HACCP for Retailers

Market forces and export requirements have been central to the implementation of HACCP in many food businesses.

The implementation of food safety management systems incorporating HACCP can be prerequisite to market access.

Retailer should also be able or adopt HACCP to ensure that they all safe food which the primary producers and processors have endeavored to ensure reaches them in good condition.

Correct temperature control and prevention of cross –examination will be essential control measures in both large and small premises.

In England the major retailers used the HACCP framework as a management troubleshooting tool, because its methodical and logical approach lent itself the ‘reactive’ investigation and solution of those food safety incidents at arose on occasions.

However, the disruptive costs of product withdrawals and recall, plus the costs of adverse publicity, soon pushed the supermarkets into developing the use of HACCP systems in a more proactive and preventive way.

The retailers also recognized the importance of establishing a common approach to auditing HACCP systems, moving from independent auditing to the use of accredited third party auditors and establishing minimum audit standards.

The HACCP application may be difficult for smaller shops, butchers for example, where both raw and cooled meat products have historically been sold by the same staff and from the same counter.

In such examples changes reporting standards will almost certainly be required, but these can be indentified in a systematic way through use of the HACCP Principles.

For some of the smaller and independent retailers, the application is likely to be less technical, given the lower level of technical expertise available.

If truly understood and linked to good hygiene practices, HACCP should help to improve food safety control and hence significantly reduce risk.
HACCP for Retailers