HACCP System Overview

HACCP System

• Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) system is a structured, preventative food safety management technique, defined by the Codex Committee on Food Hygiene.
• It's a powerful technique based on seven principles, achieving safety through hazard identification and control.
• HACCP needs to be supported by prerequisite programs.

What is HACCP?

• HACCP is a systematic, preventive approach to food safety and pharmaceutical safety that focuses on preventing hazards rather than inspecting the final product.
• Its objective is to monitor and protect food from contamination.

Need for Safety & Quality Control in Food Production

• Food safety systems need reevaluation due to:
  • New foodborne illnesses,
  • Changing global food supply,
  • New food processing techniques,
  • Changing consumer eating habits,
  • Increased risk of foodborne illness,
  • Major incidents of foodborne illness,
  • Worldwide implications,
  • Biological, chemical, or physical hazards,
  • Contaminated raw materials,
  • Mishandling,
  • Change of product formulation,
  • Cross-contamination,
  • Inadequate maintenance,
  • Wrong addition of ingredients,
  • Direct and indirect costs.

Examples of Food Safety Issues

• 1985: Mexican style soft cheese in the USA, linked to Listeria monocytogenes (47 deaths, $400 million in reported lawsuits).
• 1985: Infant dried milk in the UK, linked to Salmonella (76 deaths, £22 million).
• 1987: Soft cheese in Switzerland, linked to Listeria monocytogenes (30 deaths, $880,000).
• 1988: Hazelnut yoghurt in the UK, linked to Clostridium botulinum (1 death, impact on companies).
• 1994: Ice cream in the USA, linked to Salmonella Enteritidis.
• 2007: Cadbury Schweppes products in the UK (no deaths).
• 2008: Peanut butter in the USA, linked to Salmonella Typhimurium (500 affected, 2,100 products recalled).

Traditional Methods of Food Safety & Quality Assurance

• Traditional methods rely on end-product testing, which gives a false sense of security, is expensive and ineffective.
• Codes of practice (GMP/GHP) are general but essential.

Advantages of HACCP over Traditional Inspection Methods

• HACCP proactively anticipates and controls problems instead of reacting after they occur.
• HACCP provides a broader description, tracking food handling and practices over time, reflecting actual conditions.
• HACCP is focused on controlling critical time, temperature, and specific factors linked to outbreaks, while traditional methods concentrate on aesthetic issues.

HACCP Principles

• Define the process.
• Identify hazards that might occur.
• Identify points critical to product safety.
• Manage these points effectively.
• Verify that the system is working properly.
  • Objective: Monitor and protect food from contamination.
  • More emphasis on food handling during storage, preparation, and service.
  • Less emphasis on general sanitation.

Origins of HACCP

• Developed in the 1960s as a microbiological safety program in the early days of US manned space programs.
• Developed by the Pillsbury Company alongside NASA and US Army laboratories.
• Designed to ensure the safety of food for space flights.

The Seven Principles of HACCP

1. Conduct a hazard analysis.
2. Identify critical control points (CCPs) in food preparation.
3. Establish critical limits (thresholds) that must be met at each CCP.
4. Establish procedures to monitor CCPs.
5. Establish corrective actions to be taken when monitoring indicates a critical limit has been exceeded.
6. Establish procedures to verify that the HACCP system is working.
7. Establish effective record-keeping to document the HACCP system.

What is a HACCP Plan?

• A written document based on HACCP principles, outlining procedures to be followed.
• It requires support from prerequisite programs.

Prerequisite Programs

• Apply across the site to generally applicable activities.
• Often called "Good Manufacturing Practices" (GMP), which are essential but not sufficient.
• Provide a strong foundation for HACCP.
• Focus on the management of critical food safety hazards.
  • Training and personal hygiene, including illness reporting, protective clothing, hair and jewellery management, and hand washing.
  • Premises, encompassing building and machinery design, cleaning, pest control, waste and drainage management, chemical hazards control, and glass/foreign object control.
  • Product, including raw material control, product design, HACCP, and QA checks.
  • Distribution, which requires protecting food from contamination and damage, and controlling temperature.
  • Retailers, focusing on proper storage, product traceability and recall systems.
  • Consumers involving product information on storage and handling

HACCP Plan - Scope

• Which product?
• Which process?
• Whole process or module?
• Start and end points?
• Type of hazard to be considered: Microbiological, chemical, Physical.

HACCP Plan - Additional Factors

• Principal raw materials, Recipe: Intrinsic control factors (pH, water activity).
• Principal process technologies (heating, drying, high pressure, fermentation).
• Packaging and finished product state.
• Target consumer group.
• Potential methods of abuse.

HACCP Plan - Process Flow Chart

• Construct a flow chart to follow food from start to finish.
• Identify high-risk activities throughout the process.
• Assess potential hazards at each step.
• Determine effective control measures for each hazard.

Principle 1: Conduct a Hazard Analysis

• Identify hazards that might be introduced to food by production practices or intended product use.

  • Potentially hazardous foods: Meats, dairy products, poultry/eggs, cooked foods (beans, pasta, rice, potatoes), cut cantaloupe, raw seed sprouts.

• Types of hazards: Biological, Chemical, Physical.

Principle 2: Identify Critical Control Points (CCPs)

• A step where control can be applied and is essential to prevent, eliminate or reduce a food safety hazard to an acceptable level, acting as a "kill step" or control to prevent or slow bacterial growth.

• Examples of CCPs: Cooking, reheating, hot-holding, chilling, chilled storage, chilled display, receiving, thawing, mixing ingredients, purchasing foods from approved sources.

CCPs and Operations

• Time, temperature, acidity, purchasing and receiving procedures (seafood, modified atmosphere packaged foods), thawing of ready-to-eat foods, preventing hazards.
• Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) (good hygiene practices, handwashing, preventing cross-contamination, effective equipment and utensil cleaning).

Principle 3: Establish Critical Limits

• Set limits for biological, chemical, or physical hazards at each CCP to prevent or reduce hazards to safe levels.

• Each CCP has limits (Examples: Time, Temperature, Water activity, pH).

• Critical limits should be scientifically determined, validated, and easily measurable using tests or observations.

Principle 4: Establish Monitoring Procedures

• Making observations and measurements at CCPs to determine if control is in place.
• Who, when, how, and what to monitor.
  • Examples: Continuous temperature monitoring, measuring pH, visually checking cleaning procedures, recording inspection intervals.

Principle 5: Establish Corrective Actions

• Actions to take when critical limits are exceeded (e.g., discarding food, readjusting equipment, restarting procedures).
• Identify the cause of deviation, choose a corrective action that stops the process and returns it to the correct operating parameters, and implement the corrective action.

Principle 6: Establish Procedures for Verification

• Verifying that the HACCP system operates effectively to prevent hazards at an acceptable level.
• Performing internal audits, microbiological tests on intermediate and final products, customer complaint reviews, cleaning efficiency checks, and reviewing the HACCP plan regularly.

Principle 7: Establish Record-Keeping System

• Developing and maintaining a written HACCP plan (list of HACCP team members, food product description, flow diagrams of preparation steps).
• Including hazard descriptions, preventive measures, critical limits for each CCP, monitoring procedures for each CCP, corrective action plans, records of each step.

Examples of Documents Included in the HACCP System

• List of HACCP team members and their responsibilities
• Description of the food product and its intended use
• Flow diagram of food preparation steps with CCPs indicated
• Hazards associated with each CCP and preventive measures
• Critical limits
• Monitoring systems
• Corrective action plans
• Record-keeping procedures
• Procedures for verification of the HACCP system