A postal questionnaire was sent to 1650 representative UK food businesses across the retail, catering and manufacturing sectors, the response from which helped to identify several of the barriers which exist to HACCP implementation. This survey was followed by face to face interviews with business managers in order to develop a wider appreciation of the specific problems inherent in managing food hygiene and managers perceptions of HACCP based systems. Several businesses which had implemented HACCP based systems were then selected as case studies to appraise the costs, and any benefits arising from these systems. Results from one food retailer, (a retail food hall within a department store, 12 full time and 19 part time staff, weekly turnover of £26,500), are summarized in Table 1.

Results from all three stages of our research have highlighted a number of key issues for policy makers and food industry managers in the UK.

• Initiatives such as Assured Safe Catering, a generic approach developed by the UK Department of Health, have had some impact in helping caterers to apply a HACCP approach to their operation. Nevertheless, the survey results showed that more needs to be done to promote the HACCP approach among small retailers and caterers (i.e. under 10 employees).
• Small retailers and caterers are reliant on UK Environmental Health Officers (EHOs) for advice on food hygiene issues as they tend to lack any in-house technical expertise or the finances to pay for private advice. There is therefore a need to consider ways in which wider support and information on HACCP can be disseminated, helping to reduce the burden of responsibility upon EHOs and promote a greater sense of independence among food managers.
• Cost benefit analyses have been used to inform business managers and policy makers about the economic impact of HACCP based legislation and the introduction of such systems by individual businesses. Previous studies have highlighted the ongoing benefits of implementing HACCP such as greater business efficiency or reduced product loss. However the results of the case study shown in Table 1 show no tangible financial benefits to a small retail business. Start-up costs were equal to 0.33% of annual turnover, weekly running costs of £1,417 represented an increase of £440 on the costs of managing food hygiene before the system was in place. In addition to these costs, turnover lost from wasted product had infact increased by £400 per week although it is expected that his was due to the short term failure to control one or more CCPs in the early period after putting the system in place.
• In the example shown in Table 1, non recurring start up costs were minimized because some control and monitoring processes were already in place and food handling staff already held hygiene qualifications. The system was able to be devised without needing to employ consultants thanks to employing a sales assistant with a Diploma in Food Technology. These factors will have substantially reduced the start-up costs which would otherwise have been incurred. Survey results indicated that the majority of businesses would have to meet some of these extra costs in order to implement such systems, placing an extra strain on their finances.
• The problem with simply using cost benefit information to promote HACCP within small businesses is that many of the benefits occur at the wider societal or governmental level, for example national reductions in the incidence of food poisoning and its associated health care costs or the reduced time and costs needing to be spent by local authorities on enforcement. However, these mean little to the small business manager whose prime concern is earning enough to pay the wages of his staff and to remain solvent. More cost effective methods for businesses to provide hygiene training for food handlers and gain access to HACCP expertise would be beneficial.
• Finally and perhaps most importantly, it has been suggested that the adoption of the HACCP approach is driven first and foremost by the desire to improve food safety, regardless of cost-benefit testing. The challenge to policy makers is to ensure that business managers understand the risks inherent in their processes. Many small business managers in particular have been in their trade for some time and are unwilling to change the practices which they perceive have prevented them from ever giving anyone food poisoning. In order to help promote the use of HACCP it is important that all business managers appreciate that the actions of the individual hold the key to securing the maximum level of safety for us all.

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