Piccadilly Moves For HACCP Food Safety Management System

Piccadilly Biscuits Limited has adopted the widely acclaimed food safety management system, the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP) to become the first biscuit factory in Ghana to achieve the feat.

At a ceremony to commission the HACCP programme of the company by the Foods and Drugs Authority (FDA), Mr Nicolas Abou Haider, the Managing Director Piccadilly Biscuits said the adoption of HACCP for reducing the risks of safety hazards in food was to give consumers assurance that the company's products are safe.

'HACCP is to give our customers the satisfaction of knowing that the food we make, the food that they put into their bodies, is safe,' he said.

Mr Haider said the adoption of HACCP was not the end of the journey, adding that, there is already a plan underway to achieve the next stage of further accreditation of a globally recognised GFSI Food Safety Management Standard; such as BRC or ISO 2200.

'It is our belief that the enhanced customer satisfaction, quality and surety that will come from our improved business will make it possible for Piccadilly to export to other nations too.

'My guarantee to you is that Piccadilly Biscuits, made in Ghana, will be sold in many other countries across the world. HACCP is the first step on that journey,' he added.

Mr Haider said the feat was achieved on the back of a programme of Continuous Improvement to raise the standards within the bakery with the recruitment of experienced and skilled personnel to help drive a whole host of new initiatives forward.

'Those experts in the field will understand that to achieve the HACCP will require expert knowledge as well as team work. Throughout the last 12 months, the FDA have been actively involved in advising, helping and supporting our bakery and this support along with the enthusiasm and energy of the team at Piccadilly made rapid progress possible,' he said.

Mr Kofi Essel, Head of Food Industrial Support Services Department of the FDA, said HACCP ensured that harzards were identified and controlled before they threaten the safety of the food and health of consumers.

He said HACCP had become a worldwide acceptable system for the control of food safety and a fundamental requirement for the food industry in most developed countries.

'It is a systematic preventive approach to food safety that identifies and avaluates biological, chemical and physical hazrads in the production processes that can cause finished products to be unsafe and designs controls to reduce these risks to safe levels,' Mr Essel said.

He said although the FDA was yet to make HACCP the food safety management requirement for the food industry in Ghana, some individual companies had voluntarily applied to the FDA to be supported in the training and implementation of HACCP.

Mr Essel said the FDA would continue to collaborate with Piccadilly Biscuilts in ensuring the production of safe food for consumers and assist in the management of the HACCP system.