Segurança alimentar na produção de vinho branco, tinto e abafado: estudo de caso da adega da Merceana, Portugal

The safety of the food products, that are being used to cover nutritional needs, is a fundamental right of the consumers. The actual legislation attributes to the producer the responsibility on the production of safe food products; as a result they have to ensure, simultaneously, the quality and safety of those products. The implementation of food quality and safety systems represents, therefore, an important competitiveness factor, for each enterprise/organization linked to the food sector. It also permits, to those enterprises/organizations, which are committed to do it, to assure, to other partners, an effective and dynamic control of the potential hazards related to those products. As a result, an increase at the confidence level among the different players of the food chain can be observed, promoting the establishment of new and lasting commercial relations. It may also be used as a guarantee to contracts with clients/consumers that demand it. The HACCP system is also a specific tool that permits to identify, evaluate and control which, from the potential important problems for the food safety, can be effective risks. In this perspective, the main purpose of this work was to implement the HACCP system to the wine sector, namely to a wine cellar in the Estremadura Region, near Lisbon, in Portugal (Adega da Merceana). The aim is to improve the control of the possible hazards for consumers, arising from wine products.