CommentaryTowards an extended food safety culture model: Studying the moderating role of burnout and jobstress, the mediating role of food safety knowledge and motivation in the relation between food safety climate and food safety behavior

•An extended food safety culture conceptual model is proposed.•The relation between food safety climate and food safety behavior is investigated.•A positive relation between food safety climate and employees'behavior was found.•Food safety motivation and knowledge are partial mediators in the relationship.•No moderation effect of burnout and jobstress could be proven.

BackgroundPrevious research demonstrated the influence of food safety climate on the food safety output of food companies on an organizational (company) level. At the individual level, the relation between food safety climate and employees' food safety behavior still has to be unraveled. Therefore, the conceptual food safety culture model of De Boeck, Jacxsens, Bollaerts, and Vlerick (2015) was expanded by introducing food safety behavior (composed of food safety compliance and participation, which represent obligated food safety related activities and the achievement of additional voluntary food safety related activities), knowledge, motivation, burnout and jobstress of the individual employees in the organization.Scope and approachIn the present study the relationship between food safety climate and food safety behavior was investigated. Food safety knowledge and motivation were proposed as mediators, explaining the relationship between climate and behavior. Additionally, jobstress and burnout were proposed as moderators, influencing the strength of this relationship. This conceptual model was tested through statistical analysis with data (n = 85) collected from two Belgian vegetable processing companies through self-assessment surveys.Key findings and conclusionsA positive relationship between food safety climate and employees' behavior was found. Mediation analysis showed that knowledge is a partial mediator between food safety climate and compliance, participation and behavior, which means that knowledge cannot fully explain this relationship. Motivation is a partial mediator between food safety climate and compliance and behavior only. The moderation effect between jobstress and burnout was not confirmed. These results demonstrate the direct (without mediation) and indirect effect (through motivation and knowledge) of food safety climate on employees' behavior and illustrate the key role of employees' behavior and well-being for governing food safety in a company. This study suggests that human factors might impact the implementation and follow-up of a food safety management system and recommends a more human behavioral approach for the food safety management in food companies.