Application of HACCP Standards in Restaurants in Nigeria
Many environmental and demographic changes in developing regions of the world have resulted in outbreaks of food-borne pathogens and many reemerging and newly identified food-borne pathogens. These vary from climatic changes, changes in microbial and other ecological systems, poor environmental sanitation, and decreasing freshwater supplies, resulting in outbreaks of disease such as gastroenteritis, hepatitis A, and others transmitted by food and/or drinking water.
HACCP is an acronym for the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point system. HCCP is a preventive system that is used in the food industry to help ensure food safety. The basis for HACCP is to identify potential hazards associated with food production and preparation, and to develop mechanisms to eliminate or control these hazards, HACCP can be applied to all areas of food production, from the farm to the homes of consumers. HACCP is important to all segments of the food industry.
The General Principles of Food Hygiene describes the HACCP system as a science-based systematic approach that identifies specific hazards and measures for their control to ensure the safety of food. Initially conceived as a way to provide astronauts with foods of the highest level of quality, HACCP has been adopted by the Pan American Health Organization and the World Health Organization, the US Food and Drug Administration, and many other agencies worldwide for the preparation of safe foods at all levels: home, restaurant, and the hotel industry. The HACCP system is based on seven principles, as follows:
Principle 1: Conduct a hazard analysis
Principle 2: Determine the critical control points (CCPs)
Principle 3: Establish critical limit(s)
Principle 4: Establish a system to monitor control of the CCP
Principle 5: Establish the corrective action to be taken when monitoring indicates that a particular CCP is not under control
Principle 6: Establish procedures for verification to confirm that the HACCP system is working effectively
Principle 7: Establish documentation concerning all procedures and records appropriate to these principles and their application
HACCP involves a systematic study of the ingredients, the food product, the conditions of processing, handling, storage, packaging, distribution, and consumer use. The complete analysis allows for the identification of the sensitive areas in the process flow which might contribute to a hazard. From this information, ‘Critical Control Points (CCPs)’ can be determined. Areas identified as CCPs are monitored and limits are determined to control potential hazards. When properly applied, HACCP can be used to control any area or point in the food system which could contribute to a hazardous situation whether it can be contaminants, disease-causing microorganisms, physical objects, chemicals, raw materials, an unsafe process, package labeling, or storage conditions.
Research Methodology
The researcher will employ both quantitative and qualitative approaches to data gathering. The researcher will make use of a survey and a focus group. A survey gathers data at a particular point in time with the intention of describing the nature of existing conditions can be compared, or determining the relationship that exist between specific events. Survey research according to Hutchinson (2004) can be defined most simply as a means of gathering information, usually through self-report using questionnaires or interviews (p. 285). The attraction of a survey lie in its appeal to generazability or universality within given parameters, its ability to make statements which are supported by large data banks and its ability to establish the degree of confidence which can be placed in a set of findings (Cohen et al., 2000, p. 171). The popularity of survey research is due in large to its utility on countless research situations. Surveys are used for such diverse purposes as needs assessment, program evaluation, attitude measurement, political opinion polling, and policy analysis, as well as for simple descriptions of behaviors, activities, and population characteristics. The scope of surveys can range from large-scale national surveys to smaller surveys confined to a single neighborhood, classroom, or organization. Another strength is its applicability on situations where direct manipulations of variables is either unfeasible to unethical (Hutchinson, 2004, p. 286). Surveys are best suited for descriptive research. Companies undertake surveys to learn about people’s knowledge, beliefs, preferences, and satisfaction, and to measure these magnitudes in the general population (Kotler 2000).
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