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# The HACCP System The HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points) system is a system that identifies, evaluates, and controls hazards that are significant for food safety. ## What is HACCP? In its simplest form, HACCP identifies potential food safety problems and determines the most efficien...

# The HACCP System The HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points) system is a system that identifies, evaluates, and controls hazards that are significant for food safety. ## What is HACCP? In its simplest form, HACCP identifies potential food safety problems and determines the most efficient way to prevent, reduce, or eliminate them. To ensure that these preventive or control measures are executed regularly and consistently, they must be described, and the people who execute them must be trained. HACCP involves careful recordkeeping to document how the system was developed and demonstrate that the process was under control during a given period. The results are also used to improve the system. ## Origin and Evolution of the HACCP System - During the 1960s, several entities collaborated to produce food items for US military personnel and space programs: - The Pillsbury Company - The US Army Laboratories at Natick, MA - The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) - To guarantee that astronauts would not become seriously ill during a space mission, NASA had enacted strict specifications on the food items it used. - Several engineers recognized that the Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA), used by the military to test the reliability of electrical components, could be adapted to assess hazards and control measures in food production. - This is where the first seeds of HACCP were planted. - The development of HACCP and its use in the food industry hastened in 1971. Farina, a baby food produced by The Pillsbury Company, was contaminated with shattered glass. - Pillsbury's Director of Research, Dr. Howard Bauman, decided to apply the food safety management used in NASA to all Pillsbury consumer food production. - This was the first time HACCP was used in food production for regular consumers. - Multiple canned food items were recalled from the market in the same year because of contamination of *C. Botulinum* (bacteria causing botulism, a severe form of food poisoning). - Because of this event, the US Food and Drug Administration contracted with The Pillsbury Company in 1972 to conduct a training program for its personnel responsible for the safety of canned food items. - The newly trained inspectors then published the canned food regulations in 1973. It was the first time HACCP was included in a food safety regulatory system. ## Important Terms Used in HACCP - **Hazard:** This is a biological, chemical, or physical agent in or condition of food with the potential to cause an adverse health effect. - **Hazardous agents:** It may be bacteria, viruses, molds, parasites, toxins, chemicals, and other foreign materials. - **Adverse health effects:** This may include acute illnesses like choking, vomiting, abdominal cramps, diarrhea, nausea, and fever; chronic illnesses like chronic infections, damage to various organs, and cancer; and death. - **Acceptable levels:** Not all levels (or sizes) of all agents (contaminants) are harmful to all individuals under all conditions. Agents are acceptable if their levels remain below a certain maximum. - **Increase or Decrease in Level:** If an agent is present in a food at a low, acceptable level, its increase to an unacceptable level should be prevented. If an agent is present in a food at a high, unacceptable level, its reduction to an acceptable level should be assured. - **Control:** It means having things under control (noun) or to direct, regulate, or command (verb).