Table 4.
Synoptic table of possible indicators for food business safety assessment.
| Risk area | Indicator (minimum and maximum score value) | Data source | Survey question examples (indicator score variation) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Biological risk Chemical risk |
1 | Implementation of biological control (−15; +35) | Business survey, periodic safety controls and analyses (pathogen analyses on final produce) | Are pathogens and other biological analyses performed on final products? Which one? (multiple selection, +3 per selection, up to +15, −5 if no options are selected) If so, how frequently? (from 0 to +10) How many non-compliances are found (by you or by external entities) per volume of production? (from +10 to −10) |
| 2 | [Unlikelihood of] food exposed to uncontrolled fauna (e.g., rodents, pigeons) and/or zoonosis (−5; +5) | Business survey, periodic safety controls (traps) | Is the presence of pests and/or undesired animals controlled? (+5 if affirmative) | |
| How frequently pests and/or undesired animals are found in the growing environment? (from 0 to −5) | ||||
| 3 | [Unlikelihood of] food exposed, even occasionally, to growing media harbouring biological risk (−5; +5) | Business survey, periodic safety controls and analyses (raw material and supplies quality control) | Is any waste used in the production of biological origin, even occasionally? (−5 if affirmative) | |
| Is this material biologically controlled from an external provider or within your company? (from 0 to +5) | ||||
| 4 | [Unlikelihood of] food biologically altered during processing (spoilage or poor sanitization/preservation) (−5; +5) | Client/customer survey, periodic quality control (shelf life) | How are the products sanitized after harvest? (from 0 to +5) | |
| Is the shelf life satisfactory? (from −5 to 0) | ||||
| 5 | [Unlikelihood of] food exposed to waste harbouring chemical risk (−10; +10) | Business survey, periodic safety controls and analyses (PTEs and other hazardous substances) | Is any kind of non-biological waste used in production? (−5 if affirmative) | |
| Is natural soil used in production? (−5 if affirmative) | ||||
| Is the substrate material used for growing (natural or artificial) fully characterised? (from 0 to +10) | ||||
| 6 | [Unlikelihood of] food exposed to particulate, smog and/or atmospheric deposition (−10; 0) | Business survey, environmental service (air quality) | Is the growing environment isolated from the external atmosphere? (−5 if negative) If that is not the case (negative answer to previous question), is quality of air satisfactory in your area, according to environmental services? (+5 if affirmative, 0 if negative, −5 if answer is “no data available”) If the answer from the previous question is “no data available”, how clean would you judge the air to be in your area? (from 0 to +5) |
|
| 7 | [Unlikelihood of] food exposed to PPP and other pharmaceuticals (−25; +10) | Business survey, periodic safety controls and analyses (PPP) | Are any PPP used during the production cycles? (−5 if affirmative) | |
| If so, which ones are regularly used? (−2 for each active principle indicated, up to −10) | ||||
| How frequently are PPP residues on final products controlled? (from 0 to +10) | ||||
| How many non-compliances are found (by you or by external entities) per volume of production? (from 0 to −10) | ||||
| 8 | [Unlikelihood of] food exposed to regulated chemicals such as additives, and disinfectants, fertilizers (−10; +5) | Business survey, periodic safety controls and analyses (GMP and GAP) | Which other chemicals are used in the production environment and how likely are they to be found in final products? (from −10 to +5) | |
| 9 | [Unlikelihood of] food accumulating (e.g., by phytoextraction or biomagnification) potentially hazardous elements or nutrients (such as PTEs or nitrate) (−10; +20) | Business survey, periodic safety controls and analyses (PTEs, nitrate) | Which chemical analyses on final products are periodically performed? (+2 per PTE, maximum +10; +5 for nitrate in addition) | |
| How frequently? (from +1 to +5) | ||||
| How many non-compliant actions are found (by you or by external entities) per volume of production? (from 0 to −10) | ||||
| 10 | [Unlikelihood of] food exposed to undesired or hazardous materials and substances such as micro-plastics and asbestos. (−10; +5) | Business survey, periodic safety controls and analyses (hazardous materials) | Are these compounds likely to be found in final products? (multiple selection, from −10 to +5) | |
| 11 | [Unlikelihood of] food contaminated by toxins (−5; +5) | Business survey, periodic safety controls and analyses (toxins) | Are toxins controlled in final products? How frequent are non-compliant actions per volume of production? (from +5 to −5, 0 if not controlled) | |
| Management risk | 12 | [Prevention of] food adulteration, tampering and accidents (−5; 0) | Business survey | To your knowledge, have any adulteration or tampering episodes occurred? How frequently? (from 0 to −3) |
| How frequently does equipment malfunction? (from 0 to −2) | ||||
| 13 | High food safety education level of business operators (0; +5) | Business survey (operators and conductor) | How would you judge the training of your collaborators and employees? (from 0 to +3) | |
| How much do you invest in training? (from 0 to +2) | ||||
| 14 | Implementation of food quality system, traceability, scheduled controls, and management of non-compliance (0; +15) | Business survey | Have you adopted any quality management program other than those prescribed by law? Which one? (from 0 to +5) | |
| Have you obtained any quality certifications? Which ones? (from 0 to +5) | ||||
| Have you adopted any quality policy program other than those prescribed by law? Can you describe it? (from 0 to +5) | ||||
| 15 | [Rareness of] safety control and non-compliance (0; +5) | Periodic safety control (if present) | Could you describe your course of action in this particular scenario? (a scenario is illustrated, in which non-compliance is found) (discursive, from 0 to +5) | |