Food Quality and Food Safety in Hungarian Dairy Farms

In Hungary the introduction of quality assurance and food safety systems have achieved considerable results in the middle of the food-supply chain (i.e. in companies of food industry and trade sector), but in the ends of the chain (in agriculture and catering sector) there are still several problems. This article and our presentation wish to show a general overview on the Hungarian milk sector, to describe the present situation of the Hungarian dairy farms and try to explore and examine the main difficulties of the building-up process, installation and operation of HACCP System in the Hungarian fresh milk producing sector and, furthermore its opportunities and threats, too. We also give a short description of the Hungarian dairy sector, the main Hungarian and EU quality standards of fresh milk and the main regulations of milk quality in Hungary and the European Union. In the final part of our article we wish to present a cost-benefit calculation model calculated for the Józsefmajor Experimental and Demonstration Farm, (a demonstration farm of the Szent István University) where the HACCP System was installed in the last year, and also to determine the strengths and weaknesses and some practical experiences of installation and operation of the system. The situation outlined in our paper is not unique, it can be applied to the greatest proportion of Hungarian dairy farms.