsenic that has registered high concentration in groundwater in countries like India and Bangladesh. The arsenic content in groundwater varies from 10 to 780 µg/L, which is far above the levels for drinking water standards prescribed by World Health Organization (WHO). Currently arsenic has entered in food chain due to irrigation with arsenic contaminated water. In the present study reports the arsenic contamination in groundwater that is being used for irrigating paddy in Manipur and West Bengal. The arsenic content in irrigation water is 475 µg/L and 780 µg/L in Manipur and West Bengal, respectively. In order to assess the effect of such waters on the rice crop, we collected rice plant from Manipur and determined the arsenic content in roots, stem, and grain. The arsenic content in grain varies from 110 to 190 mg/kg while the limit of arsenic intake by humans is 10 mg/kg (WHO). This problem is not confine to the area, it spread global level, and rice being cultivated in these regions is export to the other countries like USA, Middle East and Europe and will be thread to global food security.

Impact of Liability Rules on Modes of Coordination for Food Safety in Supply Chains

OpenAIRE

Rouviere, Elodie; Latouche, Karine

2014-01-01

International audience; This article analyzes how the allocation of liability for safety defects could influence coordination in the food supply chain. To do so, we analyzed the strategic reaction of importers and supermarkets who import Spanish fresh produce into France. We considered the implementation and enforcement of the European General Food Law as an exogenous shock for French food operators. In France, depending on the situation, food operators can transfer their liability to someone...

Linking urban consumers and rural farmers in India: A comparison of traditional and modern food supply chains

OpenAIRE

Minten, Bart; Reardon, Thomas; Vandeplas, Anneleen

2009-01-01

"Food supply chains are being transformed in a number of developing countries due to widespread changes in urban food demand. To better anticipate the impact of this transformation and thus assist in the design of appropriate policies, it is important to understand the changes that are occurring in these supply chains. In a case study of India, we find that overall urban consumption is increasing; the urban food basket is shifting away from staples toward high-value products; and modern marke...

Polonium (210Po) and lead (210Pb) in marine organisms and their transfer in marine food chains

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carvalho, Fernando P.

2011-01-01

The determination of 210 Po and 210 Pb was performed in marine organisms from the seashore to abyssal depths, encompassing a plethora of species from the microscopic plankton to the sperm whale. Concentrations of those radionuclides ranged from low values of about 5 x 10 -1 Bq kg -1 (wet wt.) in jellyfish, to very high values of about of 3 x 10 4 Bq kg -1 (wet wt.) in the gut walls of sardines, with a common pattern of 210 Po > 210 Pb.These radionuclides are primarily absorbed from water and concentrated by phyto- and microzooplankton, and then are transferred to the next trophic level along marine food chains. Investigation in epipelagic, mesopelagic, bathypelagic and abyssobenthic organisms revealed that 210 Po is transferred in the marine food webs with transfer factors ranging from 0.1 to 0.7, and numerically similar to those of the energy transfer in the marine food chains. As 210 Po preferentially binds to amino acids and proteins, its transfer in food chains likely traces protein transfer and, thus, 210 Po transfer factors are similar to ecotrophic coefficients. 210 Pb is transferred less efficiently in marine food chains and this contributes to increased 210 Po: 210 Pb activity ratios in some trophic levels.

Food supply chain network robustness : a literature review and research agenda

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vlajic, J.V.; Hendrix, E.M.T.; Vorst, van der J.G.A.J.

2008-01-01

Today’s business environment is characterized by challenges of strong global competition where companies tend to achieve leanness and maximum responsiveness. However, lean supply chain networks (SCNs) become more vulnerable to all kind of disruptions. Food SCNs have to become robust, i.e. they

Innovation in agro-food supply chains – The EU policy context

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Materia, V.C.; Dries, L.K.E.; Pascucci, S.

2014-01-01

This report provides insights into the definition of innovation and specifically how policies affect knowledge creation and innovation in agro-food supply chains (D9.1a, objective 1), considering innovation as a key determinant for competitiveness. The innovation system – rather than the linear