Comprehensive evaluation of the demonstration and guiding effects of food safety risk by social co-governance in Zhejiang Province

Abstract

ObjectiveThis study aimed to provide references for the demonstration and guiding effects of food safety demonstration city creation， quantitative assessment， and empirical research on the social co-governance level of food safety risks in Zhejiang Province by analyzing the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process.MethodsA comprehensive evaluation index system and its weight coefficient was established through literature research， the Delphi method， and an analytic hierarchy process combined with the national and local food safety demonstration city standards. Subsequently， experts were invited to assess and score application materials based on the fuzzy synthesis method； then， the results of social co-governance could be quantized.ResultsThe food safety social co-governance evaluation index system developed contained four primary indices， 12 secondary indices， and 34 tertiary indices. According to the weight sort， local governments and enterprises were still the two principal parts of regional food security. Public and other social groups were explored in the collaborative governance as the third party forces. In addition， local governments， enterprises， new media， guilds， and the public should strengthen the party and the government should have a co-responsibility and guarantee resources， obtain certificates， and perform self-inspections following the law， and monitor and report public opinion information， assist high-quality local industry development， and participate in supervision through multiple channels. Although the overall level of food safety social co-governance was at the “very good” level， the internal indicators still differed within the three co-created cities. The main weak link was social coordination， which was at a “good” level.ConclusionThe index system can fit the need for the evaluation of food safety social co-governance. Hence， it has practical application value in the establishment and guiding effects of food safety demonstration cities.

Keywords

• food safety
• social co-governance
• analytic hierarchy process
• fuzzy comprehensive evaluation