"Someday, and that day may never come, I will call upon you to do a service for me."-The Godfather

In the world of social media, a year could be the difference between a before and after photo of a backstreet cosmetic surgeon. In the science world, anything younger than 50 years is basically a toddler.

In that case, Food Safety Culture (FSC) is an infant. Born in the late 90’s by Dr Joanne Taylor who studied psychology and grew up in a household with a food scientist. She later became fascinated in the reasons behind food safety non-compliance. After a few studies, a correlation between FSC and non-compliance was noted.

With that in mind, almost 30 years later, FSC has become mandatory in many countries worldwide to help prevent food safety non-compliance from a more sociological aspect. But when the Godmother of the topic explains that the topic is brand new and poorly understood; how can we begin to implement it?

We first need to understand the problem and system. So what is FSC:

It is the shared values, beliefs, and norms within an organization that influence attitudes and behaviors regarding food safety. It's about more than just following rules; it's the overall approach to food safety that permeates the entire company.

In short: what do you do when your boss isn’t looking and do you feel that you add value to your product?

The work environment is not the only environment which impacts the quality of work you provide. Other factors include (but not limited to) are:

·         Your home and familial culture

·         Your ethnic background

·         Your language

·         Level of education

·         Societal norms

South Africa is a country with 11 nationally acknowledged languages aka cultures. Whilst the fishing industry is not limited to only South Africans, often having crew from Spain, Portugal and other African countries as well such as Congo etc. This is why I have started the journey of getting my PhD in FSC within the deep hake fishing industry of South Africa to see the potential differences these nuanced differences may have. And if you want to hear more, click on the link to the latest podcast episode with guest Dr Joanne Taylor herself: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/steps-with-nutrition/episodes/24--The-Godmother-e33nnmg

Until next time

Shelldon Athena Breda, M.Sc.

Your favourite virtual dietitian