This paper illustrates how supply chain (SC) analytics could provide strategic and operational insights to evaluate the risk-based allocation of regulatory resources in food SCs, for management of food safety and adulteration risks. This paper leverages data on 89,970 tests of aquatic products extracted from a self-constructed data set of 2.6 million food safety tests conducted by the China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) organizations. The integrated and structured data set is used to conduct innovative analysis that identifies the sources of adulteration risks in China’s food SCs and contrasts them with the current test resource allocations of the CFDA. The analysis highlights multiple strategic insights. Particularly, it suggests potential gaps in the current CFDA testing allocation by SC location, which is heavily focused on retail and supermarkets. Instead, the analysis indicates that high-risk parts of the SC, such as wholesale and wet markets, are undersampled. Additionally, the paper highlights the impact that SC analytics could have on policy-level operational decision making to regulate food SCs and manage food safety. The hope is that the paper will stimulate the interest of academics with expertise in these areas to conduct more work in this important application domain. This paper was accepted by Charles Corbett, operations management.

Eupatorium adenophorum has caused tremendous ecological and economic losses in China since the 1940s. Although a great deal of money has been expended on the prevention and control of the weed, the situation is still deteriorating. To identify its crucial environmental constraints, an ecological niche factor analysis was employed. The distribution of the weed was predicted by the maximum entropy model. The results indicate that the temperature in winter is more influential than that in other quarters of a year, and the maximum temperature in March restricts the spread of E. adenophorum most. Currently, the weed is mainly distributed in four provinces of southwest China. From the present to the 2080s, the center of L3, which has a potential distribution probability of 0.7 to 1.0, will move 53 km to the southwest. Accordingly, the area of L3 will expand by 16.04%. To prevent its further expansion, we suggest differentiating the prevention and control measures according to the potential distribution levels predicted. Meanwhile, the integration of various means of removal and comprehensive utilization of E. adenophorum is highly encouraged. Additionally, precautions should be taken in regions that have not yet, or have been only slightly, invaded by the E. adenophorum.

Purpose: Deglobalisation is challenging traditional trade patterns, with multinational companies increasingly facing boycotts driven by consumer animosity towards countries of origin (CO). Given the prominence of consumer animosity during a period of deglobalisation, this paper investigates the effect of consumer animosity towards CO on consumer attitudes (both cognitive and affective) and purchase intentions regarding imported products, as well as the moderating role of perceived domestic alternatives (PDA). Design/methodology/approach: In the context of ongoing tensions between China and Australia, we examine the effect of Chinese consumer animosity towards Australia on consumer attitudes to and purchase intentions of Australian dairy products. Structural equation modelling is used to analyse the survey data from 497 consumers in Beijing and Shanghai. Findings: We empirically show that consumer animosity towards Australia has a negative effect on consumer attitudes to and purchase intentions of Australian milk products. However, the lack of perceived domestic milk alternatives weakens the negative relationship between consumer animosity and cognitive attitude. Originality/value: The study contributes to the literature by unravelling how consumer animosity affects consumers’ attitude to a product, particularly their cognitive attitude. It also introduces PDA into the consumer animosity research for the first time. The findings offer practical implications for Australian dairy companies to formulate effective strategies in response to dynamic international relations and consumer sentiments.

The “hidden middle” of food supply chains, referring to the small- and medium-scale intermediaries linking producers to markets, often obscures food safety risks and exacerbates losses. Integrating aquatic product testing data from 247 Chinese prefectures (2015–2022), we assessed the cross-regional impact of antibiotic residues (ARs) through the hidden middle of China’s aquatic supply chains. We found that AR above legal limits caused 44,200 tons of food loss and health risks exceeding safe thresholds in six provinces. We then developed an optimization model to allocate sampling resources, resulting in 14,702 tons of food loss reduction and 77% decrease in health risks. Relative to current monitoring schemes, the optimized strategy delivered an additional 6,951-ton reduction in food loss and a 17% larger risk reduction per province per year. Our results demonstrate that focusing governance on AR spread through the hidden middle can improve food safety and reduce risks to food security and public health.