食品安全——事件觀、系統觀

Objectives: There have been a large number of letters to media editors to advocate readers' thoughts on food safety because of recent food industry scandals. Yet, no systematic analysis for these letters has been reported. We conducted a systemic analysis for these opinions and proposed the concept of food safety. Methods: We screened 4 major newspapers in Taiwan for all letters to the editors, about the food safety scandals, published in the media in September and October 2014. These opinions were summarized thematically based on the contents, followed by developing a model food safety management system based on systemic theory model. Results: We identified 519 readers’ letters from the media. Most of the letters provided one-sided viewpoints fragmentally focusing on the direct causes relating to food safety events. Approximate 77% of readers thought the problem of food safety was associated with the gaps of government supervision and administration, followed by the trust in the food industries (12.6%). However, lacking of an integrative thinking to elaborate the systemic causes of the food scandal events was indicated. These opinions suggested especially an inadequate consumer culture, i.e. unreasonable propensity to food products inherent in consumers, which was not coherent with the business philosophy of food industry corporations. Conclusions: Food safety relies on the cooperation and collaboration among all stakeholders in the food production, marketing and consumption chain rather than independent efforts of individuals. The government has to refine their functions and capacities to supervise the food industries to ensure safe food operation. In addition, the food industries and consumers need to take a further step shifting narrow viewpoints of issues to integrate their thought into deliberate systems toward a safe operation in food supply chains.