Towards the implementation of HACCP: results of a UK regional survey

A survey of the food industry in the Yorkshire and Humberside region regard ing the implementation of the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP ) system is presented. The objectives were: to establish the level of imple mentation of HACCP systems, to obtain information of industry's hazard awar eness and to establish the barriers to HACCP implementation. 127 (72.6%) ou t of food companies had HACCP implemented, 26 (15%) were still in the proce ss of implementation and 22 (12.6%) did not use HACCP. The results suggeste d that hazard identification is far from complete which in turn may lead to misjudgement of risks and preventative measures to control significant haz ards. Identified parameters which may affect HACCP implementation included the lack of knowledge and expertise and adequate resources which are typifi ed by the size of the company, customer requirements and the type of produc t. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.