A hybrid fuzzy evaluation method for safety assessment of food-waste feed based on entropy and the analytic hierarchy process methods

The product safety of food-waste feed is the key factor limiting the development of its industrial chain. In this paper, we construct a method based on data from the testing of food-waste feed with comprehensive evaluation of its product safety by integrating fuzzy mathematics effectively, i.e., the entropy method (EM), and the model of the analytic hierarchy (AHP) process. Furthermore, a hierarchical three-level evaluation-index system including biological-safety and chemical-safety considerations is first established via data analysis, data surveys and expert experiential investigation as well, with an actual case in China being fully applied. In addition, we apply the EM and AHP process to calculate the weights of the individual evaluation indices. Finally, through the dimensionless treatment of test data from samples, we determine the degree of membership of each test value relative to the different levels of safety using a trapezoidal membership function. By adopting the developed three-level model of fuzzy mathematics for comprehensive evaluation, we derive the safety grades of tested samples. The comprehensive evaluation method developed in this paper can effectively overcome the shortcomings of traditional single-factor evaluation and offer the qualitative and quantitative advantages of expert survey and basic data research as well. As a result, it is considerably applicable for the product-safety analysis and production control of animal feed generated from food waste. 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.