SS,
This is obviously an untenable situation. It takes money to do all but very minimal programs (read risky, as a lack of expertise in multiple disiplines could result in more harm than good). Even doing it learning and then doing it yourself/internally will require man hours or dedicated staff which equates to money spent
Other suggestions i.e. "blow the whistle" "close the business" are hard to make and it sounds to me as though you really want to effect change in your company.
I think the first question to ask is why you don't have any money? Is this a "owner doesn't think its necessary" thing? or "not in the budget" or what? The reason I ask this is because the answer to that question will direct your efforts at procurment of funds for food safety.
If the owner doesn't think it neccessary your response should be tactifully demonstrating to him similar businesses impacted by non-compliance. In the U.S. the FDA puts out a weekly sumarry of all food recalls, this tool has been effective in convincing the owners i work for to "invest" in food safety, as they have watched competitors or like comoditiy fiscally impacted by food safety/recall issues.
Not in the budget presents a different problem, because it means loss of profit if funds are diverted to food safety or, worse, scaling back operations to be in a position to apply those funds to food safety.
You get the idea the reason for the lack of funds will help point you in a direction to try to procure those funds. Because realistically speaking, it is almost impossible to operate a food plant safely without expenditure on the programs necessary keep your product safe. Your efforts would be better spent (or at least divided into) trying to get those who control the finaces at your company to see the necessity of the expenditure that are requried.
Without that you, as the person responsible for the safety of the foods, have to make a tough call: turn in your employer or knowingly manufacture unsafe food.
I wish I/we had better answers for you.
Larry
