食品安全——事件觀、系統觀

Food safety – viewpoints from issues and systems

目標：近年食安問題延燒不斷，各界人士在媒體上陸續表達對於此問題的投書，然而這些意見尚缺乏有系統地整理，本研究目的即為分析民眾對於食安問題之看法，並提出食品安全的整體系統觀。方法：本研究收集2014年九、十月四大平面媒體，在此期間對於食安事件的投書，並應用主題分析法解析讀者觀點，其次，依據系統理論，設計食安各層面向的系統架構圖。結果：本文共收集519則讀者投書，研究發現大多數的投書，對於食安問題的發生原因與改善觀點較為零散，且侷限於與事件直接有關的各別單一層面的肇因，其中又以因為政府之監督與管理的不當比例最高（77%），其次是對企業之信任（12.6%），相對較少以整體的觀點說明造成食安事件的完整性系統原因，尤其是較少從消費者自身角度與食品相關企業觀點出發，思考大眾消費文化的缺失，例如不理性的消費癖好，以及企業經營理念的失衡。結論：食品安全的維護有賴系統內相關成員共同的運作與合作，而非個別成員所能獨立促成。對於食品安全的促成，除政府已強化其執行功能與能力之外，進一步的做法是需要將所有相關成員的狹隘事件觀轉化為整合與縝密思考的系統觀。

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.