Food safety management in Sirvintos catering industry

Aim: to assess the food safety management in Sirvintos catering industry. Objectives: 1. To evaluate the catering establishment according to hazard analysis and critical control point HACCP system. 2. To assess food safety and quality requirements of the catering industry. 3. To analyze the catering managers and staff awareness, cooperation with authorities responsible for monitoring to ensure food safety management. Methods. The data of the period 2009-2010 was analyzed on food safety assurance by the hazard analysis and critical control point system and the violations in the catering industry. The questionnaire survey was conducted in 2010 September - December. The studied group consisted of all workers at catering industry. There were 154 questionnaires distributed with 100 % response rate. The study included 40 public catering companies, 65 representatives who work in cafes, bars, restaurants, 66 secondary schools and 23 pre-school educational institutions. The 40 managers, 64 cooks, 20 bartenders, 30 kitchen staff replied to the questionnaire. The collected data were analyzed using the statistical data analysis SPSS 13.0. Results. According to 2009-2010 review, there are many violations in self-control and general hygiene in the catering industry. Some executives (12.5 %) do not understand the HACCP system. The 81.2 % employees are aware of, the 14.3 % has heard and the 4.5 % is familiar with the GHPT catering businesses. Only 27.5 % of the managers are organizing training in food hygiene. The self-audit is carried out in 38.3 % of the companies. 72.1 % of the employees are interested in legislative documents. The employee awareness is not related with the specialty. There is close cooperation with the parent service specialists (96.1 %) too. 98.1 % respondents agree that food producers are responsible for the safety and quality of food. Conclusion. Not all companies ensure food safety through hazard analysis and critical control point system. The management pays too little attention to the food production safety in the production cycle. Some of the employees do not understand their importance in food safety program. In most investigated food processing industries the carried out self-audit program does not guarantee food safety assessment process. Key words: food safety, management, critical control point system