Barriers for the developing and implementation of HACCP plans: results from a Spanish regional survey

Despite the fact of compulsory HACCP plan in the regulations, their development and implementation is being difficult and slow. This paper present a survey in an area of Madrid to identify the barriers which are obstructing the implementation of HACCP programs in food companies, following the model of eleven potential barriers organised around three levels proposed by Gillings et al. [J. Food Protect. 64(5) (2001) 710]. The results suggested that lack of understanding and negative guideline factors conduce to inadequate hazard analysis, and this is not solved contacting external advisers. There are also problems at attitude level which obstruct the change of behaviour. It is suggested that regulatory agencies should work to publish clear and detailed HACCP guides in Spanish and to promote activities aimed to external consultants and industry managers and directives.