Development of Food Sanitation System to Support Digital Society and the New Normal

Abstract

This action research aims to develop the food sanitation system by enhancing the standard/measure and the assessment system for certifying the food sanitation standard. This is accomplished by collecting, examining, and processing data from studies, reviewing and analyzing opinions on improving the standard, the process of certification and evaluation, and adjusting the image of the standard certification sign. The sample groups comprise (1) food healthcare personnel, (2) marketing entrepreneurs, and (3) restaurant entrepreneurs. The tools include (1) interviews, (2) group discussions, (3) meetings, and (4) data inquiries from secondary sources. Data analysis involves inferential and analytic statistics. The research findings indicate that (1) the group of personnel comprehends the food sanitation process, but the workload exceeds the capacity of the local government organization, resulting in non-compliance with legal requirements, (2) marketing entrepreneurs find the process for license renewal and assessment appropriate. Officials should conduct a random assessment system. Food sellers/sales assistants should undergo training and health checks annually, and (3) restaurant entrepreneurs find the assessment process by the government is appropriate. They express both agreement and disagreement in similar proportions regarding the shift to an online assessment system. They also suggest renewing training for food handlers and entrepreneurs via an online knowledge test, creating a single certification sign with a QR code for complaint notifications, and developing an application. Developing the food sanitation system to support digital society and the new normal involves three components: Standard, Process, and Logo. These components will serve as mechanisms for conducting food sanitation that align with the digital-era societal context. This includes streamlining standard criteria to reduce redundancy, improving the certification assessment process using a digital platform accessible to everyone, reducing work time, increasing convenience, providing immediate responsiveness, allowing self-assessment, and modernizing the branding of certification signs to create memorability, enhance confidence, and improve consumer communication and understanding. Proposed policy actions include (1) re-standardization: reviewing detailed criteria, making adjustments, and experimenting with criteria that can provide immediate evaluation results once assessed, (2) re-process: establishing guidelines for career development, defining performance indicators, assessing the efficiency of food sanitation operations at each organizational level, and integrating digital technology to transform and enhance the workflow, and (3) re-logo: creating branding to enhance the credibility of the standard certification sign.