The risk early warning index is the basis of risk early warning system. According to GB/T 4754-2002, the meat processing industry includes mature meat products processed from livestock and poultry, and each link of the meat producing chain may cause quality safety risks.
2.1.1. External Environmental Risk
External environment will directly or indirectly affect the producing process, and then affect food quality safety. Based on the previous literature, the external environment risk is divided into four dimensions.
(1) Policy adjustment risk
The policy adjustment risk includes two aspects: The first is the absence of regulation and policy, i.e., even though the progress of human society, the development of Science and Technology, the variety and nature of food have led the original food standard policy as inapplicable, there might be still no new standard put forth. The second aspect refers to the increase of international trade barriers, or government making adverse policies to the trade enterprises.
The shortage of standard will make enterprises unable to find enough reference for the manufacturing process, resulting in uneven or potentially unsafe products. For example, because of China’s shortage of standards on food additives, many additives have since not been detected or are subjected to no detection requirements, which can lead to the occurrence of Clenbuterol, melamine, and other incidents.
(2) Economic environment risk
The bad economic environment means that the social and economic conditions for enterprises’ survival and development become worse, for either the national economic policy is unfavorable to the production and development of enterprises, or the purchasing power of consumer decreases. A bad economic environment will reduce the enterprise’s investment on food quality safety, which can affect the food quality safety.
(3) Natural disasters and climate impacts
The influence of natural disasters and climate change on food quality safety is obvious and immediate, that is, the producing will either be stopped or delayed, making food either polluted or mildewed. For example, changes in temperature and humidity can affect the growth of fungi, which in turn can affect the production of mycotoxins [
17]. As a result of climate warming, the toxicity of microorganisms and the mode of transmission will change also, making the originally harmless substances gradually become harmful to the human body, or bringing microorganisms that once disappeared from the food production and circulation back to the chain. These effects and changes may be imperceptible over a period of years or even decades, but that does not mean they will be less harmful.
(4) Source hazards of raw materials
Source hazards of raw materials refer to the food safety hazards that may be brought into the manufacturing process by raw materials purchased from the frontline of the supply chain, including biological, chemical, and physical pollution, and allergens. EFSA’s emerging risk factors the “retail trade”, in particular, mentioned the impact of enterprise procurement on food quality safety, which may bring into enterprises internal hazards of uncertainty [
17]. Even though the enterprises can promise on their own production process and product standards and safety, it cannot fully guarantee the safety of raw materials, as their in-plant testing on raw materials before they enter the producing chain is very likely to fail, resulting in the safety risk coming out of ex-factory products.
2.1.2. Internal Environmental Risk
Internal risk factors are mainly extracted by comparing the four systems and certifications that meat manufacturing and processing enterprises need to pass, including ISO 22000:2005, HACCP system, BRC certification, and IFS certification.
(1) Insufficiency of top management responsibility
Management shall demonstrate support for the food safety objectives of the organization, formulate food safety guidelines, communicate food related laws and regulations to the organization, focus on customers, and ensure regular review of the quality management system (ISO22000, 2005).
Inadequate or inadequate food safety policy. While the food safety policy can be seen as the wind vane of the enterprise, how the shortage of it or improper application can cause the management goal of the enterprise on food quality safety is still not clear.
Unclear organizational structure and job responsibilities. The unclear organization structure and post responsibility in the enterprise will lead to unclear power, responsibility, enterprise’s policy, and quality objectives that will not be able to be carried out by all staff. In particular, if the staff is engaged in a post that has no clear job responsibilities, it will inevitably affect the quality of work, and may lead to food safety risks.
Poor communication. Poor external communication will affect the enterprises to obtain information on food safety, including changes in regulations, raw materials, market changes, customer satisfaction, etc. It will affect the enterprise’s manufacturing process, the direction of standard adjustment and timeliness. Poor internal communication will lead to poor food safety management from top to bottom. While management and operation blind spots can lead to an outbreak on food quality safety risks, a poor communication with the food safety team will affect the updating efficiency of the food safety management system.
(2) Personnel management risk
The personnel safety awareness and training are only mentioned in ISO22000 and IFS, while job control has been mentioned in the BRC in view of its importance.
Shortage of safety awareness among personnel. Safety awareness plays a decisive role in the behavior of employees, while it inhibits unsafe behavior and special risk-taking behavior. The safety consciousness is not strong, to the danger cognition ability shortages, extremely easy to take risks foolishly, causes the quality safety risk.
Inadequate training of personnel. Shortage of personnel training may lead to manufacturing workers that do not have the required work capacity, directly affecting the quality of products. Especially if responsible for the food safety management system the personnel training is insufficient, that will make the food quality safety system become a dead letter.
Wrong operation of the personnel. Although many production processes are machine-operated, there are still many processes that need manual operation, such as weighing the raw materials before the mixing process, disoperation of the staff may lead to inappropriate mix, and product nutrition index is not qualified.
(3) Hazard control risk
The aim of hazard control is to control, and the limit of low risk is the minimum detectable quantity. The alert limits of medium, low, medium and high risks are classified according to the literature, expert opinions, and enterprise standard documents.
(1) Chemical Hazard
Animal residue—Doxycycline. Doxycycline is one of the main index of animal residues detected by meat processing enterprises. The classification of warning levels and warning limits were determined according to the maximum residue limits (mrls) for foods of animal origin 2377/90/EC.
Animal residue—Enrofloxacin. Enrofloxacin is currently designated by the state as a special drug for animals, and it has a long half-life inside the animal body. Its good tissue distribution makes it a broad-spectrum bacteriostatic agent for Gram-positive bacteria, negative bacteria, and mold paste. Its bacteriostatic effect has been used in the control of vibriosis and colibacillosis in cultured fish. The classification of warning levels and warning limits were determined according to the maximum residue limits for foods of animal origin 2377/90/EC.
Drug residue—Chlorpyrifos. Soluble in most organic solvents and of moderate toxicity. Determination on its biological, chemical, and physical hazards in meat processing were made according to maximum residue limits of pesticides in foods GB 2763-2005.
Drug residue—Flumetasone. Insecticide, moderate toxicity, that are mainly used in dogs, cat surface fleas, dog ticks, and other surface pests. Determination of early warning classification and warning limits were made based on maximum residue limits of pesticides in foods GB 2763-2005.
Nitrite. The probability of food poisoning caused by nitrite is high. The ingestion of 0.3~0.5 g nitrite can cause poisoning or even death. Nitrite is also a carcinogen. There is a positive correlation between esophageal cancer and intake of nitrite. The classification of warning grade and warning limit were determined based on the hygienic standard of nitrite limit and the prevention of nitrite food poisoning.
Heavy metal—Mercury. Trace amounts of mercury do not cause harm in the human body and can be excreted through urine, feces, and sweat. However, if the amount is too much, it can damage human health. The early warning level classification and warning limit were determined according to the comparison and analysis of China and EU food heavy metal limit standards.
Heavy metal—Cadmium. When the environment is polluted by cadmium, cadmium can be enriched in organisms and enter the human body through the food chain, causing chronic poisoning. Even though the cadmium can be absorbed by the human body, the cadmium thiophane protein will be formed in the body, and will be selectively accumulated within livers or kidneys. The kidney, as it can absorb nearly 1/3 of cadmium inside body parts, has long been held as the target organ for cadmium poisoning. Other organs such as the spleen, pancreas, thyroid, and hair also have a certain amount of accumulation. The early warning level classification and warning limit are determined according to the comparison and analysis of China and EU food heavy metal limit standards.
Heavy metal—Lead. Lead is a toxic metal, long-term exposure to lead and its salts can cause kidney disease and colic-like abdominal pain. Excessive intake of lead and its compounds can lead to palpitations, irritability, and damage to the nervous system. It can even cause cancer and deformities. Excessive levels of lead can have a very negative effect on children. It can damage the nervous system of children and lead to diseases of the blood circulation and brain. Lead can accumulate in the human body and is very difficult to eliminate automatically. It can only be removed through certain drugs [
18]. The early warning level classification and warning limit were determined according to the comparison and analysis of China and EU food heavy metal limit standards.
(2) Biological hazard
Colony count. The colony count includes pathogenic bacteria and beneficial bacteria. The harmful bacteria to the human body mainly belong to pathogenic bacteria. If the total number of bacterial colony exceeds the standard, it also can increase the chance of pathogenic bacteria exceeding the standard, increasing the risk of harm to human health. If the total number of bacteria in food exceeds the standard seriously, it will indicate that the hygienic condition of food cannot meet the basic hygienic requirement, and will eventually destroy the nutritional composition of food, accelerating the spoilage of food and making the food inedible. Consumers who eat those food in which the microorganism exceeds the standard quite a lot, are very easy to suffer from dysentery and other intestinal diseases, such as vomiting, diarrhea, etc., thus endangering the human body health safety. Classification of warning levels and warning limits were determined according to the literature on contamination and risk assessment of pathogenic microorganisms.
Coliform bacteria. It is generally believed that this group of bacteria can include Escherichia coli, Citrobacter, Gas-producing Klebsiella, and Enterobacter cloacae, etc. If there is fecal contamination in food, it is speculated that there should be a possibility of contamination of intestinal pathogenic bacteria in food, and the threat of food poisoning and epidemics is lurking, which must be regarded as potential harm to human health. The classification of warning level and warning limit were determined according to the literature of contamination and risk assessment of pathogenic microorganisms.
(3) Physical hazard
Iron (Fe). Metal detection is used as a key detector in most HACCP systems for meat processing companies. The objective is to reduce or eliminate the risk of metal foreign objects contaminated inside the product and get the objects effectively removed. Early warning classification and warning limits were determined according to the US FDA, Japanese, and EU standards.
Stainless steel (SUS). SUS is the code name for stainless steel in the Japanese JIS standard. Early warning classification and warning limits were determined according to the US FDA, Japanese, and EU standards.
(4) Product innovation risk
Changes in new products or related products, packaging materials, or manufacturing processes in the enterprise shall have appropriate product design/development procedures to ensure the change is legal and safe on all new products, including formulations and packaging for the existing products. Any change in the process should be approved by the HACCP team leader or authorized HACCP committee members (ISO22000, 2005).
The product innovation, including product, packaging, transportation methods, and process innovations poses a risk to food safety. On one hand, the innovation of products and processes means unknown hazards and risks, on the other hand, the new products and processes can exceed existing standards. Thus, the shortage of reference is also an important cause for food quality safety risks.
2.1.3. Risk of Consumers Concern
Consumers’ attention can directly affect the organization’s attention. For example, if consumers pay more attention to sensory quality, companies will need to make further improvements and efforts in the sensory quality of products.
(1) Concerned about the harmful substances
The harmful substances of the product exceed the standard, that is, the detection indexes such as the total number of colonies, aflatoxin, Escherichia coli, sweetener, etc. exceed the national limit, or excessively add harmful additives to the human body. Due to the continuous improvement of consumers’ awareness on consumer rights, consumers will pay extensive attention to the content of harmful substances in products. Once the harmful substances of products are exposed, the operations of the enterprises and manufacturers involved will be greatly affected, and may even force the companies to file bankruptcy or seek acquisition.
(2) Concerned about counterfeiting
Counterfeit and shoddy products are counterfeit, inferior, false, and counterfeit. Mainly reflected in the quality products to pretend to be high-quality products, exaggerating the function, and nutritional value of products, deceiving consumers.
(3) Concerns about sensory quality
Sensory quality, customers will take the sensory test at the time of purchasing, or known also as “functional test”. It is to rely on the human sensory organs to evaluate and judge the quality of the product. For example, the shape, color, smell, scar, and aging degree of the product are usually checked out by the sensory organs such as human vision, hearing, touch, and smell, with the quality being judged to be either good or bad. Not only consumers, but also professionals often use food quality sensory inspection technology to evaluate food quality in the food production process.
(4) Concerns about the environment
Environment index refers to food production and sales environment, production and sales of personnel hygiene. If the production and sale of the environment is not up to standard, it will cause food pollution and nutritional value decline.