Informação normativa legal para o setor industrial de alimentos: fatores intervenientes na sua geração

Abstract

Insistent news in dialy newspapers on contaminated food products gave origin to the present study on the use of standards and regulations in that industrial sector. The inexistence of preceeding similar studies led to a partial development of research, since information was originated only from newspapers and interviews with representatives from standardization and food inspection organizations, food industry, consumer associations and laboratory or food analysis. It is an exploratory qualitative study. It was found that standards do not regulate the sector and relevant legislation is outdate. Besides that, there are conflicts of competence among Government departments. Due to the impossibility of proving the use of standards, since they do not exist, it was decided to further the investigation to understand factors that interfered in the production of standards. These factors are of institutional/organizational, cultural, political and economical nature. For information scientists the study revealed in countries lately industrialized it is not sufficient to investigate information use. In industrial sector, where information needs are very specific and determined by the above factors, it is fundamental to study and understand the stage of knowledge/information generation to widen the subject field in its social rather than instrumental aspects.