Food integrity culture in food businesses in view of organizational and employees' demographic characteristics

Scope and approach

The prevailing food integrity culture of four Belgian food companies was assessed through a validated method triangulation. The relation between the perceived food integrity climate, the performed food integrity and the companies' food fraud vulnerability was analyzed in view of employees' demographic characteristics (i.e. age, seniority, job function, contract type) and organizational characteristics (i.e. product type, service type, company size and certifications status).

Results and conclusions

Results from this semi-quantitative study revealed that all the participating companies recorded a positive food integrity culture, as their food integrity climate and performance were medium-high and their fraud vulnerability was medium-low. Minor differences among companies were identified depending on their specific organizational characteristics and employees' demographic characteristics. People integrity was the lowest-perceived food integrity dimension and specific food fraud control measures were lacking in the majority of the participating companies. Managers perceived their company's food integrity climate higher than the operators in contact with food, implying that employees in different job functions may hold differing perceptions of their company's climate. For the other demographic characteristics analyzed (age, seniority and contract type), a statistical correlation with the perceived food integrity climate was not revealed. Results suggest that product type, company size and certifications status may also promote (or hinder) the achievement of a positive food integrity culture. The applied food integrity culture method triangulation has demonstrated to assist food companies in acknowledging potential weaknesses in their food integrity climate, food integrity performance and food fraud control measures, allowing them to improve key human, operational, technical and managerial aspects to achieve an overall consolidated food integrity culture.