Strategies for expanding HACCP certification rate using an awareness survey of dairy farmers

Abstract

This study was performed to provide baseline data for developing strategies for expanding the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) certification rate using an awareness survey of dairy farmers. A 44-item questionnaire was used to survey randomly selected respondents comprising 84 HACCP-certified and 75 noncertified dairy farms. The quality of raw milk in terms of bacterial and somatic cell count in HACCP-certified farms was statistically (P < 0.05) higher compared with the milk in noncertified farms. Similarly, milk fat and milk protein were statistically (P < 0.05) superior in HACCP-certified farms. The study finds that the practical barriers to implementing HACCP include inadequate financial assistance, incentive programmes, HACCP consulting and education, consumer awareness and knowledge about HACCP-certified products, streamlined recording systems, and farm-oriented mobile operations and maintenance systems. These findings can contribute to the development strategies to increase the rate of HACCP certification of dairy farms around the world.