Effective management of food safety networks

Emergency networks consist of a range of organisational actors who assemble to respond to all types of risks to public health. As such they are a crucial element of governance and public safety, which is why their successful operation is so important. There has been much scholarly interest in the management of permanent and stable networks. Can this literature provide insights into emergency networks, which, by nature, are likely to be sporadic and unanticipated? This thesis this question using a case study of the 2017 fipronil incident in the Netherlands where the illegal substance fipronil was found in eggs from over 200 Dutch farms. The clear-up process for this contamination was long and costly, financially and to reputations of the egg sector and Dutch government alike. The research reported here used a conceptual model as well as a theoretical framework that connected two disparate bodies of literature: crisis networks and governance networks. The research reconstructed the network that assembled around the fipronil incident. It also examined the perceptions and strategies of actors within the network through an analysis of factors that influenced the network’s operations: media attention and the complexity this adds to governance processes, as well as the interventions taken by the Netherlands food and consumer product safety authority (NVWA) to manage the network’s operations as a whole. The actions of the NVWA in managing the emergency network were examined. The following conclusions can be drawn from the research: firstly, hindering the flow of information in a network is likely to lead to disruptions, increased complexity and possibly even conflict between actors in the network. Secondly, a horizontal organisational structure is valuable in an emergency network not only to enable flows of information but also to facilitate interactions between actors finally, emergency networks benefit from a fluid structure, and these features will not necessarily appear on their own: a network manager might be needed to achieve them. As this research examined two bodies of literature that have previously remained disparate, it demonstrates the importance of broader network thinking, and also suggests opportunity for further research.