Weiterentwicklung des bestehenden HACCP-Konzepts inkl. Gefahrenanalyse (FMEA) am Beispiel eines Lebensmitteleinzelhandels

Abstract

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), approximately 600 million people worldwide fall ill each year due to the consumption of contaminated food. In light of this alarming figure, it is understandable that legal requirements for food safety are becoming increasingly stringent. In accordance with Regulation (EC) No. 852/2004, all food business operators are obliged to establish, implement, and regularly update a HACCP- (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) system. However, developing a comprehensive and efficient HACCP plan has become increasingly complex, particularly due to the growing diversity of product groups and the overall complexity of the food industry. The aim of this thesis is twofold: first, to improve efficiency by modularizing the existing HACCP-concept at the food retail company SPAR; and second, to enhance the reliability of risk assessments, particularly in evaluating severity and likelihood of occurrence by standardizing the evaluation methodology through the use of a scoring catalogue based on the FMEA- (Failure Mode and Effects Analysis) method. Chapter 2 provides a clear distinction between key concepts such as Good Hygiene Practice (GHP) and the HACCP-system, along with an explanation of their operational principles. Chapter 3 focuses on the FMEA methodology, which plays a central role in the risk assessment process. In the practical section, a target– actual comparison was carried out for the three core elements: process flowchart, hazard analysis and risk assessment, and the HACCP plan. Although the flowchart itself is not a direct component of the modularization, it supports the process and was used to measure and evaluate the processing time of the existing and revised models. By using the process modeling tool “ARIS” for the revised flowchart, a time saving of 26:24.33 minutes per process was achieved, resulting in a cost reduction of €8.30 per product group. To improve consistency and minimize subjective bias in risk assessments, a quantitative expert analysis was conducted with four internal and two external subject-matter experts, each with an average of 11.25 years of professional experience in the food industry. In the first round, the experts conducted the risk assessment based on their own professional judgment. In the second round, the evaluation was carried out using the standardized scoring catalogue. The total deviation in severity and probability assessments without the catalogue amounted to 164 points, which was reduced to only 12 points when the catalogue was used, corresponding to an average deviation reduction of 47.5%.

Date of Award	2025
Original language	German (Austria)
Supervisor	Harald Staska (Supervisor)