HACCP and DAP Plan Development

Study Notes

Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) and Defect Action Point (DAP) plans require consultation with Section 5 for guidance on application principles.
The scope of this Code does not provide details on critical limits, monitoring, record-keeping, and verification for each step, as these are specific to each hazard or defect.

Bivalve molluscs species, such as oysters, mussels, manila and hard shell clams, can survive for extended periods out of water and are traded for human consumption as live animals.
Other species like cockles can be traded live if carefully handled, but are normally processed.
Species not adapted to dry conditions soon die out of water and are best handled as chilled products or processed.

The main hazard is microbiological contamination of the water in which they grow, especially when intended to be eaten live or raw.
Molluscs concentrate contaminants to a much higher degree than in the surrounding seawater due to being filter feeders.
Contamination with bacteria and viruses in the growing area is critical for end-product specification and determines process requirements for further processing.

Gastro-enteritis and other serious diseases, such as hepatitis, can occur due to agricultural runoff and/or sewage contamination with enteric bacterial and/or viral pathogens.
Hazards also include biotoxins produced by some algae, causing various forms of serious poisoning like diarrhetic shellfish poisoning (DSP), paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP), neurotoxic shellfish poisoning (NSP), amnesic shellfish poisoning (ASP), or poisoning caused by azaspiracid (AZP).
Chemical substances, such as heavy metals, pesticides, and organochlorides, and petrochemical substances may also present hazards in certain areas.

Relaying, processing to reduce or limit target organisms, classification, and monitoring of growing areas, harvesting, transportation, reception, washing/declumping/debyssing/grading, shucking/hand & mechanical shucking/heat shock, raw packaging and labelling, raw storage, and distribution/transportation are key processing steps.