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However, strictly speaking HACCP controls only biological (e.g. food poisoning),

chemical (e.g. pesticide residues), and physical (e.g. broken glass particels) hazards

but not microbial stability (spoilage) nor sensoric food quality. Even the total food

quality is essential. In view of that, the HACGP concept should be broadened.

Should this not be acceptable, the production and storage of foods could be

controlled by quantitative GMP (discussed below). Furthermore, whereas HACCP

is successfully applied in large food enterprises, it faces often difficulties in small

and medium size enterprises (SMEs) with large product ranges and small batches

(e.g. for a butcher who produces about 100 different meat products every week).

That is why it has been suggested that similar products should be combined into

groups which are covered by the same HACCP-plan, or that work should first

start with high risk products. But these suggestions are not convincing either and

so far no acceptable compromise has been found for the application of the HACCP

concept in small enterprises. Nevertheless, HACCP is today the dominating concept

related to food safety for food manufacturers (i.e. industry), whereas the recently

emerging concept of microbiological Risk Assessment (MRA) has a different

objective. Because MRA should help regulatory authorities (i.e. governments) to

assess whether a particular microbiological hazard represents an unacceptable health

risk for the food-consuming population. Some member states of the EU (e.g.

Germany), under the impression of recent failures in judgement (e.g. in case of

“Mad Cows Disease”), have started to preate special institutions for Risk

Assessment which should give competent and swift advice to the government

which then would be able to provide sound Risk Management.

Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP)

This concept belongs to the quality control in the production of food-stuffs

and is a required supplement to the HACCP concept.GMP should not only be

used to define general hygiene aspects, but should concentrate on quantitatively

defined criteria. For each product simple but precise guidelines could be established,

which secure safety, stability as well as quality. Such guidelines proved suitable

for the food production in developing countries, where HACCP is often regarded

as too cumbersome.

Hurdle Technologies (HT)

Since centuries foods have been preserved by heating, chilling, drying, salting,

conserving, acidification, oxygen-removel, fermenting, adding various

preservatives, etc., and often these methods were applied in combinations. Actually

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