1. INTRODUCTION
Hazard Analysis and Critical
Control Point (HACCP) is an internationally recognized process control system
that involves identifying and prioritizing hazards and risks to the quality of
food or drinking water, and controlling processes to reliably maintain the
desired level of quality. However, the HACCP implementation in food industry
particularly in the institutional (schools, residence halls, cafeterias and
related) and military foodservice are not widely being implemented or practiced
systematically in Malaysia. There are six possible barriers to the HACCP
implementation such as lack of knowledge and understandings, awareness issues,
lack of good hygiene practices, inadequate infrastructure and facilities,
technical issues and financial issues will be discussed further.
2. THE
POSSIBLE BARRIERS TO HAZARD ANALYSIS CONTROL POINT (HACCP) IMPLEMENTATION
1.
2.
2.1.
Lack of Knowledge and Understandings
According to Mortimore and Wallace (2001), lack of
knowledge may arise due to improperly trained or untrained personnel or when
there are not enough people on the HACCP Team or where HACCP is done at the
corporate level with little or no input from the processing facility. Many
small business remain unaware of HACCP or lack sufficient in-house knowledge
and training about the risks associated with their procedures to put in place
or maintain effective HACCP-based controls (Arvanitoyannis, 2009). In Malaysia,
the HACCP system is not widely practiced by institutional and military
foodservice compared to conventional foodservice. A national survey of school
foodservice directors on perceived barriers to HACCP was conducted by Youn and
Sneed (2002). The results show that 22% strongly agreed and 43% agreed that
employee training was rated as the greatest barrier followed by employees
needed more training to improve food safety practices respectively.
Based on Yudi, Hooi and Yusliza’s (2013) findings,
78.6% of employees in food establishments responded that they need more
trainings to keep them aware and updated. This shows that the employees
recognize the importance of knowledge and understandings of the system but the
food operators tend to ignore these needs. The high turnover rates have caused them
to neglect these needs. Based on Compensation Force’s data survey, hospitality
(include foodservice) contributed the highest percentage of 25.9% turnover
rates in 2015. Logically, is there a benefit to train employees that might be
quitting the next day? Can the food establishments stop them from looking
better opportunities after they have been certified in the training? Whatever
the reasons are, the food industry have to be aware of cultural deficiencies
and be prepared to implement programs that will consider these needs (Stier,
Morad, & Weinstein, 2002).
2.2.
Awareness Issues
Referring to a
study conducted by Pang and Toh (2008), failure to implement certain standard
practice also depends on the level of awareness, willingness and acceptance from
the food operators. In their findings, 80% of food stall operators, street
vendors, did not read any rules related to food safety, such as the Food Act
1983 and Food Regulations 1985 and Code of Practice for Food Hygiene as
guidelines to provide food. They assumed that they did not need those
guidelines. Meanwhile, some of them stated that they were not provided with the
guidelines from the local authorities. However, only 50% of them had the
initiative to read the rules and agreed that the regulations are suitable for
their operations (Pang and Toh, 2008). From the study, we may agree that there
is lack of awareness among the food operators.
Furthermore,
there are also employees who neglect the importance of applying the HACCP
practices in their daily routines. Managers in institutional and military
foodservice will find it difficult to make their employees understand the
importance of hazard analysis and why particular operations had to be monitored
and controlled (Panisello & Quantick, 2001). Another study has demonstrated
that an increase in the knowledge of a food handler does not necessarily change
their food handling behaviours and is dependent upon their attitude (Clayton et
al.2002). Attitude, nervousness about taking food safety certification
examinations, and not feeling comfortable with change were noted as lack of
awareness. Although the management has carried their obligation to follow the
HACCP application, the commitment of the employees are also required to ensure
flawless implementation of the system.
2.3.
Lack of Good Hygiene Practices
Universal
support is indispensable for any food safety programme to move ahead. Such
programmes can be driven by increasing awareness of safety issues and consumer
demand for safe and nutritious products. The efforts led to awareness within
the food industry itself. One of the issues arised is related to hygiene and
health. Perhaps the greatest barrier to the
production of safe food in developing nations is lack of understanding of the
relationship between proper hygiene and good health (Stier,
Morad, & Weinstein, 2002). Pang and Toh (2008) stated that the level of
knowledge in food safety and food safety handling practices are better among
Malay hawkers compared to the Chinese. Malay hawkers show better knowledge in
hygiene related to equipment, utensils and premise rather than the Chinese. This
happened due to the religious impact in both knowledge and safe food handling practices
where Muslim’s hawkers are better than Buddhist’s hawkers (Toh &
Birchenough, 2000).
From the fact,
we understand that food operators in institutional and military foodservice are
lack in practicing good hygienic during their operations compared to other food
services. According to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
(FAO) and World Health Organization (WHO), it is common for small less-developed
food businesses (SLDBs) to face a variety of
problems: inadequate location, layout or size of facility, non-cleanable
structures, old non-cleanable equipment and poor staff training. Some countries
face basic sanitation problems, such as easy access to potable water and safe
disposal of waste; furthermore, it is often difficult for them to obtain raw
materials from reliable and affordable sources. FAO and WHO also stated that prerequisite
programmes therefore result ineffective, HACCP is difficult to implement, and
there is little effect on hazard control. On the other hand, strict adherence
to the dogma that HACCP cannot be implemented without full control over the
prerequisites has also impeded the uptake of HACCP in small less-developed
food businesses.
2.4.
Inadequate Infrastructure and Facilities
For institutional and military
foodservice, implementing HACCP system means that they have to bear with
additional costs in upgrading facilities before the system is even applied. According
to FAO and WHO, hygiene management can be hindered by the local infrastructure
(inadequate power, water, sewage disposal and transport facilities) and SLDBs usually lack the resources to provide on-site
solutions (e.g. sewage treatment). Other concerns including extra space,
sanitation, pest control, and upgrading equipment. This indicates that without
sufficient infrastructure and facilities, the implementation of HACCP systems
in institutional and military foodservice will not succeed. School canteen
operators for an example would not afford to have all the infrastructure and
facilities. This is where Malaysia government needs to play its role in assisting
the food industry to overcome this matter.
2.5.
Technical Issues
Small less-developed
food businesses often lack the technical
expertise required to implement HACCP and may need external support (FAO &
WHO). They need to be assisted in identifying the hazards related with their
food processes. The assistance must be readily accessible and simple to
understand. Frequently, some of institutional and military foodservice do not
have the ability to differentiate between good and bad experts. Even though
there are numbers of consultants available, there is no guarantee of the
standard of advice. The services they provided must be different from one
another. Another common problem in the technical issues is the utilization of data obtained from monitoring and HACCP
associated activities. HACCP application generates many important records which
will be useful in providing the trend analysis, which contributes significantly
to improving the HACCP system (FAO & WHO). However, to be able to carry out analysis and know how to
evaluate and utilize the results obtained afterwards, which is often lacking in
small-scale foodservice.
2.6.
Financial Issues
Financial constraints are a possible
hurdle in executing HACCP, felt by governments and industry alike, and can be
particularly severe in institutional and military foodservice. Therefore, the
reinforcement that the governments and trade associations provided is not sufficient
to affect change. Good hazard control benefits the governments from spending on
public health costs and reduced workplace absenteeism; however, these are rarely
appreciated or used to offset initial financial investment. While the costs related
with HACCP can be intimidating, they may also be viewed to be higher than they
actually are (e.g. cost of external consultants).
According to FAO and WHO, a
real cost is staff time: the time necessary for training and subsequent
implementation can hinder the day-to-day running of a SLDBS. It is necessary to
consider the potential long-term savings that a good HACCP system can accrue,
not least the protection against harm to the consumer and against potential
litigation that can follow food poisoning incidents. This is due to the lack of
data and studies relating to HACCP implementation and its impact on food
safety.
3. THE
POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS TO OVERCOME THE BARRIERS TO HAZARD ANALYSIS CONTROL POINT (HACCP)
IMPLEMENTATION
2
3
3.1
Educational Systems Development
Safe and healthy food production can prevent
foodborne illness. Thus, the governments in developing countries have done
major efforts to educate their citizens towards safe and healthy food
production. This includes Malaysia. HACCP system is one of the most effective
approach and relevant for Malaysia’s food industry. However, the implementation
of HACCP is not comprehensive to all food establishment. Foodservice areas such
as institutional and military foodservice are showing gap in its implementation
compared to commercial foodservice. So, how education systems become part of
potential barriers in implementing HACCP? Generally, knowledge is essential in
order to gather information. We need to have at least basic knowledge to
understand how the HACCP system works. Every principles in the HACCP system
require not only general information but other trusted sources. This can be
achieved through various educational systems:
Educational Partnerships
Nurturing
practices of safe foodhandling should begin as early as childhood education. In
Japan, a programme known as school lunch system is adopted by nearly all
elementary and junior high schools due to E. coli O157 outbreak in 1996
(Maruyama, Kurihara, & Matsuda, n.d.). The government has set out hygiene
management manuals based on HACCP school lunch facilities. From the facts, we
understand that it is essential to educate people as early as possible so that
the practices can become habits to them. Not only that, each level of education
should be focused on the implementation of HACCP as a means of preventing
foodborne illnesses. On the university level, educational partnerships can be
established if there are any curricular related to food industry. Those
practices can be done during class session or on the real field at the
university facility. Faculty also must make the
effort to teach their students to think and apply what they learn, rather than
just test their memories (Stier, Morad & Weinstein, 2002).
One way to make it happens is through educational
partnership. Cooperative structure between the university and the industry
player can be formed to ensure mutual benefit. The involvement of
non-government organization (NGO) or trade association might be useful in order
to get the programme started. For instance, Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia
(USIM) enhanced their strategic relationships in the industry through a
memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Mas Awana Services Sdn. Bhd., a
subsidiary of Malaysia Airlines. The company has received halal standards from
Jabatan Kemajuan Islam Malaysia (JAKIM) and HDC and comply with the standards
of international food safety and health of HACCP. According to Utusan Online
(2014), the collaboration further developed through the involvement of Institute
of Halal Research and Management (Ihram), which is a center of research
excellence established exclusively by the USIM.
Outreach
According
to Wikipedia, outreach is an activity of providing services to any populations
who might not otherwise have access to those services and is often meant to
fill in the gap in the services provided by a mainstream. Those who are
providing the services are mobile such as experts in specific fields meet
audience who in need of these services at the locations where these audience in
need are. Having an outreach programme is one of solutions to improve awareness
in HACCP by reaching the target audience. For instance, in 2014, Department of
Standards Malaysia with initiative of National Standards Compliance Programme
(NSCP) held a workshop on GMP, HACCP & FSMS and Business Clinic Session at
Kedah (Appendices). NSCP has play essential role to develop the outreach
programme to assist food industry in Malaysia especially Industri Kecil
Sederhana (IKS) in increasing their productivity, product quality and services,
and marketability of products and services in domestic and international levels
through adherence to standards and best practices based on the standards.
3.2
Provision of Guidance and Explanatory
Information
Most
government HACCP strategies are characterized by the provision of guidance and
information in the form of manuals, short booklets, leaflets, videos etc (FAO
& WHO). Those information provide comprehensive advice and clarify the
HACCP approach in details to food operators. Thus, the awareness among the
institutional and military foodservice can be increased. In Malaysia, those
information are provided by Food Safety & Quality Division, Ministry of
Health Malaysia (MOH). Nevertheless, the brochures of guides
and information are often available through the website in the pdf format
unless stated otherwise. This makes it difficult for the food operators to
access the guides and information due to different communication channel. The
Ministry of Health Malaysia should improve the services by providing the guides
and information in all medium; from soft copy to printed version, make
available through their official Facebook and not restricted to one
communication channel.
MOH
and other trade associations may also provide guidelines and information from
the aspect of practical content. Currently, the resources that available are
very limited and insufficient to raise the knowledge and understanding.
Furthermore, short documents or leaflets can be distributed to introduce the
concept of HACCP and the advantages that the system offers to food operators. Meanwhile,
explanation on terminology surrounding HACCP and food safety can be prepared in
the form of booklets as an attempt to address the technical barriers. Besides
giving practical help, MOH may prepare guidance documents to assist the institutional
and military foodservice to the right direction. As a result, it may increase
consumer awareness of the importance of food safety and good hygienic
practices, which can result in pressure towards food business operators to
improve overall levels of food safety.
3.3
Emphasizing Good Hygienic Practice
Lack of understanding of proper
hygiene and good health is one of the greatest barrier to the production of
safe food in Malaysia. For instance, not all people would understand why hand
washing is so important. Education must begin with a commitment from government
as the regulators can influence curricula and what is printed, broadcast or
televised by the media more easily. Educators must begin emphasizing good
hygiene as early as at the kindergarten level. Radio, television and newspapers
need to cover hygiene topics and make those lessons applicable. The best target
audience is women, especially mothers. Again, the key to education of the
public is making that experience applicable to the audience.
3.4
Improvement on Infrastructure and Facilities
by Government
According to FAO and WHO, implementation of HACCP
may require improvements in the infrastructure and facilities, both within the
community and in the business itself. In this regard, governments have a role
and, in some instances, even an obligation to ensure that the appropriate
infrastructure (electricity, roads, safe water supply, sewage facilities, etc.)
is in place and that environmental pollution is minimized. The major role of
the government is to ensure sufficient infrastructure and the compliance of
facilities with food hygiene requirements. FAO (1999) stated that businesses
should ensure that premises, work surfaces and equipment are designed,
constructed and maintained appropriately to facilitate cleaning and to minimize
any possibility of cross-contamination; appropriate facilities to encourage
personal hygiene are available to staff; adequate, calibrated monitoring
equipment is available and used correctly; and visual assessment, where
possible, rapid tests are used to provide real time results.
3.5
Provision of Technical Expertise
by Consultants and other Advisors
Institutional
and military foodservice are often encountered technical volume at their
disposal; consequently, they often require external technical assistance from
government, trade associations, commercial advisors, or education institutions. Although there are many consultants available for the food
operators to seek advice, the quality of professional advice can vary
considerably among consultants. Only a few of them are giving appropriate or
applicable information and guides. This is where the government needs to play
its role by ensuring that the provision of advice is regulated.
FAO and WHO have suggested a few
measures. Firstly, the government may join with education institutes to deliver
training and consultancy or they support trade association initiatives. Next,
there should be specific guideline that help institutional and military
foodservice select consultants. Also, the government may provide systems of
consultant registration and certification which is useful for maintaining the
quality of advice. Moreover, written advice can be provided to food operators
to assist them in selecting an appropriate food consultant. Finally, a group of
food operators can be created to access a single source of advice, share
experiences and to some extent learn from each other, this can also lead to reduce
costs for the operators in securing advice.
3.6
Provision of Financial Support
In
order to encourage implementation of HACCP, the government should provide
financial and human resources to the institutional and military foodservice.
Support and assistance should be straightforward rather than directing towards the
development of materials for the food operators or official control activities.
Provision of financial support is essential to make the implementation of HACCP
happens. Funds can be obtained from grant aid by established trade
associations, innovative voluntary initiative that may attract funding from the
public sector and industry in order to enable food businesses to obtain up to
50 percent of costs for the development of HACCP plans, training within food
businesses by government-managed scheme or providing financial support to
improve good hygienic practices and HACCP development. The procedures for accessing financial
support must be simple, in order to facilitate uptake by institutional and
military foodservice; there should be appropriate control measures in place to
ensure that the support provided is used effectively.
4. CONCLUSION
Eventhough
HACCP system offers best approach to prevent foodborne illness from happen, it
is not denial that not all foodservice operators manage to implement the system
in their daily operations due to the possible barriers that have been stated
earlier. Nevertheless, there are possible solutions to overcome these barriers
such as developing educational system, provision of guidance and explanatory
information, emphasizing good hygienic practice, improvement on infrastructure
and facilities by the government, provision of technical expertise by consultants
and other advisors and provision of financial support. In conclusion, these
solutions may ease the burden of institutional and military foodservice in
implementing the HACCP system.
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6.
APPENDICES
