Identifying critical factors influencing the use of additives by food enterprises in China

The vast majority of food safety incidents in China in recent years have been caused by illegal activities in the course of production. This paper analyzed and summarized the main factors that affect the use of food additives by enterprises in China by investigating 88 food manufacturers and processors in Zhengzhou City, Henan Province. Based on the literature on safe food production by enterprises, we included enterprises, consumers, and government in our analytical system to quantitatively analyze the relationship among factors that affect the use of food additives by enterprises and identify which ones are critical. Our results show that the expected economic benefits of enterprise, awareness of social responsibility of the manager, sales volume of the enterprise, government supervision, and consumer demand and preference are the five most critical factors. Also discussed are the policy implications for the Chinese government regarding increased vigilance in the management of food additives.