Rationale of Research

Presently, implementing food safety management systems (FSMS) in small manufacturing enterprises is very challenging; such systems are seen as too sophisticated due to a large amount of paperwork needed and the requirement for extra financial means (Carrascosa et al., 2016). As such, including appropriate and efficient instruments in the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) system would help manage and ensure transparency of hygiene and sanitation processes. Previous research has investigated the effectiveness of HACCP in the food sector in general, and it has been demonstrated that it is beneficial in limiting risks and assuring food quality (Yang et al., 2019; Levy, Hashiguchi, and Cecchini, 2022; Nganje et al., 2021). However, while much is documented about the efficacy of HACCP in the food business in general, little is known about the effectiveness of this tool in the milk industry. Previous research has also investigated the challenges influencing HACCP implementation in the food industry and found minimal perceived advantages, lack of HACCP awareness, management regressions, lack of training, variation of production lines, variation in consumer demands and distinctiveness of each product, and cost of implementation as some of the impediments that influence the adoption of HACCP in the food industry in general (Razak, Razzif and Norzaidi, 2020). Nonetheless, these challenges may differ from those encountered in the milk and dairy product sector. It is also argued that the implementation of HACCP-like programs in milk and various dairy products is not well established (Lombardo et al., 2017): indeed, integrating innovative techniques and technology for the implementation of HACCP in milk and dairy product primary production is critical. Therefore, there is a need to review and consolidate the current ideas and arguments on the effectiveness of HACCP and the hurdles that impede its application as an FSMS tool. Furthermore, no previous literature analysis has examined the efficiency of the HACCP in the dairy business and the challenges that restrict its application.

Objective

The purpose of this research is to investigate the implementation and efficacy of HACCP in the dairy industry, as well as the challenges associated with using this tool. The specific objectives include: identifying the risk factors that might impact the contamination of milk products using HACCP, investigating the implementation and efficiency of the HACCP system in milk products, and identifying the restrictions in implementing HACCP in the milk sector.