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As food aid is still for a great part dependent upon the donation of food surplus and as the number of persons relying on food charities is increasing, it is important to further investigate which donation system responds best to the needs of the beneficiaries. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the needs regarding the format and content of the food parcels in a selected social service in Ghent, Belgium. The “format” relates to how the food parcels are distributed, the “content” to the usability of the food products and whether additional products currently not offered are required by the beneficiaries.

The research is based on a qualitative study at a selected food charity in Ghent, using a semi-structured in-depth interview with 30 respondents who receive food parcels.

The food parcel beneficiaries report the need for freedom of choice regarding the offered food products (format). Fixed food parcels should be avoided. Also a need for more vegetables, milk, fresh (halal) meat and meat products was expressed (content), even though the charity purchased a great deal of additional “standard” food products to provide nutritious and varied food parcels. It should be further investigated whether other donation systems such as social groceries or restaurants meet the needs of the beneficiaries to a greater extent, or whether certain adjustments such as purchasing even more standard food products are possible to uphold.

To the authors’ knowledge this research is one of the first scientific studies addressing the needs of food parcel receivers in Belgium. It forms a basis for investigating which type of food donation answers best to the needs of the beneficiaries in Belgium or in other countries.

In recent years consumers in Belgium have shown a great interest for foods from the short supply chain. The difference with the conventional chain is that in the short supply chain the primary products are locally processed and sold directly by the producer to the consumer. The short supply chain has different microbiological quality and safety aspects in comparison with the conventional chain. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate these aspects.

The methodology consists of analyzing the available scientific literature and results of microbiological analyses on foods from the short supply chain.

The main findings were that Listeria monocytogenes was frequently detected (15 percent) in sampled raw dairy products whereas Salmonella was not isolated in 1,023 samples. Human pathogenic vero (cyto) toxin-producing Escherichia coli and Campylobacter spp. are potential hazards, in particular for products that are not thermally treated. Data with regard to E. coli counts showed a greater variability in products from the short supply chain compared to the conventional chain.

The paper discusses strengths and weaknesses with impact on microbial quality and safety in operation of food safety management in the short supply chain vs the conventional chain.

This is the first paper that assesses the risks from the short supply chain vs the conventional chain and that makes recommendations for operators in the short supply chain.