The STARTEC Decision Support Tool for Better Tradeoffs between Food Safety, Quality, Nutrition, and Costs in Production of Advanced Ready-to-Eat Foods

TLDR

Companies sought a more integrated approach to food safety decisions that aligns with existing HACCP systems. The STARTEC project developed a prototype decision‑support IT tool that maps production processes, incorporates shelf‑life, safety, quality, and cost data, and simulates key parameters such as pH, water activity, ingredient costs, and labor using real‑world ready‑to‑eat food scenarios.

Abstract

A prototype decision support IT-tool for the food industry was developed in the STARTEC project. Typical processes and decision steps were mapped using real life production scenarios of participating food companies manufacturing complex ready-to-eat foods. Companies looked for a more integrated approach when making food safety decisions that would align with existing HACCP systems. The tool was designed with shelf life assessments and data on safety, quality, and costs, using a pasta salad meal as a case product. The process flow chart was used as starting point, with simulation options at each process step. Key parameters like pH, water activity, costs of ingredients and salaries, and default models for calculations of