Baseline audit of the food safety and quality management systems of thirteen micro-small and medium scale food manufacturing companies in Accra and Tema

Abstract

The United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) in Ghana is presently undertaking a number of projects under its Integrated Program (IP) aimed at assisting the Government of Ghana to accelerate the industrialisation of Ghana. One of the key components of this program is referred to as the Food Component Project of the IP, which is aimed specifically at improving the competitiveness of the Micro-, Small-, and Medium-scale Enterprises (MSMEs). As part of this project, baseline audits of the food safety and quality management systems of thirteen MSMEs companies in Accra and Tema were carried out between August and November 2002. Trained food safety auditors drawn from the Food Research Institute, Food and Drugs Board and Ghana Standards Board carried out the audits. The audits were carried using the Codex Alimentarius and the UNJDO Basic Guidelines for implementing Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs) and Good Hygiene Practices CGHPs) in Food Processing. The guidelines covered structure and fabrication, storage facilities, raw materials, process equipment, personnel standards, food handling practices, quality assurance, pest prevention, cleaning systems and management control. These are the pre-requisites programmes for instituting appropriate food safety and quality management systems based on the HACCP Principles. Unfortunately with the exception of one fish canning company, which had a management system in place based on the HACCP principles, the rest of the companies had a lot of problems