Analyzing risks in safety and security of food using grey relational analysis

Due to food contamination consumers do not trust in the food products. Food safety and security is a major problem in most of the countries especially, India. Standards and regulations in India regarding food safety and security is not good as developed countries. To attain safety and security in food, many hurdles are there, risks being one of them. Risks are defined as the probability of having hazard in it and how much loss it can cause. Risks were identified by literature survey and expert’s opinion and seven risks were selected for the study such as communication risk, storage risk, government policy failure, transportation risk, financial risk, operational risk and health risk. The objective of this study is to analyze the risks in food safety and security to minimize the loss of food. Grey relational analysis is an effective evaluation method which is accepted world wide as multi criterion decision making issues (MCDM) especially used when there is an ambiguity in the decisions. It is based on geometrical mathematics which consist laws of entirety, normality, proximity and symmetry. The projected approach can incorporate the knowledge and experience of the experts for collecting their responses which was based on the scale given by experts. After evaluating all the risks in food safety and security, process risk attains the first rank having grey relational grade of 0.800 while economic risk holds the last position with grey relational grade of 0.300. This study helps the higher authorities to take proper decision to minimize the loss of food.