An evaluation of sustainability in wineries based on their performance in compliance with food safety

Resumen

Agri-food industry is confronted with a significant challenge concerning the requirement for sustainable food production methodologies. Companies within the agrifood sector encounter both challenges and prospects, such as the integration of responsible agricultural practices, mitigation of environmental impact, and enhancement of working conditions. This research pertains to the employment of metrics as a means of assessing sustainable practices, specifically
in reference to food safety performance indicators. Wine production is employed as a dual case study to assess the efficacy of wineries in managing critical control points (CCPs). The first aspect focuses on CCP system, as a component of a food safety system based on pre-requisite programs (PPRs) and hazard analysis and critical control points (HACCP). The second aspect specifically addresses the performance in the risk of contamination by arsenic, cadmium, and lead CCP during wine production. The first study showed that wineries have poor control performance for 15 out of the 37 CCPs evaluated, and the worst control performance seems to be related to chemical controls of trace metals, fungicides, and pesticides in grapes or wine, biological controls of microorganisms on equipment, and controls in the operational stage. The second investigation analyzed the performance of wineries in controlling the CCP related to the risk of contamination by arsenic, cadmium, and lead during wine production. The results showed that wineries are failing in the areas of analysis and legislation. Using performance indicators of training, legislation, and physical-chemical analysis can serve as a qualitative measure of progress in implementing food safety systems in wineries.