Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1969. / Vita. Typescript. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

Despite the increase in information on the causes of foodborne disease, outbreaks continue to be a major preventable public health problem. Current food service establishment inspection programs, however, are not designed to assess the potential of risk for foodborne disease and do not focus prevention efforts where food service problems are more severe. The purpose of this study was, therefore, to first, compare mean inspection scores, mean number of critical violations, and mean risk index values for high risk, moderate risk and low risk food service establishments in Marion County, Oregon. Second, the study determined if menu risk assessment can be used to identify facilities that are considered to be "high risk" facilities. The data included most recent routine inspection results that had been previously collected by local sanitarians and data collected from a Menu Risk Assessment Survey which was developed by the Virginia Department of Health. The Menu Risk Assessment Survey was administered using a stratified random design, to 400 food service managers/owners between October 1993 and December 1993 The results showed that high risk establishments had lower mean inspection scores, higher mean number of critical violations, and a smaller mean risk index value than moderate or low risk establishments. The differences were attributed to lack of manager food safety education, menu items served, and operational practices observed in the establishment. The results also showed that there were statistically significant differences (p<.05) in the mean inspection score and the mean number of critical violations of "high risk" establishments and "low risk" establishments when responses to the Menu Risk Assessment Survey were compared. For example: 1) Establishments whose managers do not have food handler's training demonstrate more critical violations than establishments with trained managers, 2) Critical violations and lower inspection scores were more likely to occur in establishments that prepared and served potentially hazardous foods, 3) Food service establishments that handle extensive amounts of potentially hazardous food and serve larger populations were more likely to have lower inspection scores and increased numbers of critical violations. Based on the results found in this research, local health departments may find the Menu Risk Assessment Survey to be a useful tool in determining high, moderate, and low risk food service establishments to focus prevention efforts where the problems are more severe and are of greater public health risk. / Graduation date: 1997

Manufacturing industries are facing major challenges in terms of improving product quality and increasing throughput while sustaining production costs to acceptable levels. Product-oriented processes, both legacy and new, are poorly monitored and controlled on the basis of distributed loop controllers that are aiming to maintain critical process variables within acceptable bounds. Thus, poor quality product results when such processes are subjected to large disturbances - operational failures, environmental changes, and changes in loading conditions. In this research, product quality modeling and control based on a vision inspection methodology is proposed to improve product quality and increase productivity. The main contributions of this research are twofold. First, this research introduces a product quality modeling methodology that combines both physical-based modeling and data-driven modeling. The quality model is the link between information coming from the inspection of product features and the specification of process control strategies. It is essential to control and optimize the process. Physical-based modeling is used to model the product temperature profile, and data-driven modeling is used to train the mapping from the product temperature profile to each quality metric. The break down of the sub models increase the flexibility of model development and reduce the effort to change the model when the quality metrics change. The second contribution is the development of a novel approach to control product quality based on vision inspection, which is developed as part of a hybrid, hierarchical architecture. The high-level control module involves scheduling of multiple plant processes, diagnostics of the failure condition in the process, and the supervision of the whole process. The mid-level control module, which is the focus of the work presented here, takes advantage of baking product quality indicators and oven parameter measurements to optimize zone temperature and conveyor speed set points so that the best product quality is achieved even in the presence of disturbances. The low-level control module consists of basic control loops. Each of them controls parameters of each operation in the process separately. They are generally simple and easy to implement.

Univ., Diss.--Heidelberg, 2001. / Literaturverz. S. 237 - 255.

Agro-terrorism has become a major concern since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks due to characteristics that create unique problems for managing the threat of an agro-terrorist attack. The costs of trucking delays alone were in the tens of millions of dollars. Over the last few years, the government has spent billions of dollars on biological surveillance and record keeping in preventing potential attacks. Several public and private initiatives are currently in use. Examples include 1) the bio-terrorism regulation of 2004 on maintenance of records; 2) establishment of food protection centers for research and teaching excellence; and 3) investments in emerging technology, such as radio frequency monitoring (RFEM) technology, with the potential to track shipments and provide real-time data that can be used to prevent agro-terrorism risks along food supply chains. This thesis addresses the costs and risk premiums associated with alternative tracking strategies, where and when along the milk supply chain these strategies will reduce the most risks, and what policy implications are associated with the most costeffective tracking strategy. To accomplish these objectives, stochastic optimization is used to determine the costs and risk premiums of alternative tracking strategies. Next, the realoptions method along with a portfolio of options, also referred to as the "tomato garden" framework, is used to determine where and when alternative intervention strategies should be implemented to reduce the most risks. Finally, policy implications are derived on the cost-risk tradeoffs, probability of attacks, and containment efforts if there is an attack by using game theory to determine the incentives needed to motivate participants in the milk supply chain to invest in security measures.

Univ., Diss.--Freiburg (Breisgau), 2005. / Literaturverz. S. 453 - 466.

Thesis (doctoral)--Universität, Freiburg (Breisgau), 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 453-474).

To be submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree MASTER OF TECHNOLOGIAE: In Quality In the Faculty of Engineering AT THE CAPE PENINSULA UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, 2012 / Over the last decades, due to the lack of safety concern and inadequate quality management in logistical process, it caused unsafe and poor quality of maize products. Thus, this study looks into the key factors that affect maize exports from South Africa in order to improve the logistical processes and reduce the risks involved in the process. The main risks associated with poor traceability and logistical chain management of maize export, as well as issues pertaining to non-conformance to the different food safety standards were explored. Data were collected a group of food business operators (FBO) (n1=127) and food business inspectors (n2=20) through a number of interviews and a self-administered questionnaire. Data were then analysed by using the SPSS-V19 programme to generate descriptive statistical results to determine the specific needs and gaps within the current system as well as providing recommendations on the specific food safety changes pertaining to the maize export industry. The results showed that there is a lack of understanding among role-players regarding FBO legislation. In the comparison of many large companies, there is only a few small role-players adhere to the legislation pertaining to food safety and traceability. This has impacted on the quality of maize products negatively. This strongly suggested that all role-players that handle maize for export must be registered for FBO codes with Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. The study also recommended that the Perishable Products Export Control Board (PPECB) should inspect and confirm the legitimacy of the FBO codes that appears on the maize export documentation. Keywords: Quality, food safety, food business operator, maize export, logistical processes, and traceability.

No description available.

China's economic success has helped it become one of the largest markets in the world. As a result, the demand for agricultural commodities in China has experienced a significant increase. Increasingly affluent Chinese people are paying increasing attention to food safety and quality instead of just quantity. Understanding how meat demands and prices are related to food safety and quality in Beijing will provide guidance for industry and policymakers interested in the Chinese meat market. The purpose of this study is to develop two models to analyze meat demand and prices associated with food safety and quality respectively. First, An Almost Ideal Demand System (AIDS) is used to investigate the effects of food safety on meat consumption. To address the potential bias of zero consumption in the estimation procedures, a simulated maximum likelihood (SML) estimation is applied in the regression. Second, we analyze the implicit price of meat with the intrinsic and extrinsic attributes using a hedonic price model. Five meat categories are regressed on several intrinsic and extrinsic attributes in the model using household survey data collected in Beijing in 2007. The key results of this research have two major outcomes. First, food safety has a significant and positive influence on meat consumption for Beijing residents. Second, the quality-related attributes or characteristics such as meat appearance, supermarket, meat brand, and processed meat as well as demographic variables such as household head's income have a significantly positive influence on the price of meat, which suggest that the consumers in Beijing are willing to pay a price premium to guarantee the quality and safety of meat.