Dias, Joaquim Miguel Pires2009-07-092009-07-092009http://hdl.handle.net/10400.5/1102Mestrado em Engenharia Alimentar - Qualidade e Segurança Alimentar - Instituto Superior de AgronomiaThe objective of this work, based on a project to acquire new retail clients by a food distribution company, where the author is the Quality Director, was to study the Food Safety and Quality Systems implemented in independent food retail stores, classified as micro or small businesses. For that purpose, it was carrying out, in the selected stores, food safety audits, food microbiological analysis and enquiries about the major difficulties in the HACCP system execution. The results showed that a large percentage of stores doesn’t fulfill the minimal food safety and quality requirements, and also, that 40.5% of the audited stores, doesn’t have the HACCP system implemented. These failures reflected the poor results obtained in the audits and the lack of food safety revealed in the microbiology analyses. There are several reasons for these failures. However, the most significant motives are the retail managers and workers lack of motivation and knowledge, the food safety consulters companies deficient work, the inexistence of HACCP reliable models for this type of business and the failure of public bodies in providing information and warnings about food safety and quality issues and rules.porHACCPretailfood qualityfood safetymicrobiologyretalhoqualidade alimentarsegurança alimentarmaster thesis