The food industry is a very dynamic sector of the community.

It changes yearly and is

easily influenced by customer preferences and health concerns. If there is one evident thing that
changed the whole dynamics of the food industry, particularly the aspect of food safety, it would
be the arrival of Covid-19. This phenomenon shifted every food safety trend predicted in the
past years and significantly altered how businesses approach food safety in their everyday
services. The food industry entered a "new normal" after the pandemic with a stronger approach
to food safety.

Food safety trends for 2022 revolve around automation of processes, healthier options,
sustainability, and more focus on food safety. Trends are significantly influenced by consumer
demands, environmental impact, and the economic status of a nation. And in 2022, restaurants
were expected to change their old ways and cope with the strict food laws to help prevent the
further spread of Covid-19 (Njunina, 2022). And one way that restaurants can accomplish this is
with food safety and food quality audits.

What is an audit? An audit is a review of a process, system, product, or any other area of
a business. The purpose of an audit in this nature is to find out whether these processes,
systems, products, etc., are meeting certain standards set by the business or industry, and if
not, looking into why they aren’t meeting the standards. A food safety and food quality audit
however is an organized activity that aims to evaluate the level of the food safety management
system of a food business in the pursuit of protecting public health (Njuina, 2021). It is a
systematic, independent and documented activity in which objective evidence is gathered and
assessed to determine if a food safety system is appropriate and effective.food safety and
quality audits are used widely in the food industry for various reasons such as to evaluate
management systems, obtain certifications to certain food safety and quality standards, assess
the condition of premises and products, confirm legal compliance, and so on (Kotsopoulos, et.al,
2017).

These audits are an important aspect of food quality because food safety is a very
serious issue. The global importance of food safety is not fully appreciated by many public
health authorities despite a constant increase in the prevalence of foodborne illness. Numerous
devastating outbreaks of salmonellosis, cholera, enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli infections,
hepatitis A and other diseases have occurred in both industrialized and developing countries
(Kaferstein, et. al). In the hospitality industry, these foodborne illnesses need to be taken very
seriously because the hospitality industry is an industry that provides luxury services and
centers around customer satisfaction in areas like lodging, activities, transportation, and in this
context, eating establishments. Hospitality establishments should be making it one of their
primary focuses to make sure that foodborne illnesses and hazards are avoided and food
related risks are controlled and prevented. Food safety and quality audits are integral to making
sure that an establishments’ food safety program is still effective and functional, and if an
establishment doesn’t have one, helping them identify what to focus on to be able to create one.
This way, the food safety standards are met successfully.
 These audits that improve and maintain the effectiveness of food safety plans can even
help an organization meet their operational goals. Because failing to implement an effective food
safety protocol can lead to contaminated products entering the food chain. Once the defective
product has been discovered, food businesses are subject to dramatic disruptions in their
operations as they manage and assume the cost for product recalls (Sesotec, 2020). In fact, a
study performed by the Food Marketing Institute and Grocery Manufacturers Association
indicates the average direct cost to a company per recall to be $10 million (Krysty, 2020). This
even ties into helping reassure stakeholders because food safety is a measure of food quality. If
an establishment is able to provide high quality and safe food, then customers will inevitably
return and build customer loyalty and brand recognition.

However, truly implementing food safety and implementing regular food safety and
quality audits will require higher costs. Ensuring quality produce and protein from safe and
reputable suppliers, investing in proper equipment, implementing training and retraining for staff
regarding food safety, the price for food safety definitely isn’t cheap. However, I believe that the
extra expense that food safety requires is worth it because as already mentioned, food safety is
able to ensure quality, prevention of foodborne illness, controlling of food related risks and
hazards, and improve operational goals. It may be a steep cost, but it is a surefire way to stay in
business. After all, quality is staying in business (Straker, 2000).

And aside from the cost, there are other challenges in implementing food safety. A key
challenge to scale up nutrition, public health and food security/food safety globally is to better
leverage existing capacity and research working towards evidence-based decisions
(Uyttendaele et. al, 2015). There just isn’t enough knowledge about food safety all over the
world, both in the general public and the majority of the hospitality industry. It’s because food
safety is such a mountain of information and practices and it can be very intimidating for
startups and even established restaurants and hotels. Say that you own an establishment in the
hospitality industry. Finding the initial time and money to invest in staff training and proper
kitchen equipment (such as appropriate cooking equipment, etc.) can be a challenge. Then your
staff may come from different nationalities and cultures where there are varying standards of
food handling practices which can heavily disorganize any food safety practices. It is also
possible that your kitchen staff may have different educational levels and may not understand
the cause and effect of their actions. It is also almost impossible to monitor if the supplier or
distributor of the food products is observing proper food safety standards. There is also a higher
chance of contraction of foodborne illnesses among more vulnerable diners such as young
children, pregnant women and elderly people (Unilever Food Solutions, n.d.).

Furthermore, new challenges to food safety will inevitably continue to emerge (Centers
for Disease Control and Protection, n.d.). This is because of changes in our food production and
supply, including more imported foods, changes in the environment leading to food
contamination, better detection of multistate outbreaks, new and emerging bacteria, toxins, and
antibiotic resistance, changes in consumer preferences and habits, and changes in the tests
that diagnose foodborne illness.
 For a fruit stall in the Marikina Public Market (MPM), there is quite a bit of work to be
done in order to be able to compare it to the food safety standards of international markets. For
starters, the basic infrastructure of not only the fruit stall in the MPM, but the entire market is
quite lacking. The entire market is just a repurposed warehouse that doesn’t have the necessary
space and actual facilities to house a market as big as the MPM so the stalls are just more of an
improvised construction that the owners commissioned by themselves. On top of that, the
structure of the market is pretty inefficient because the stalls are currently in a disorganized grid.
This could be improved by having the market have long walkways with the stalls being on either
side.

Next, the fruit stall in MPM doesn’t actually have an official food safety plan that they
implement. Yes they wash their hands, and yes they dispose of their waste, but the stall doesn’t
have a lot of equipment, they only have a small wash station, they don’t have their own
restroom, etc. The fruit stall doesn’t need to worry much about TCS because they don’t sell TCS
food. And they do implement FIFO, but they need to improve their waste disposal and waste
management because the way they do it is they simply have a bag next to the products that
they throw their food waste into.

Another thing that needs to be immediately addressed is that they need to have better
communication with their management because as of now, there was little to no communication
between the stalls and the overall management that was observed during the pre-audit. During
the initial meeting with the stall owners, it was mentioned that they have already requested for
better facilities multiple times, but their request was never addressed. For a public market where
food is very prone to becoming damaged or prone to foodborne illnesses, this cannot stand.

Food safety and food safety and quality audits are very important and dare I say
necessary when it comes to running a public market like the MPM. I believe that the food safety
standards in a public market should be even higher and should be implemented and enforced in
a more strict manner because of the nature of the location. And on a smaller scale, the food
safety audit that our group will be conducting on one of the fruit stalls in the MPM will be integral
in helping them create a food safety plan that is both effective and attainable with their current
resources and ability.
References:

Centers for Disease Control and Protection. N.d. Challenges in Food Safety. Retrieved from:
https://www.cdc.gov/foodsafety/challenges/index.html

Käferstein, F., et. al. Food safety in the 21st century. Retrieved from:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2557642/

Kotsanopolous, K., et. al. 2017. The Role of Auditing, Food Safety, and Food Quality Standards
in the Food Industry: A Review. Retrieved from:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33371608/#:~:text=Food%20safety%20and%20quality
%20audits,compliance%2C%20and%20so%20on

Krysty. 2020. The Real Cost of Food Recalls and the Importance of Choosing a Qualified Local
Trucking Company. Retrieved from:
https://roadscholar.com/business/the-real-cost-of-food-recalls-local-trucking-company/#:
~:text=In%20fact%2C%20a%20study%20performed,recall%20to%20be%20%2410%20
million

Njunina, V. 2022. Food safety trends 2022: How has the food industry changed? Retrieved from:
https://www.fooddocs.com/post/food-safety-trends

Njunina, V. 2022. Food safety trends 2022: What is a Food Safety Audit & How is Food Editing
Done? Retrieved from: https://www.fooddocs.com/post/food-safety-audit

Sesotec. 2020. What is Food Safety? Retrieved from:

https://www.sesotec.com/apac/en/resources/blog/what-is-food-safety

Straker, D. 2000. What is Quality? Retrieved from: Dashboards.sdgindex.org. 2021. Sustainable

Development Report. Retrieved from:
http://syque.com/articles/what_is_quality/what_is_quality.htm

Unilever Food Solutions. N.d. 7 Common Food Safety Challenges & Solutions. Retrieved from:
https://www.unileverfoodsolutions.co.za/chef-training/browse-chef-training-topics/food-sa
fety-and-food-hygiene/7-common-food-safety-challenges-and-solutions.html

World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe. 2021. Safe and Healthy Food in
Traditional Markets in the WHO European Region. Retrieve