Cost–benefit analysis of HACCP implementation in the Mexican meat industry

This paper reports the levels of HACCP implementation, costs of implementation and operation, and benefits of implementation for the Mexican meat industry. One hundred and sixty Federal Inspection Type (TIF) enterprises were surveyed, with a 58% response rate. Only 18% of the TIF enterprises interviewed had totally adopted HACCP, while 20% did not have an interest in adoption. The norm of ISO 9000 appeared to be an intermediate step in HACCP implementation. The results show that investment in new equipment and microbiological tests of products accounted for most of the implementation and operational costs, respectively. The main benefit reported was reduction in microbial counts, while staff training was reported as a significant problem. The study shows that although the level of total HACCP implementation is not high, HACCP has implications for both the domestic and international markets.     

The HACCP system implementation in small businesses of Madrid’s community

The main goal of this paper is addressed to evaluate the HACCP system implementation in small food industries of Madrid’s autonomous community. Important practical barriers about HACCP development have been identified. There were investigated the manufacturing food industries of animal origin during 5 years, between 1999 and 2003. The research analyzed areas concerning business demand, legal requirements and quality management systems, food industry size, human resources, technical support and assessors, prerequisites, time scale and HACCP implementation official assessment. Conclusions have met the beginning of HACCP system implementation by food industries following the application of a strategic plan and public health program, as well as several difficulties in small food industries with regard to HACCP system applying, and the fundamental influence of prerequisites implementation and management commitment on effective HACCP system. To overcome such barriers, it is proposed a strategy, which includes all different stakeholders.     

Implementation of HACCP system in China: A survey of food enterprises involved

The paper reports the results of the study on HACCP implementation in China based on analyzing the findings of a survey on 27 food enterprises involved. The results indicate that large- and medium-sized food enterprises dominate over the implementation of HACCP system in China. The product types produced by food enterprises in China that implement HACCP system are those with a hold in international market. China’s food enterprises take the implementation of HACCP system as a strategy to gain market competition advantage. The top incentives for China’s food enterprises implementing HACCP system are that HACCP system can provide them more chances to access to new markets, improve product quality and increase market share, showing that the major incentives of HACCP implementation in China are market-oriented.     

Difficulties and barriers for the implementing of HACCP and food safety systems in food businesses in Turkey

The purpose of this study was to determine barriers for HACCP and food safety programs in food businesses in Turkey. A lack of understanding of HACCP was identified as one of the main barriers to its implementation 63.5% reported that they did not really know what HACCP was while 23.5% reported that it was too complicated. Only 33.0% of managers said they had a food safety management system. About 31% of the employees in food businesses had received basic food hygiene training. The majority of managers (91.3%) identified improved customer confidence as a benefit of implementing a food safety management system. Lack of prerequisite programs (92.2%) was the key barrier identified for all food businesses. While lack of knowledge about HACCP (83.5%), lack of time (88.7%), staff turnover (80.9%), lack of employee motivation (83.5%), complicated terminology (87.0%) and lack of personnel training (91.3) was the other most common barriers in food businesses. As a conclusion, lack of knowledge about HACCP and other food safety programs were identified as the main barriers for food safety in food businesses. Lack of prerequisite programs and inadequate physical condition of the facility were also identified as other barriers. Training programs, both basic food safety and HACCP to support implementation of prerequisite programs and HACCP in food businesses were suggested.     

Implementation of HACCP and prerequisite programs in food businesses in Turkey

The objectives of this study was to determine food safety practices and procedures related to the hazard analysis critical control point (HACCP) programme and prerequisite programme implementation in food businesses. One hundred and nine food businesses in Turkey were assessed for HACCP-prerequisite programmes and food safety practices. Only eight food businesses had implemented the HACCP system in food businesses. Directors and employees often have insufficient knowledge regarding the basics of food hygiene. Results indicated that proper food safety practices and prerequisite food safety programmes for HACCP were often not being followed in many food businesses. Time and temperature errors and inadequate handwashing practices were wide in the most food businesses. Emphasis on implementing prerequisite programmes in preparation for HACCP is needed in food businesses. The problems of implementing HACCP in food businesses have been namely a low level of food hygiene management training, high staff turnover rate, lack of motivation, lack of financial resources, inadequate equipment and physical conditions of the facility and failure of government.     

HACCP in small companies: benefit or burden?

This paper acknowledges the importance of small companies across the food chain and identifies the slow uptake of HACCP in these companies as an area of concern for the production of safe food. This sets the scene for an analysis of the barriers to HACCP implementation which include availability of appropriate training in HACCP methodology, access to technical expertise and the general resource problems of time and money. The burden that this places on the small business, particularly in terms of documentation, validation and verification, are then discussed. The paper concludes with a summary of the burdens and benefits that this sector faces as it moves towards compliance with food safety legislation.     

HACCP development and regulatory assessment in the United States of America

Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) is internationally recognized as the best method of assuring product safety by controlling foodborne safety hazards. Currently, within the USA, the FDA has mandated HACCP for fish and fishery products and is proposing mandating HACCP for fruit and vegetable juices. The USDA has mandated Pathogen Reduction/HACCP requirements for meat and poultry processing, and the NMFS Seafood Inspection Program operates a voluntary HACCP program for seafood plants. The requirements for mandatory implementation and proposed regulations represent a significant change in the manner in which foods are regulated for food safety and necessitate a new understanding of the different roles and responsibilities between the food industries and the regulatory agencies within the USA. Each agency will approach the evaluation process differently given their unique legislative authorities and programmatic operations. Nevertheless, each agency agrees that HACCP is the best food control system of choice and is committed to improve food safety requirements.     

Implementation of HACCP in food businesses: the way ahead

Food-borne diseases constitute an important public health problem in both developed and developing countries. Although their health and economic aspects are often obscured by insufficiency of data, available evidence on incidence and associated costs of medical care indicates that they are a major cause of morbidity, and a drain on resources. A joint WHO/FAO expert committee on food safety asserts that illness due to contaminated food is probably the most widespread health problem in the contemporary world, and an important cause of reduced economic productivity. Given the inadequacies of traditional approaches to food safety control, viz. inspection and end-product testing, there is a need to apply such other strategy of proven effectiveness as the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP) system which has been described as the most viable means for the prevention of food-borne diseases yet devised. While there is an extensive literature suggesting the effectiveness of HACCP in preventing food-borne diseases, food operators have yet to embrace it with the anticipated enthusiasm. This paper examines factors that are likely to hinder wider acceptance and practical implementation of HACCP in food operations and discusses measures to overcome them. It is concluded that HACCP training and education of food operators and food regulatory officials is a conditio sine qua non for the realization of the fullest benefits of the strategy.     

Seafood safety and quality: An analysis of the supply chain in the Sultanate of Oman

The globalization of trade in fish has created many challenges for the developing world specifically with regard to food safety and quality. International organisations have established a good basis for standards in international trade. Whilst these requirements are frequently embraced by the major importers (such as Japan, the EU and the USA), they often impose additional safety requirements and regularly identify batches which fail to meet their strict standards. Creating an effective national seafood control system which meets both the internal national needs as well the requirements for the export market can be challenging. Many countries adopt a dual system where seafood products for the major export markets are subject to tight control whilst the majority of the products (whether for the local market or for more regional trade) are less tightly controlled. With regional liberalization also occurring, deciding on appropriate controls is complex. In the Sultanate of Oman, fisheries production is one of the countries' chief sources of economic revenue after oil production and is a major source of the national food supply. In this paper the structure of the fish supply chain has been analysed and highlighted the different routes operating for the different markets. Although much of the fish are consumed within Oman, there is a major export trade to the local regional markets. Much smaller quantities meet the more stringent standards imposed by the major importing countries and exports to these are limited. The paper has considered the development of the Omani fish control system including the key legislative documents and the administrative structures that have been developed. Establishing modern controls which satisfy the demands of the major importers is possible but places additional costs on businesses. Enhanced controls such as HACCP and other management standards are required but can be difficult to justify when alternative markets do not specify these. These enhanced controls do however provide additional consumer protection and can bring benefits to local consumers. The Omani government is attempting to upgrade the system of controls and has made tremendous progress toward the implementation of HACCP and introducing enhanced management systems into its industrial sector. The existence of strengthened legislative and government support, including subsidies, has encouraged some businesses to implement HACCP. The current control systems have been reviewed and an SWOT analysis approach used to identify key factors for their future development. The study shows that seafood products in the supply chain are often exposed to lengthy handling and distribution process before reaching the consumers, a typical issue faced by many developing countries. As seafood products are often perishable, they safety is compromised if not adequately controlled. The enforcement of current food safety laws in the Sultanate of Oman is shared across various government agencies. Consequently, there is a need to harmonize all regulatory requirements, enhancing the domestic food protection and to continue to work towards a fully risk-based approach in order to compete successfully in the global market.     

Implementation of non-regulatory food safety management schemes in New Zealand: A survey of the food and beverage industry

Using a questionnaire survey, this paper examines the motivations, challenges, and impacts, and the role of third-party certification bodies' (CBs) in the implementation of non-regulatory food safety management schemes (FSMS) in the New Zealand food and beverage industry. The survey involved 115 manufacturing enterprises out of which 95.7% indicated that they had one or more FSMS in place, and 43.5% stated that they implemented one or more non-regulatory FSMS. Three main categories of non-regulatory FSMS have been implemented in New Zealand: public international standard schemes, public industry sector schemes and private individual firm schemes. The most important motivation for implementing non-regulatory FSMS is meeting the requirements of major customers. As a consequence of the implementation of non-regulatory FSMS, desirable changes have been experienced by the respondents, such as the improvement of product traceability, increasing food safety awareness of employees, satisfaction with the ability to maintain customers, decreasing the cost of wastage and reduced customer complaints. The results also indicated that the major challenges encountered during the implementation of non-regulatory FSMS were increased paper work, record keeping and documentation, and the cost of development and implementation. The costs of system design and development, and external audit fees are the major implementation costs of non-regulatory FSMS, while external surveillance audit fees and product testing are the significant operating costs of non-regulatory FSMS. The third-party CBs' service was rated by 66.0% of respondents as an important tool for them to continuously improve their food safety management.     

Food supplier qualification by an Italian Large-scale-Distributor: Auditing system and non-conformances

Nowadays government and purchasers are constantly setting increasing stringent requirements for food quality and safety, this means that production and distribution companies in the food and beverage sector must have full control over all incoming and outgoing goods. In particular food suppliers for Large-scale-Distributors have to meet many specific requirements and to undergo audits in order to assure the hygienic and sanitary quality of their products. This study offers an example of a checklist used by an Italian Large-scale-Distributor for investigating the status of its food suppliers in order to detect non-conformances; it also provides information on HACCP system management in Italian food industries. Results collected during 85 audits are shown. Large food plants show a better application of HACCP principles than small sized enterprises.     

Implementation of food safety management systems in the UK

This paper reports the first stage of work being undertaken to understand the factors that have impacted on the current state of food safety in the UK food manufacturing sector. The paper first explores developments in international food safety regulation in general and in particular, the UK. Using a survey and case study methodology, the paper examines the response of food manufacturing enterprises to food safety regulation, and uses statistical techniques to investigate the effects of enterprise size on the drivers for, benefits of, and challenges to compliance. Further, the factors that influence the successful implementation of an integrated food safety management system are also examined. The results show a great deal of both statutory and private regulation that has incentivised enterprises. In response, enterprises have implemented integrated food safety management systems to proactively deal with the risks associated with food safety, however, enterprises claim that statutory regulations are biased towards consumers, without adequate impact assessments on all stakeholders within the chain, and hence causing industry to incur significant costs that could otherwise be avoided. Even though compliance with food safety regulation is burdensome, the cost of non-compliance will also be significant to enterprises. The findings also show that there is no significant effect of size of enterprise on the drivers, benefits and challenges to compliance with food safety regulation.     

Food safety and quality management regulatory systems in Afghanistan: Policy gaps,governance and barriers to success

Afghanistan has significant competitive advantages in agribusiness. Much has been said about Afghanistan's unrealized potential in this sector over the years and many specialists have highlighted challenges in infrastructure, access to finance, and inadequate legislation as barriers to growth in the sector. Many have also pointed to its potential productivity increase as a way to help alleviate food security issues. With adequate access to finance and infrastructure, Afghanistan should in theory be a top exporting country in all agricultural sectors. The potential also exists for Afghanistan to be a top exporter of high-margin products like fruits, meat, dairy and vegetable processing. In order to realize this potential, however, stronger food safety control needs to be in place to export to markets. In Afghanistan, food safety practices are still based on experiences from the late 1970s. Companies face constant pressure from the crisis, market competition from importing companies, pricing pressure from retailers, and seemingly endless inspections from government bodies. In fact, there are three main state agencies (Ministry of Public Health, Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock, and Municipalities) that regularly inspect food companies, often performing the same functions and loading these already cash-strapped enterprises with unneeded administrative burden. There are still important issues to be addressed within the food safety system of Afghanistan, such as: complete harmonization of legislation with the regional (legislation and standards mainly), improvement of coordination among authorities; ability to ensure impartiality of inspection work; thorough training of inspectors and implementation of skills, especially towards risk-based inspection control; reform of sampling schemes for food of non-animal origin and imported food commodities; strengthening surveillance of foodborne diseases, control of adulterated foods; and supporting the introduction of self-inspection systems based on HACCP principles and good hygienic practices.     

Survey on typology,PRPs and HACCP plan in dry fermented sausage sector of Northern Italy

One hundred and fifty four dry fermented sausage small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) were visited in Northern Italy, to collect information on building and facilities, production technology and marketing organization. Five businesses, out of 154, were then selected with the aim of analysing their prerequisite programmes (PRPs) and the level of hazard analysis and critical control point (HACCP) system implementation. The results of this survey acknowledge the importance of small enterprises in the dry fermented sausage production sector. This study shows that fully compliance with PRPs and HACCP is far from complete, especially in micro-sized businesses, in spite of derogations for small establishments provided by Italian and European rules. In order to help SMEs to comply with food safety objectives, collaboration with Local Health Unit officers always proves positive for the businesses because they can inform and support enterprises, particularly small food premises.     

Trapping the food safety performance of a small or medium-sized food company using a risk-based model. The HYGRAM system

The requirements of implementing Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) principles in food production are increasing. A practical risk quantification model, HYGRAM, was developed for small and medium-sized enterprises to meet this challenge. The model makes the user familiar with the HACCP principles by software-assisted guidance through the procedure, connecting special microbiological hazards, good hygiene practice, and other prerequisite programs to HACCP. HYGRAM is a tool to analyze and quantify risks of different processes, and to compare them. It is developed to relieve enterprises with limited resources in confirming the food safety of their production.     

Factors influencing HACCP implementation in Taiwanese public hospital kitchens

This study investigated the potential factors which may influence implementation of the HACCP system in hospital catering operations in Taiwan. A total of 132 catering managers and operators at 23 hospitals affiliated with the Department of Health (DOH) participated in the study. Three structured questionnaires were used to collect data concerning employee satisfaction, difficulties, and benefits related to HACCP implementation. The results show that differences in gender, age, and job position are factors that may influence HACCP implementation in Taiwanese hospitals. Most of the catering staff in the observed hospitals agreed that HACCP was very beneficial for hospital catering.     

Effective implementation of food safety initiatives: Managers’, food safety coordinators’ and production workers’ perspectives

The purpose of this research is to identify factors motivating HACCP implementation in small and medium food companies, factors essential to successful implementation, and challenges during implementation. Twenty-two semi-structured interviews were conducted with various personnel in eight establishments in Ontario. These generated 239 pages of transcribed data. Trends and patterns in the data were identified using NVivo7 software. The main motivating factors were the likelihood of future regulation, the value of HACCP for marketing, and avoiding food safety problems. Management commitment was the most commonly cited element of successful implementation. Food safety managers/coordinators faced the greatest variety of challenges during implementation.     

Pre-requisites: a help or a hindrance to HACCP?

Formal pre-requisite programmes are increasingly and successfully used to support the implementation of HACCP in food processing. However, in many areas there is a lack of understanding of the pre-requisites concept, and even a fear in some sectors that pre-requisites might dilute the strength of HACCP, making it a less effective food safety control mechanism. This paper explores the concept of pre-requisite programmes and discusses whether they are of benefit to the HACCP approach or whether food safety is best managed through the HACCP plan alone, concluding that they are an essential element in the task of developing simple, effective HACCP systems     

The role of government agencies in assessing HACCP – the Malaysian procedure

HACCP implementation by food companies in Malaysia is voluntary. To encourage companies to implement HACCP as a safety assurance system, the Ministry of Health is developing a HACCP Certification Scheme to allow companies to benefit from it. At the same time the Scheme verifies the company's proper implementation of HACCP. This paper outlines the procedure being used in Malaysia.