Barriers to Implemetation of Haccp

BARRIERS TO IMPLEMETATION OF HACCP

1. It is costly

It seems like the most important barriers to HACCP implementation were associated with finance. Most restaurateurs in the country would say that in order to implement the program into their business they will have to invest a huge amount of money. The financial problems that they faced are in terms of the internal budgetary constraints, they even had problem in obtaining internal funding for the changes to be made. Most restaurateurs were still considering about the implementation of this program because they feel that lots of changes need to be done before HACCP could be put in place in order for it to run smoothly and therefore it requires more investment for the program whereby wide-scale upgrading of the place is required for HACCP to be put in place. It seems like they are aware about the importance of HACCP in the restaurant operation but because of the high cost in implementing, it has become the main barrier that separates them from implementing the program and these restaurateurs are even considering that the costs of implementing HACCP is likely to get cheaper over time and when that time comes then only they will implement the program. Other than that, the cost of implementing this program also covers the training of its personnel. This is one of the major problems in cost because the employer could not control the number of employee turnover and therefore every time there are turnover of staffs, this will require the employer to send the new employees for the HACCP training program again and again.

In order to have HACCP program be implement in every restaurant in the country, the government should play their role as well. Things could not happen if only one side are doing their job. Since cost of HACCP implementation is very high, government should at least give subsidiary to every restaurant in the country. This would be a good investment done by government whereby it can automatically reduce the potential cause of foodborne illnesses hence it also reduce the cost of medications. This shows that the local authorities are giving their support in fighting against foodborne illnesses not just by saying but also by actions. The Ministry of Health (MOH) should also have seminars about the importance of HACCP implementation so that the restaurateurs will be aware of its importance to warrant the investment about implementing the program as soon as possible.

2. Perception that HACCP is not suitable for the establishment

Many restaurateurs feel that the HACCP program is not necessary for all type of foodservice operation. They feel that only fine dining, hotels and such should apply the program because of the high standard of service procedures and it is not suitable for their establishment. Most restaurants like those located in Seksyen 7, Shah Alam have perception that small restaurant operations like what they have do not require safety controls as complicated as the HACCP program because their scale of operation is too small. Most of them feel that the safety controls that they have in the restaurant is already sufficient to control and prevent foodborne illnesses. They feel uncertain about the benefits of implementing HACCP into their small restaurant business operation which will also cost more and reduce their profit margin. Other than that, they are also concerned that HACCP will reduce their flexibility in production since they have inadequate amount of space.

The best solution we think that could help fight against this problem is that Ministry of Health should make HACCP requirement as compulsory for all foodservice operations in order to control the increasing number of foodborne illnesses. Once it has been adapt by government as compulsory, then it will be possible to take actions on the restaurants that do not fill the requirement such as by giving fine in certain amount of money for those that did not fulfil this requirement. The government should also organize more prerequisite programs about HACCP to make these restaurateurs be more concern in implementing the program although they have small scale of operation.

3. Problem to apply HACCP toward restaurant facility and equipment

a) The layout of the kitchen

The kitchen layout of restaurant in the Malaysia is not use the right flow of the production food. They do not think the right flow of food in the kitchen. Besides that, they only focused on the design and the ambiance in the kitchen so that look interesting without think about HACCP. For the food court they not use the proper layout but they maximizes the space of the kitchen by put the equipment that they want to use like stove, bowl, and so on. Furthermore, the space in the kitchen is small that suitable for one workers to move while cook the food. The raw foods from ready to eat foods do not separate that not provide the suitable place for fabrication area and preparation area. This can cause cross contamination.

The restaurant should use the right flow of the production of food so that can easier for workers to move, store and do the work. The right flow is from the receiving area, storing area, fabrication area, preparation area and production area and lastly to the service area. Besides that, the owner must think about the space that worker easy to work and move. This also can avoid the cross contamination of food in the kitchen. In the kitchen also must have the fabrication area and the preparation area so that can avoid cross contamination.

b) The storage

The kitchen not used the proper storage and not hygiene. They used the chiller and store the raw item and ready to eat food in the same chiller. They put the raw foods above ready to eats food. Besides that, some of the restaurant or foods courts use the broken chiller to store the vegetables and dry items because they not have knowledge about the storing of items, they only think about the easy place to store and easy for them to take it.

The food establishment must use the proper storage like chiller for the vegetable and fruits, freezer for the meat items and the dry storage for the dry items. This is for the restaurants. For the food court, the storage like refrigerator can store the meat item and vegetables by using the separation of item. The vegetables store in the right place and meat item also store in the right place for meat in the refrigerator. Sometimes, the food handler put the ready to eat food in the refrigerators, so they must put ready to eat food above the raw food in the refrigerator.

c) The using of chopping board.

The cooker