This "Manual" is intended to help producers, regulators, trainers and others concerned with the safety of traditional foods in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, and may be used as material for training in food hygiene and the HACCP system, as well as the basis for the development of food safety programs. It is expected that most producers of the foods covered in this manual will have little or no knowledge of the HACCP system, so to expect them to implement the relevant models alone would not be realistic. Rather, governmental or nongovernmental agencies engaged in health, food control, or safety of the environment will need to help groups of producers in implementing the models in their plants. This manual covers just a few of the many traditional foods of the Region. It is hoped that that countries will develop and share generic HACCP models for other traditional foods in the Region so that a second edition can follow.

Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) is a systematic, scientific approach to process control. It is designed to prevent the occurrence of problems by ensuring that controls are applied at any point in a food production system where hazardous or critical situations could occur.