FS001

Find the latest information on how HACCP will effect small and medium size businesses (SME's).

This is a summary of an eighteen month government-funded project in North West England conducted by Eunice Taylor and Kevin Kane (Salford University).

The project consisted of an in-depth investigation into methods of reducing the obstacles to the introduction of HACCP into small and medium sized food businesses [SMEs].

The project was divided into two stages:

Stage one

An in-depth examination was conducted of HACCP activities in six businesses that had a fully documented HACCP system.

The outcome of this investigation suggested that a model was required which could guide SMEs through the entire HACCP process.

Essential elements of the model were identified as:

1. Building on existing good practice;
2. Being user friendly;
3. generating Good Hygiene Practice [GHP];
4. focusing on the true number of CCPs in the business;
5. reducing record keeping; and
6. ease of verification.

The following issues were identified in the existing SME HACCP plans studied:

1. Too much documentation was produced, some of it irrelevant to actual processes within the business

2. The CCP decision process was often unfocused, inaccurate, and resulted in too many CCPs being identified. Critical limits were too general. Monitoring and corrective actions were inadequate

3. A lack of a clear vision of processes was illustrated by a limited use of flow line diagrams

4. The term validation was not understood, and businesses thought that it was the responsibility of EHOs to validate HACCP plans

5. A lack of knowledge of both food safety and HACCP methodology hampered development of HACCP plans especially for the smallest businesses

6. The best HACCP Plans were produced in businesses where there was a combination of strong leadership and acceptance, by all employees, of a common set of values.

7. Implementation of HACCP was also delayed by lack of management skills in managing the project. No companies in the sample used project management techniques.

The outcome of Stage One was the development of a 'tool-kit' approach, based on the six essential elements of the model to achieve the maximum food safety with the minimum of effort.

Stage two

The tool-kit was then initially piloted in four small businesses, followed by further testing and refinement in 30 SMEs, through an action-based research. Action research is an approach developed from the contention that complex social systems cannot be reduced for meaningful study. They are best studied by introducing changes into the process and observing the effects of these changes.

Each selected SME either did not have a HACCP system in place, or was planning to completely overhaul it's present system.

Some SMEs completed a HACCP plan within three months and others were at various stages of achieving a HACCP plan at the end of the allotted six month s.

The following issues were identified as a result of the practical implementation of the tool-kit approach:

1. Documentation: As SMEs developed understanding of HACCP, appropriate and relevant documentation was developed. The minimum records necessary were based on CCPs that only related to specific and significant hazards.

2. Pre-requisite GHP: The tool-kit separated GHP from HACCP, forcing SMEs to focus on actual significant hazards, on a few real CCPs and controls.

3. Computer software: SMEs readily adopted flow line charting software to produce a more professional presentation required for complex diagrams

4. Hazard analysis: Conducting a hazard analysis was the hardest obstacle for SMEs to overcome. It required intensive one-to-one consultations for participants to be able to competently assess microbiological risks. Available generic models were of limited help.

5. Validation and verification: Although guidance was provided, SMEs could still not accept that it was their responsibility.

6. Management tools: SMEs responded positively to management techniques for implementing HACCP, as these could be applied to other areas of the business.

7. Constraints: Even after signing a written affidavit of commitment to HACCP implementation, nearly a third of all businesses dropped out after the induction day. The tool-kit model was best suited to small businesses where they did not have to consider a multiple use of HACCP for quality control and customer requirements.

Conclusions and recommendations:

Recommendation one

- The establishment of regional HACCP resource centres where SMEs could access advice, data, software etc

- Establishment of beacon SMEs that could be taken as models of good practice

- Development of operational guides addressing the diversity of operations within each food business sector

- Development of management tool-kits with step-by-step instructions for HACCP implementation, project management techniques, and team building/employee consultations, and vital management of change strategies

- Establishment of a certification system to ensure that HACCP service providers have appropriate levels of knowledge, training and experience of HACCP

- Appropriate rewards and sanctions should be established to encourage SMEs to implement HACCP.

Recommendation two

There is a need to build consensus about how HACCP should be implemented in the SME sector. The role of Government will be crucial in this respect. Key questions will have to be addressed, for example: Who is to validate and verify SMEs' HACCP plans?

Recommendation three

More research will be necessary about how to encourage SMEs to undertake HACCP.

Update:

Many of the above recommendations were adopted by The Food Standards Agency in its Implementation Paper 2001, and Update (02.02.04). This research formed the basis for progressing "safer foods better business".

Editorial note:

Implementation of a HACCP food safety management system is considered to be a major public health measure to reduce the incidence of food borne illness. Most UK food businesses are small to medium enterprises of less than 50 employees. However, HACCP take up by small food businesses has so far been limited.

In 2004 the European Parliament passed Regulation 852/2004 on the Hygiene of foodstuffs. Article 5 requires food business operators to put in place, implement and maintain a permanent procedure or procedures based on HACCP principles [5(1)].

The new EC Regulations will be implemented in the UK during 2006 [See future research papers on EC Legislation].