Food Protection Trends - April 2010 - 214

TABLE 1. Expert participants and affiliations Expert Jim Balestra Betsy Blair Craig Cahill Clifford M. Coles John Conley Roy Costa Patrick Floyd Peter Friedmann Fletcher Hall Dan Jenkins Chris Kozak Russell Laird Peg Sarinyamas Gary Sherlaw Richard F. Stier Gerald Wojtala Affiliation Safefreight Technology; Latium Fleet Management AIB International, Inc. Allen Lund Company, Perishable Logistics Division Consulting Microbiology of California, Inc. National Tank Truck Carriers, Inc. Environ Health Associates Nordic Cold Storage Agriculture Transportation Coalition F.R. Hall & Associates, LLC Grapple Hook Marketing Willis Shaw Express Agriculture and Food Transporters Conference (AFTC) Feeding America Food Safety Consulting International (FSCI) Consulting Food Scientists Association of Food and Drug Officials; Michigan Department of Agriculture

of high importance for public health. Further, information on preventive controls may help identify the most effective food transportation and storage practices.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
The study objectives required gathering current data not known or available. Moreover, they did not easily lend themselves to more precise analytical techniques, such as a statistical industry survey, given that it would entail asking food transporters to release potentially sensitive information. Thus, we used expert opinion elicitation to generate the necessary information from a panel of nationally recognized experts in food transportation safety. Expert opinion elicitation is a formal, heuristic process of obtaining subjective information or answers to specific questions about certain quantities and probabilities of future events (2). The Delphi method is the first structured method for eliciting and combining expert opinion. The method requires indirect interaction among ex-

perts through a moderator (5, 10, 11). Although variations of the method exist, in a typical Delphi study, experts make individual judgments. Next, these judgments are shared anonymously with the whole group. After viewing other experts’ judgments, each expert is then given the opportunity to revise his own judgments, and the process is repeated. Theoretically, the goal of the Delphi is to reach a consensus after a few rounds; in reality, this rarely happens. Thus, at the end of the Delphi rounds, the experts’ final judgments are typically combined mathematically.

Study design
We recruited a 16-member panel comprising experts with experience in all areas of food transportation and food safety. Participants were selected based on their ability to contribute industry views as well as their willingness to participate in the process. On average, panel members possessed over 24 years of related food industry experience. The expert

panel included participants from trade associations, logistic research institutes, academia, third-party logistics firms, companies that provide logistics support, and independent consultants with experience in consulting to food companies of varying sizes on logistics and transportation safety issues (Table 1). In identifying the experts, we relied on recommendations from FDA, various food industry personnel, and other experts in food transportation and food safety. The study utilized a four-round design, with iterations following each round. In Round 1, we solicited background information from the experts on: (1) the types of food safety hazards that may increase the risk of food contamination during transportation and warehousing/storage; (2) the food product categories and modes of transportation for which the risk and severity of hazards could potentially vary; (3) intermodal transportation considerations; and (4) possible differences between food safety hazards for imported and domestic food products. Specifically, we presented our findings based on a literature review and

214 FOOD PROTECTION TRENDS | APRIL 2010

Food Protection Trends - April 2010

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