HACCP
HACCP is a management system in which food safety is addressed through the analysis and control of biological, chemical, and physical hazards from raw material production, procurement, and handling, to manufacturing, distribution, and consumption of the finished product.
The Seven Principles of HACCP:
- Principle 1 – Conduct a Hazard Analysis.
- Principle 2 – Identify the Critical Control Points.
- Principle 3 – Establish Critical Limits.
- Principle 4- Monitor CCP.
- Principle 5 – Establish Corrective Action.
- Principle 6 – Verification.
- Principle 7 – Recordkeeping.
HACCP Does Not Stand Alone!
If you vacuum package food, serve raw meats, package fresh-squeezed orange juice, serve shellfish directly from a tank or cure or smoke meat to preserve it, then you will need to have a HACCP plan. You might need a HACCP Plan to prepare other types of food, such as sushi rice.
The difference between HACCP and ISO 22000. Where HACCP is focused purely on food safety, ISO goes further! ISO also looks at business processes and structures. ISO certification is independent, which means that an organization can decide for itself whether it wants to embrace it or not.
The 5 Preliminary Steps of HACCP:
- Bring together the HACCP resources/assemble the HACCP team.
- Describe the product and its method of distribution.
- Develop a complete list of ingredients and raw materials used in the product.
- Develop a process flow diagram.
- Meet the regulatory requirements for Sanitation Standard Operating Procedures (SOP’s).
HACCP was developed in the late 1950s by a team of food scientists and engineers from The Pillsbury Company, the Natick Research Laboratories, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The team developed a system designed to build quality into the product to ensure food safety for the manned space program.
Agriculture and Food HACCP Certification
Enhance your food safety management and product quality with a HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) certification from SGS. HACCP certification instantly demonstrates to customers your commitment to producing or trading in safe food.
HACCP is important because it prioritizes and controls potential hazards in food production. By controlling major food risks, such as microbiological, chemical and physical contaminants, the industry can better assure consumers that its products are as safe as good science and technology allows.
HACCP or hazard analysis critical control points, is a plan developed especially for food service sectors & industries to eliminate the biological hazards such as cooking meat or freezing it in the danger zone so cooking it in proper temp is a must to avoid any bacterial growth or contamination, the chemical hazards such as placing detergents near the food & mistakes can happen so food becomes chemically contaminated, or physical such as when a worker is not wearing a hair net a hair might fall. The HACCP has two main reasons to be used the first is to assure that the consumers will eat food that is safe from all the aspects we discussed, which will decrease the amount of food inborn diseases & infections, the second point is that the restaurant or factory abiding by the rules of the HACCP will gain a good reputation and a competitive advantage from others since costumers built a trust regards the quality of what they are eating, although all food sectors must use HACCP unfortunately rarely we do find those using it or those claiming to use it abiding %100 to its rules.
Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) is an internationally recognized system for reducing the risk of safety hazards in food.
A HACCP System requires that potential hazards are identified and controlled at specific points in the process. This includes biological, chemical or physical hazards. Any company involved in the manufacturing, processing or handling of food products can use HACCP to minimize or eliminate food safety hazards in their product
Conduct a Hazard Analysis
This is where you evaluate your processes and identify where hazards can be introduced. Establish a maximum or minimum limit for temperature, time, pH, salt level, chlorine level or processing characteristic that will control the hazard.
The next step is to establish criteria for each critical control point; but what criteria must be met to control the hazard at that point? What will you measure and how will you measure it?
You need to monitor the process at the critical control point and keep records to show that the critical limits have been met. Can you do continuous monitoring of the control point? If not, how often will the measurements need to be performed to show that the process is under control?
Establish Corrective Actions
You will establish what actions need to be taken if a critical limit is not met. This will be identified ahead of time for each CCP. The action must make sure that no unsafe product is released. There must also be an evaluation of the process to determine the cause of the problem and the elimination of the cause.
Establish Record Keeping Procedures
You will determine what records are needed to show that the critical limits have been met, and the system is in control. Address regulatory requirements and include records from the development of the system and the operation of the system.
Establish Verification Procedures
The HACCP plan must be validated. Once the plan is in place, make sure it is effective in preventing the hazards identified. Test the end product, verify that the controls are working as planned. Perform ongoing verification of the system.
12 Steps to Develop A HACCP Plan
1. Assemble the HACCP Team
The first step is assembling a team of individuals who have specific knowledge and expertise about the product and process. The multidisciplinary team should include individuals from departments such as:
- Engineering
- Production
- Sanitation
- Quality assurance
- Food microbiology
Don’t forget to include local personnel who are involved in the operation. The team may benefit from outside experts to weigh in on potential biological, chemical and/or physical hazards, bit these experts should serve as consultants, not as a replacement for your HACCP team.
2. Describe the Product
First, the HACCP team provides a general description of the food, ingredients and processing methods. Then the method of distribution should be described along with information on whether the food is to be distributed frozen, refrigerated or at ambient temperature.
3. Identify the Intended Use and Consumers
Describe the normal expected use of the food. The intended consumers may be the general public or a particular segment of the population (e.g., infants, immunocompromised individuals, the elderly, etc.)
4. Construct Flow Diagram to Describe the Process
The flow diagram should provide a clear, simple outline of all the steps involved in the process that is directly under the control of the establishment. The flow diagram can also include steps in the food chain which come before and after the processing that occurs in the establishment.
The diagram can be a block-type design; it doesn’t need to be as complex as engineering drawings. It should also include a simple schematic of the facility; such inclusion may prove to be useful for understanding product and process flow.
5. On-Site Confirmation of Flow Diagram
The HACCP team should perform an on-site review of the operation to verify the accuracy and completeness of the flow diagram, and modifications should be made to the diagram as needed. After these first five preliminary tasks have been completed, the following seven principles of HACCP are applied.
6. Conduct a Hazard Analysis (Principle 1)
At this point, the HACCP team conducts a hazard analysis and identifies appropriate control measures. They should list all potential hazards associated with each step. Note that a hazard is defined as a biological, chemical or physical agent that is reasonably likely to cause illness or injury in the absence of its control (i.e. safety concerns, not quality concerns).
The process of conducting a hazard analysis involves two stages:
1) Hazard Identification: During this “brainstorming session” stage, the HACCP team reviews the ingredients used in the product, the activities conducted at each step and the equipment used, the final product and its method of storage and distribution, and the intended use and consumers. Based on this review, the team develops a list of potential biological, chemical or physical hazards that may be introduced, increased or controlled at each step in the production process.
2) Hazard Evaluation: During this stage, the HACCP team evaluates the severity and likelihood of each potential hazard occurring and decides which ones must be addressed in the HACCP plan. Such considerations do not include common dietary choices which lie outside of HACCP.
After completing the hazard analysis, the hazards associated with each step in the production of the food should be listed along with any measures that are used to control the hazards. The term “control measure” is used because not all hazards can be prevented, but virtually all can be controlled. Note that More than one control measure may be required for a specific hazard, and more than one hazard may be addressed by a specific control measure (e.g., pasteurization of milk).
7. Determine Critical Control Points (CCPs) (Principle 2)
A critical control point is defined as a step at which control can be applied and is essential to prevent or eliminate a food safety hazard or reduce it to an acceptable level. The potential hazards that are reasonably likely to cause illness or injury in the absence of their control must be addressed in determining CCPs.
One strategy to facilitate the identification of each CCP is the use of a CCP decision tree. Keep in mind that a decision tree is merely a tool; it is not a mandatory element of HACCP, nor is it a substitute for expert knowledge.
Examples of CCPs may include:
- Chilling
- Thermal processing
- Product formulation control
- Testing ingredients for chemical residues
- Testing product for metal contaminants
CCPs must be carefully developed and documented. In addition, they must be used only for the purposes of product safety. Different facilities preparing similar food items can differ in the hazards identified and the steps which are CCPs. This can be due to differences in each facility’s layout, equipment, selection of ingredients, processes employed, etc.
8. Establish Critical Limits for Each CCP (Principle 3)
A critical limit is a maximum and/or minimum value to which a biological, chemical or physical parameter must be controlled at a CCP to prevent, eliminate or reduce to an acceptable level the occurrence of a food safety hazard. A critical limit is used to distinguish between safe and unsafe operating conditions at a CCP. Critical limits should not be confused with operational limits which are established for reasons other than food safety.
Each CCP will have one or more control measures to assure that the identified hazards are prevented, eliminated or reduced to acceptable levels. Each control measure has one or more associated critical limits.
Critical limits may be based upon factors such as:
- Temperature
- Time
- Physical dimensions
- Humidity
- Moisture level
- Water activity
- pH
- Titratable acidity
- Salt concentration
- Available chlorine
- Viscosity
- Preservatives
- Sensory information such as aroma and visual appearance
Critical limits must be scientifically based. For each CCP, there is at least one criterion for food safety that is to be met. The critical limits and criteria for food safety may be derived from sources such as regulatory standards and guidelines, literature surveys, experimental results, and experts.
9. Establish a Monitoring System for Each CCP (Principle 4)
Monitoring is a planned sequence of observations or measurements to assess whether a CCP is under control and to produce an accurate record for future use in verification.
Monitoring serves three main purposes:
- It facilitates tracking of the operation. If monitoring indicates that there is a trend towards loss of control, then action can be taken to bring the process back into control before a deviation from a critical limit occurs.
- It is used to determine when there is loss of control and a deviation occurs at a CCP (i.e., exceeding or not meeting a critical limit). When a deviation occurs, appropriate corrective action must be taken.
- It provides written documentation for use in verification.
Ideally, monitoring should be continuous, which is possible with many types of physical and chemical methods. Continuous monitoring is always preferred when feasible, but monitoring equipment must be carefully calibrated for accuracy.
The assignment of the responsibility for monitoring is an important consideration for each CCP. Personnel who monitor CCPs are often associated with production (e.g., line supervisors, selected line workers and maintenance personnel) and, as required, quality control personnel. All records and documents associated with CCP monitoring should be dated and signed or initialed by the person doing the monitoring.
When it is not possible to monitor a CCP on a continuous basis, it is necessary to establish a monitoring frequency and procedure that will be reliable enough to indicate that the CCP is under control, such as statistically designed data collection or sampling systems.
10. Establish Corrective Actions (Principle 5)
No system is perfect, so when preventive measures fail, corrective actions must be in place to prevent potentially hazardous foods from reaching consumers.
Corrective actions should:
- Determine and correct the cause of non-compliance
- Determine the disposition of the non-compliant product
- Record the corrective actions that have been taken
Specific corrective actions should be developed in advance for each CCP and included in the HACCP plan. As a minimum, the HACCP plan should specify what is done when a deviation occurs, who is responsible for implementing the corrective actions and that a record will be developed and maintained of the actions taken. Individuals who have a thorough understanding of the process, product and HACCP plan should be assigned the responsibility for oversight of corrective actions.
11. Establish Verification Procedures (Principle 6)
Verification is defined as those activities, other than monitoring, that determine the validity of the HACCP plan and that the system is operating according to the plan.
One aspect of verification is evaluating whether the facility’s HACCP system is functioning according to the HACCP plan. An effective HACCP system requires little end-product testing since sufficient validated safeguards are built in early in the process. Therefore, rather than relying on end-product testing, firms should rely on frequent reviews of their HACCP plan, verification that the HACCP plan is being correctly followed, and review of CCP monitoring and corrective action records.
Another important aspect of verification is the initial validation of the HACCP plan to determine that the plan is scientifically and technically sound, that all hazards have been identified and that if the HACCP plan is properly implemented these hazards will be effectively controlled.
Information needed to validate the HACCP plan often include:
- Expert advice and scientific studies
- In-plant observations, measurements, and evaluations
Subsequent validations are performed and documented by a HACCP team or an independent expert as needed. For example, validations are conducted when there is an unexplained system failure; a significant product, process or packaging change occurs, or new hazards are recognized.
12. Establish Documentation and Record-Keeping (Principle 7)
Generally, the records maintained for the HACCP System should include the following:
- A summary of the hazard analysis, including the rationale for determining hazards and control measures
- The HACCP Plan
- Listing of the HACCP team and assigned responsibilities
- Description of the food, its distribution, intended use and consumer
- Verified flow diagram
- HACCP Plan Summary Table that includes information for:
- Steps in the process that are CCPs
- The hazard(s) of concern
- Critical limits
- Monitoring
- Correction actions
- Verification procedures and schedule
- Record-keeping procedures
