Issues Related to the Implementation of Russian Regulatory Documents Harmonized with International Approaches Regarding Food Safety Control

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AbstractThe paper relies on the review of academic literature and international and domestic regulatory documents to demonstrate that realization of the potential that is rooted in HACCP and ISO concepts is inadequate for the resolution of practical issues of the quality management of products of facilities of the foodservice industry. The goal of this paper is to explore the issues related to the implementation of Russian regulatory documents harmonized with international approaches regarding food safety control. The introduction of a new regulatory document that would regulate the Sanitary and Epidemiological Requirements to public catering arrangement in the Russian Federation contains the provision according to which catering facilities must exercise manufacturing control in line with HACCP principles. To assess the status of HACCP in the current practical activity of catering facilities, we conducted a questionnaire of their employees with secondary vocational education. The Questionnaires included questions to evaluate the activities of the managers of catering facilities aimed at the implementation of the HACCP system, as well as questions to evaluate the proficiency level of employees of catering facilities in the field of HACCP and ISO principles. The following was found: activities of the managers to implement the HACCP system were evaluated as poor (grand average score of 1.7) and that the managers of catering facilities failed to achieve an adequate level of food safety management. As can be seen from respondent responses, the proficiency levels of employees of catering facilities according to the HACCP system were low (grand average score of 2.1). Likewise, low proficiency levels of employees were identified according to the ISO standard (grand average score of 2.2). All of this allows us to believe that the concept of risk-oriented thinking was not adopted by managerial and production personnel of catering facilities. Moreover, the analysis of questionnaire data brings us to the conclusion that the main problem for catering facilities consists in the low skill level of their managers. Recommendations for the introduction of HACCP and ISO systems in catering practices were formulated based on the research findings.KeywordsCateringFood managementHACCPISOJEL CodesL15L23L67L88M11M12N01N70L15L23L88M11M12N01