Andrej Ovca, Mojca Jevšnik and Peter Raspor
The purpose of this paper is to gain insight into various food safety aspects of future professional food handlers, representing different professions in the food supply chain…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to gain insight into various food safety aspects of future professional food handlers, representing different professions in the food supply chain (FSC), close to the end of their formal education.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 15 focus group discussions including 94 participants were conducted. A semi-structured approach was applied to discussions about the comprehension of food safety, the responsibility for food safety, the barriers hindering food safety practices, and the food safety influence of other people.
Findings
Differences related to the field of study and level of education were identified. The results demonstrate the diversity of interpretations of food safety with control of biological hazards strongly emphasized. The responsibility for food safety is perceived differently by position in the FSC. Different barriers related to the working environment and personal factors were identified. Parental influence on the target population is decreased as focus is shifted to the teachers of practical classes and especially to the instructors in food enterprises.
Research limitations/implications
Considering the response rate and the small number of schools offering a specific study programme not all the study fields and educational levels were equally represented.
Practical implications
The findings could assist educators, policy makers, and food business operators in their efforts to develop educational programmes that will more effectively contribute to the safety of food.
Originality/value
No research thus far has focussed on students being educated as future professional food handlers.
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Andrej Ovca, Mojca Jevšnik and Peter Raspor
The purpose of this paper is to investigate future food handlers’ practices during practical lessons close to the end of their formal vocational education, and to record teachers’…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate future food handlers’ practices during practical lessons close to the end of their formal vocational education, and to record teachers’ behaviour and to evaluate classrooms that were intended for practical lessons.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 90 students between 17 and 19 years of age, 12 teachers, and 12 training classrooms intended for practical lessons, which were divided into six observation sessions in the field of catering and six observation sessions in the field of food processing (bakery, confectionery, and butchery), were observed.
Findings
Both proper and inappropriate food-handling practices were observed among teachers and students. Comparing the hygienic-technical conditions of the training classrooms with teachers’ and students’ behaviour revealed several interconnected situations increasing the risk of food contamination during the production process.
Research limitations/implications
Data were collected by one observer who was not part of the class. The sample size was small, limiting the generalisability of the results.
Practical implications
The results indicate the weaknesses in the formal vocational education of future professional food handlers.
Social implications
Good food safety practices among food handlers reduce societal costs related to health-care systems and food industry economic losses.
Originality/value
The study provides an insight into the education and training of future professional food handlers in a controlled environment in educational institutions.
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Meta Sterniša, Sonja Smole Možina, Sonja Levstek, Andreja Kukec, Peter Raspor and Mojca Jevšnik
The purpose of this paper is to investigate Slovenian consumers’ knowledge and self-reported practices in poultry meat handling during purchase, transport, and preparation in home…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate Slovenian consumers’ knowledge and self-reported practices in poultry meat handling during purchase, transport, and preparation in home kitchens and to assess the awareness of the microbiological risk associated with poultry meat, with an emphasis on Campylobacter.
Design/methodology/approach
A cross-sectional study of consumers’ food safety knowledge, self-reported practices, and awareness of the microbiological risk was conducted from March to April 2015 at supermarkets in different parts of Slovenia. A convenience sample of 560 consumers was obtained. Gender and age distribution were controlled by 28 interviewers, each of whom distributed 20 questionnaires. The questionnaire included 33 questions divided into four parts.
Findings
The results revealed consumers awareness of food safety issues. Respondents have some basic knowledge about proper food handling. However, a substantial number of consumers still lacks knowledge of the microbiological risk and has bad habits in domestic poultry meat preparation.
Research limitations/implications
The research did not reflect a representative sample of Slovenian consumers.
Practical implications
The results indicate some gaps in consumers’ food safety knowledge and self-reported practices. Current Campylobacter preventive strategies regarding retail poultry meat contamination are not yet sufficiently successful.
Originality/value
The study provides valuable insight into consumers’ food safety knowledge and self-reported practices in poultry meat handling from shopping to eating. Opportunities for improvement in consumers’ formal and informal education and training should be offered.
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Mojca Jevšnik and Peter Raspor
The main objective of this study is to find out how food handlers in catering establishments perceive ensuring food safety and which problems they meet along the way.
Abstract
Purpose
The main objective of this study is to find out how food handlers in catering establishments perceive ensuring food safety and which problems they meet along the way.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a qualitative approach, ten food handlers in Slovenian catering facilities were included in the case study. A semi-structured approach was applied to provide a deeper insight into food safety barriers perceived by respondents. Participants first read short fictitious newspaper news about a foodborne disease at a tourist farm, which served as a starting point.
Findings
The results demonstrate barriers which most often originate in a lack of knowledge (e.g. improper food safety training, incorrect food safety knowledge testing, knowledge and maintaining of CCPs), shortage of food hygiene skills (e.g. handwashing, food defrosting) and weak work satisfaction (e.g. insufficient payment, poor interpersonal relationships and weak motivation). Food safety knowledge and consequently training methods were found to be the biggest barrier for the efficiency of the HACCP system in practice.
Research limitations/implications
Due to the small sample, the results cannot be generalised to the entire population of food handlers in Slovenia.
Practical implications
The results indicate weaknesses in food safety knowledge among professional food handlers.
Originality/value
The study provides a deeper insight into implicit opinions of ten food handlers in catering facilities regarding barriers in providing food safety, their knowledge and behaviour in their work with food.
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Sidra Shahzadi, Rizwan Khan, Maryam Toor and Ayaz ul Haq
The accounting system plays an important role in the company’s organizational structure. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that the integration of management accounting…
Abstract
Purpose
The accounting system plays an important role in the company’s organizational structure. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that the integration of management accounting practices is subject to coordination between external and internal factors and accounting management practices.
Design/methodology/approach
Therefore, the authors move to the contingency model to determine the most significant external “unexpected factors” that explain the introduction of management practices for the management of the various stages of development. The exploratory study examines a sample of Pakistani companies from various sectors.
Findings
This study reveals that the main factors of uncertainty that affect the organizational structure, environmental uncertainty, advanced production technology, just-in-time method strategy, integrated management of quality and structure findings reveal that MAP affected all process and changes all system in simple to complex system in Pakistani’s industries.
Practical implications
This study is to acquisition the impact of external factors on management accounting practices, to find the impact of internal factors on management accounting practices, to establish the management accounting practices undertaken by the companies in Pakistan.
Originality/value
The study contributes to the literature by enhancing our understanding for the impact of external and internal factors on management accounting practices in Pakistan.
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Tiago Savi Mondo, Sandro Medeiros, Erose Sthapit, Lara Brunelle Almeida Freitas Almeida Freitas and Peter Björk
This study aims to focus on assessing the psychometric properties necessary to validate the internal structure of the TOURQUAL scale.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to focus on assessing the psychometric properties necessary to validate the internal structure of the TOURQUAL scale.
Design/methodology/approach
A quantitative research study was conducted in collaboration with the Brazilian Network of Tourism Observatories, comprising 927 respondents surveyed between October 2021 and May 2022. The data analysis involved the application of descriptive statistics and exploratory factor analysis, in alignment with the principles outlined in the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing 2014 to validate the scale.
Findings
The findings of this study validate the TOURQUAL scale as a robust tool for assessing the perceived quality of tourist services, with results demonstrating one-dimensionality and replicability.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to assess the psychometric properties for validating the internal structure of the TOURQUAL scale.
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Sridar Ramachandran, Chizoba Kingsley Ugokwe, Khairunnisak Latiff and Mohd Romzee Ibrahim
This paper aims to provide insights into service innovation (SI) during the COVID-19 crisis and its potential impact on tourism development in the medium-to-long term. The…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to provide insights into service innovation (SI) during the COVID-19 crisis and its potential impact on tourism development in the medium-to-long term. The pandemic had a devastating effect on the industry, requiring immediate mitigation. It is yet to fully establish the impact of SI in the face of the COVID-19 volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity (VUCA). This study discusses the potential link between SI and COVID-19 crisis mitigation and offers recommendations for tourism recovery.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper synthesizes empirical evidence on post-crisis tourism SI using a theory-based general literature review approach.
Findings
COVID-19 crisis spun various forms of SI, which emerged as a conventional solution to crisis prevention, encompassing the management of crisis-time competitiveness, revenue deficits and risk perception. However, resistance to innovative services is linked to situational conditions.
Research limitations/implications
COVID-19 is an unprecedented crisis. Therefore, this study serves as a primer for further inquiry into SI. For instance, areas such as governance in tourism innovation and consumers' inclination toward innovation-driven services are underexplored.
Practical implications
SI acts as a situational facilitator, but its characteristics can impede or facilitate adoption. Moreover, the irrelevance of innovations in some environments is evidenced. Thus, practitioners must adopt a responsive learning approach in SI adoption. To mitigate the COVID-19 impacts, reconfiguration in SI, recovery marketing strategy, knowledge gap and governance will be critical interventions.
Originality/value
This paper is one of the first comprehensive discussions on the potential role of SI in mitigating the impact of COVID-19 on the THI.
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I Gede Mahatma Yuda Bakti and Sik Sumaedi
– The purpose of this paper is to test a model of service quality of public land transport services, especially paratransit services.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to test a model of service quality of public land transport services, especially paratransit services.
Design/methodology/approach
This study used quantitative approach. Data were collected through a survey method using questionnaire. The respondents of the study are 880 passengers of paratransit services in Indonesia. Exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were performed in order to identify the dimensions of service quality and test the convergent and discriminant validity of the dimensions. Cronbach’s α analysis was carried out to test the reliability of the dimensions. In addition, criterion-based validity and the stability of the service quality model were also tested.
Findings
A model of service quality of public land transport, namely P-TRANSQUAL, was tested. P-TRANSQUAL consists of four dimensions, which are comfort, tangible, personnel, and reliability. The model has been proven to have good validity, reliability, and stability for measuring service quality of paratransit services in Indonesia.
Research limitations/implications
This research was carried out in a single developing country, namely Indonesia. Hence, the stability of the model needs to be tested in different cultures.
Practical implications
Public transport managers can use P-TRANSQUAL to monitor, measure, and improve the service quality of the public transport they manage.
Originality/value
This paper has tested a new model of service quality for public transport services, especially paratransit services.
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Charlene Elliott and Kirsten Ellison
The purpose of this paper is to explore the teenager perspectives of the meaning of food safety, and the implications of those meanings.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the teenager perspectives of the meaning of food safety, and the implications of those meanings.
Design/methodology/approach
Five focus groups were conducted with students (aged 12–14) from Calgary, AB. Participants were asked what food safety means to them and probed about their views on the relationship between food safety and packaged foods. Grounded theorizing informed the analysis.
Findings
Food safety was described as located within the system, located within the individual and located within the edible. Key to these teenagers’ understanding of food safety is the theme of food deception – a deception promulgated by food producers, manufacturers and advertisers who lack transparency about what they are actually selling. Teenagers draw attention to the risks associated with living in an industrialized food environment, and to the tension between safety and the industry-driven motive to sell.
Originality/value
Individuals start to make independent decisions around food preparation and consumption as teenagers; as present and future consumers, it is valuable to learn their perspectives and knowledge about food safety. More importantly, food safety is not only simply a health-related issue but also a semantic one. This study moves beyond the knowledge deficit approach characterizing most research on the topic. Instead, it probes the range of meanings associated with food safety and how they are worked out, revealing that the teenagers’ construction of food as “risk objects” reveals different links to harm than the food safety interventions typically directed to them.
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The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to evaluate the level of knowledge, attitudes and practices of food handlers about food hygiene and sanitation in biscuit industry of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to evaluate the level of knowledge, attitudes and practices of food handlers about food hygiene and sanitation in biscuit industry of central marketing company in Jessore, Bangladesh.
Design/methodology/approach
A self-administered, structured questionnaire was designed and data were collected during the period of April to July 2016 from 110 food handlers using simple random sampling.
Findings
The results show that the food handlers had excellent knowledge, attitude and good practices toward food hygiene and sanitation and food contamination related to food safety. The mean score (standard deviation) of knowledge, attitudes and practices were 20.1 (3.9), 18.6 (3.1) and 16.7 (3.3), respectively (p < 0.007). There was significant correlation between food safety training and knowledge, knowledge and attitude or knowledge and practices (p < 0.001). The majority (90.9 per cent) of the respondents stated that they intended to make sure that the prepared food was safe for consumers, which was significant (p < 0.007). Almost all of the food workers were aware of the critical role of general sanitary practices in the work place. The study suggests that the knowledge, attitude and practice level of food handlers were satisfactory.
Originality/value
Continuous education and training should be organized to strengthen food handlers’ knowledge in areas which seem to be deficient.