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Quality assurance management in the food industry is complex, as it is the total of activities and decisions performed in an organisation to produce and maintain a safe product with the desired quality level against minimal costs (Luning, 2006). It includes: i) quality design, ii) quality control, iii) quality improvement, iv) quality assurance, and v) quality policy and strategy (Luning, 2007, 2009). Hence, it deals not only with all physical aspects of food products and their technological processes, but also with food handlers’ decisions in daily production as well as management’s decisions that impact food safety and quality (Luning, 2007). A proper quality management (i.e. total quality management) have shown to result in a better performance of the food business (Psomas, 2010; Fotopoulos, 2009, 2010)., Proceedings in Food System Dynamics, Proceedings in System Dynamics and Innovation in Food Networks 2012

Consumer understanding of food quality is crucial as their concerns for healthy, safe and sustainable food production remain high. This forces actors and stakeholders in the agribusiness and food industry to use quality management as a strategic approach in production and innovation.00This book describes Food Quality Management (FQM) in one integrated concept. Firstly, all relevant aspects of food quality management are combined into one FQM-function model, which shaped the structure of the book chapters. Secondly, the authors have embedded the techno-managerial approach in the book. This approach starts with the notion that food quality is the outcome of the combined effect of food behaviour and human behaviour. The core principle of this approach is the concurrent use of technological and managerial theories and models to analyse food systems behaviour and people's quality behaviour and generate adequate improvements to the system.00Topics covered in the book include food quality properties and concepts, essentials of quality management and food technology, and details about food and human behaviour. Furthermore, this book describes in detail the technological and managerial principles and practices in the five FQM functions, quality design, quality control, quality improvement, quality assurance, and quality policy and strategy. Moreover, for each function a special topic relevant for the function is highlighted, namely consumer-oriented design, product versus resource control, quality gurus and improvement, quality assurance standards and guidelines (like GMP, HACCP, ISO2200, IFS and BRC), and Total Quality Management.00The integrated approach with technological and managerial principles and concepts for analysing food quality management issues makes this a valuable reference book.0.

Las enfermedades transmitidas por alimentos se han convertido en un problema de salud pública debido al aumento de reporte de brotes alrededor del mundo en las últimas décadas. La organización mundial de la salud ha establecido una incidencia global en países industrializados del 30% de la población que ha sufrido anualmente enfermedades transmitidas por alimentos (WHO, 2007). La Autoridad Europea de Seguridad Alimentaria reportó que en 2006, 22 miembros estado habían tenido 5,719 enfermedades transmitidas por alimentos incluyendo un total de 53,568 personas y resultando en 5,525 hospitalizaciones (10.3%) y 50 muertes (0.1%). La mayoría de los estudios epidemiológicos relacionados han indicado que el principal lugar de transmisión es el hogar (41%) seguido por establecimientos de restauración (FSE) como restaurantes, hoteles, bares, etc (29% en países industrializados, 54% en el Reino Unido, 25% en España) (Olsen et al., 2000; López & Martín, 2004; WHO, 2007; Hughes et al., 2007). Estos datos demuestran que los sistemas de gestión de seguridad alimentaria implementados en los establecimientos de restauración aún tienen margen de mejora., Foodborne diseases have become a major public health concern throughout the world in the last few decades. The World Health Organization surveillance program for control of foodborne infections and intoxications established a global incidence of 30% of industrialized countries population that have suffered foodborne diseases each year (WHO, 2007). The European Food Safety Authority reported that in 2006, 22 countries member states had 5,719 foodborne outbreaks involving a total of 53,568 people resulting in 5,525 hospitalisations (10.3%) and 50 deaths (0.1%). The report also identified Salmonella as the most common agent responsible for foodborne outbreaks, followed by foodborne viruses and then by Campylobacter (EFSA, 2007). More in detail, in the US, the foodborne outbreaks caused 76 millions of gastrointestinal problems per year, of which 325,000 required hospitalization and 5,000 resulted in death (Swanger & Rutherford, 2004; Mead et al., 1999). In England and Wales it was estimated 2,366,000 cases per year, 21,138 hospitalizations and 718 deaths (Adak et al., 2002).

The overall aim of this study was to explore long-term consumer acceptance of new environmentally sustainable alternatives to meat. We investigated whether meat substitutes, which are relatively new food products, would be better appreciated after repeated consumption. Eighty-nine non-vegetarian participants joined an in-home use test and consumed one type of product with their self-selected hot meal for 20 times during 10 weeks: Quorn (meat-like), tofu (not meat-like) or a meat reference (chicken filet). Initial liking (100-mm line scale) for chicken was higher (81 ± 19) than for Quorn (60 ± 28) and tofu (68 ± 21). On a product group level, boredom occurred with all three products and after 20 exposures there were no significant differences in product liking anymore. However, there were noticeably different individual responses within the three product groups, showing both ‘boredom’ and ‘mere exposure’ patterns. Mere exposure occurred significantly more frequent with tofu, with more than half of the participants showing an increased liking over time. We also found that meal patterns were related to boredom: bored persons used more different types of meals, probably to alleviate product boredom. This study demonstrates that liking of meat substitutes can be increased by repeated exposure for a segment of consumers. In addition, it indicates that the meal context should be considered in future in-home repeated exposure studies. Refereed/Peer-reviewed