Enriched Foodstuff on Basis of European Regulations N.1924 and N. 1925 Introduced in 2006: An Analysis of Consumer Protection

The goal of this work is to analyse the underlying reasons of the EC Regulations nos. 1924 and 1925 of 2006 which rule the nutrition and health claims used in commercialising some categories of food products. In particular, we investigated the importance of enriched foods, the different types existing in the market and their characteristics that depend on the adding process of specific elements or substances. The commonest enriched foods are produced with small amounts of minerals and vitamins, even though the mentioned EC regulations do not exclude the addition of other substance with beneficial effect for health. Recent studies highlighted that in the labyrinth of diversified food innovations, consumers are not always provided with appropriate information to correctly understand the nutrition label of food products in order to make rational choices according with nutritional requirements. Moreover, just a few years after the introduction of EC Regulations nos. 1924 and 1925 of 2006, the high number of messages conveyed by the advertising of enriched products and the lack of comprehensive legislation make the understanding of nutrition messages more difficult and reduce the consumer protection.multiple source assessment, human resource management, performance

Sustainability of Food Products Applying Integrated Life Cycle Tools

The agri-food industry is a significant resource for the European economy. However, the competitiveness of this industry seems to be at risk due to its many structural problems (i.e. extreme fragmentation, energy-related and service issues, low R&D investment levels). In order to boost the sector, European policy-makers have planned a number of actions aimed at promoting a research for a greater sustainability. One of the most significant actions is the use of Life Cycle Thinking tools, which allow for a quantification of the environmental and social impact, and cost of food production. To ensure the adoption of these tools, their application should be simplified, an integrated framework should be created for the measurement of social, economic and environmental impacts, and a vast dissemination of results should be developed. For this purpose, the Ecolabel mark use has also been extended, with the last revision (EC Reg. no. 66/2010), to food products.Food industry, Life Cycle Thinking, SLCA, LCA, integrated framework

New Perspectives in Economic Value Assessment as an Integration of Social Accountability. A Practical Application in the Spa Industry

In trying to understand the history of spa activities in Italy from an economic perspective, one could but acknowledge the importance of the efforts spa resorts are making today to differentiate their activities with the purpose of tackling the crisis of the sector that started in the 90’s and was worsened by Law no. 323 of 2000 concerning the reorganization of the spa industry. One of the most valuable among the multiple communication tools available for the entities of the sector is the social balance, whose aim is accountability towards all the stakeholders concerning the added value created and distributed, a tool that may find a useful integration in the calculation of the economic impact produced on the reference territory. This work, after a brief overview of the most accredited literature on social reporting and economic impact analysis, with a special reference to the tourism industry, will more specifically investigate the idea of combining these two tools to enhance the social and economic function of corporate information.Social balance, added value, economic impact, Spa

The Link between Food Traceability and Food Labels in the Perception of Young Consumers in Italy

The research analyzed the perception of food traceability among consumers in Italy and the role of food labels in supporting consumer information about food traceability. The components (health, quality, product origin and many others) that are involved in the concept of food traceability were examined and the most important ones were identified. An online survey (n=511 consumers) was carried out in Milan in the north of Italy. Students and employees from the Bocconi University were selected in order to investigate the relevance of food traceability in consumer purchasing decisions. An ordered logit regression was applied.The findings confirm that consumers are interested in various components of food traceability and look for labels that provide information on the product supply chain. The research confirms that traceability is important in the food market and some types of labels on product features (as product sustainability or origin) are associated with it

The sustainability in alcohol consumption: the “drink responsibly” frontier

Purpose: The excessive consumption of alcohol in numerous countries in the world, combined with the progressively younger age of the consumers, made it necessary for companies to use instruments of communication aimed at the development of consumption responsibility, so as to prevent reckless behaviour and the health risks thereto associated. The purpose of this paper is to assess the visibility and effectiveness of responsible consumption messages used for the sale of the product “beer” (on packaging and in advertisements); the study used a sample audience made up of teenagers and young adults from southern Italy. Design/methodology/approach: The methodology used was that of the focus group. Three interview sessions were conducted, one dedicated to teenagers, age 16–17 years, and two dedicated to young adult panels, age 20–24 years. A ten-question questionnaire was designed prior to the conduction of the focus groups, and it was used in all the sessions. Findings: The study shows the weak efficacy of the “drink responsibly” communication campaigns carried out by beer manufacturers. The totality of the interviewees failed to remember the existence of the “drink responsibly” messages and, even after supplementary visual stimulation, they were mostly disinterested, defining the fact that companies from the alcoholic drinks industry carry out consumption awareness campaigns as an out-and-out nonsensical contradiction. Originality/value: The survey draws attention to the perception by young audiences of the more recent “drink responsibly” communication campaigns carried out by beer manufacturers, aiming at encouraging a more responsible attitude to alcohol consumption. There still are not many such inquests aimed at determining the response of young people to the use of slogans and commercials connected to responsible drinking in the literature; therefore, this study aimed at filling this gap. In fact, the authors believe this study is important for assessing the effectiveness of such instruments for achieving greater responsibility in the use of alcoholic drinks, so as to develop better awareness in the ranks of youths. Among the new communication strategies that were proposed to the participants, there were video commercials containing responsible consumption messages and the new prohibition marks placed directly on the product labels

Agricoltura di Precisione e Industria 4.0: possibili integrazioni e sviluppi tecnologici

Il settore agricolo sta vivendo negli ultimi anni un grande processo di cambiamento per far fronte a una serie di circostanze che hanno su di esso un impatto non trascurabile sia a livello di sostenibilità ambientale, correlata all’incremento della popolazione e la diminuzione delle superfici coltivabili, sia a livello di domanda di mercato dei prodotti agricoli con consumatori sono sempre più esigenti ed informati sulle tecniche di coltivazione e allevamento. Si rendono sempre più necessari innovazioni tecnologiche in grado di fronteggiare queste criticità e l’Agricoltura di Precisione ne è l’esempio più eclatante. Infatti, se l’Industria 4.0 è considerata come la quarta rivoluzione industriale, l’Agricoltura di Precisione rappresenta di fatto la rivoluzione agricola del XXI Secolo. Sebbene le fondamenta di queste due rivoluzioni appaiono basate su concetti distanti tra loro, è possibile individuare delle affinità riguardo agli effetti che queste determinano sui processi aziendali sullo sviluppo delle innovazioni e delle applicazioni tecnologiche. Partendo da questa riflessione, il presente lavoro cerca di comprendere quanto i due domini di Industria 4.0 e Agricoltura di Precisione siano collegati tra loro analizzando le tecnologie più utilizzate in questi ambiti ed evidenziando modelli e pattern comuni che siano in grado di rappresentare le sovrapposizioni tra i due settori di attività. L’intersezione tra le tecnologie di Industria 4.0 e l’Agricoltura di Orecisione costituisce un riferimento importante per individuare le tecnologie più diffuse e maggiormente redditizie per il settore agricolo nonché utili per il miglioramento qualitativo e quantitativo dei prodotti agricoli