Food Protection Trends - July/August 2022 - 305

point (HACCP) system. HACCP is a proactive food safety
management system that identifies specific hazards associated
with a process or product and establishes controls for them.
In many jurisdictions, HACCP is mandatory, and it is
regulated by relevant government agencies.
In Ghana, poultry processing is largely small scale and
unlicensed. Many consumers of fresh broiler or layer meat
source their products from live bird markets (LBMs). The
LBMs are wet markets that trade live birds and slaughter,
dress, cut to convenient sizes, and sometimes roast poultry
meat on demand (12). LBM operations generate vital
supplementary income for a significant number of informal
small- and medium-scale value-chain actors. These LBM
operators have a customer base ranging from restaurants,
canteens, and supermarkets to individual consumers who
buy the dressed chicken for home preparation. They are
located in traditional open markets spread throughout the
country. Although their operations are small, they serve
a niche market all year and are popular during religious
festive seasons. HACCP is voluntary in Ghana; licensing
of food manufacturing or preparation facilities is based on
Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs) or Good Hygienic
Practices (GHPs). In the informal sector, licensing of food
processing facilities by the Ghana Food and Drugs Authority
(GFDA) is not required for business operation.
The Codex and the Office International des Epizooties
recognize that animal slaughter and subsequent handling
activities are critical to food safety (11). The Codex's code
of hygienic practices for poultry meat provides live bird
processors with guidelines for the provision of a safe and
hygienic environment from primary production to the
point of retail. These guidelines aim to reduce the rates of
contamination and cross-contamination among birds during
slaughter, dressing, and subsequent handling activities (4).
A recent study (12) identified significant gaps in food safety
knowledge and hygiene conduct of live bird operators. The
LBM operators interviewed in the study (12) lacked sufficient
food safety knowledge about sources of contamination in
poultry processing. The study also identified gaps in food
safety practices such as infrequent hand washing before and
during poultry processing, infrequent washing of processing
tables between batch processing, and lack of washing and
chilling after evisceration. Our study builds on the results
in Ovai et al. (12) to determine the compliance of live bird
processing facilities to the Codex's hygiene guidelines with
the aim of highlighting areas for improvement for poultry
processing hygiene. This study provides evidence as a good
basis for regulators and relevant government agencies to
develop implementable interventions for the poultry sector.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Study design and location selection
Data on the numbers and locations of LBMs in Accra were
obtained from the Ghana Veterinary Services Directorate
(GVSD) of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Ghana,
and the Accra chapter of the National Poultry Association.
According to the database, there are 33 LBMs in Accra.
For the 33 LBMs, a cluster sampling method was used to
select the study sites by dividing the LBMs into four clusters
(north, south, east, and west). For each cluster, Random.
org was used to randomize and select two LBMs and one
cottage farm, making 12 study sites. However, one of the
selected facilities opted out of the study; hence, 11 facilities
participated in the study.
Audit checklist design
The audit checklist was designed based on CAC/
RCP 58-2005 and the recommended international code
of practice-general principles of food hygiene (4). The
checklist was structured into 10 hygiene principles: (i)
regulatory (licensing and food handlers' certification);
(ii) primary production (sourcing, health status of birds
at point of purchase, and traceability systems); (iii)
hygiene of slaughtered animals (health status at point of
slaughter, contamination control measures, and regulatory
compliance); (iv) hygiene of feed and feed ingredients
(sourcing, regulatory compliance, feed components, and
antibiotics administration); (v) hygiene of the primary
production environment; (vi) presentation of animals
for slaughter; (vii) establishment of the design, facilities,
equipment, and personnel; (viii) design and construction of
slaughter areas; (ix) water supply and temperature controls;
and (x) process control (standard operating procedures
[SOPs] and critical control point considerations). These
processing facilities were graded on full compliance (meet all
requirements of CAC/RCP 58-2005), minor noncompliance
(failure to meet part of the requirements for a particular
module that may not lead to a food safety violation), major
noncompliance (failure to meet specific requirements of a
module in CAC/RCP 58-2005 that could lead to a breach
in food safety), and critical noncompliance (failure to
implement any requirements of a module in CAC/RCP 582005
that will lead to a food safety breach). Full compliance
was scored 30, minor noncompliance was scored 20, major
noncompliance was scored 10 and critical noncompliance
was scored zero for each item on the checklist. A hygiene
assessment system (7) with some modification was used
to compute and grade the facilities based on the 10 hygiene
principles as follows: 90% to 100% represents excellent
or full compliance, 70% to 89.9% represents satisfactory
compliance with minor improvements required, 50% to 69.9%
represents conditional satisfactory compliance implying major
improvements required, and <50% represents unsatisfactory
compliance or full noncompliance.
Pretesting
A study site was selected at random for pretesting of the
audit checklist. This exercise tested the checklist and helped
July/August Food Protection Trends 305
Food Protection Trends - July/August 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Food Protection Trends - July/August 2022
