Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points

Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) is a systematic preventive approach to food safety and pharmaceutical safety that addresses physical, chemical, and biological hazards as a means of prevention rather than finished product inspection. HACCP is used in the food industry to identify potential food safety hazards, so that key actions, known as Critical Control Points (CCP's) can be taken to reduce or eliminate the risk of the hazards being realized. The system is used at all stages of food production and preparation processes including packaging, distribution, etc. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) use mandatory juice, seafood, meat and poultry HACCP programs as an effective approach to food safety and protecting public health. Meat and poultry HACCP systems are regulated by the USDA, while seafood and juice are regulated by the FDA. The use of HACCP is currently voluntary in other food industries. Food Safety Research Information Office. [http://fsrio.nal.usda.gov/document_fsheet.php?product_id=155 "A Focus on Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points"] . Created June 2003, Updated March 2008.]

A forerunner to HACCP was developed in the form of production process monitoring during World War II because traditional "end of the pipe" testing wasn't an efficient way to ferret out artillery shells that would not explode. HACCP itself was conceived in the 1960s when the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) asked Pillsbury to design and manufacture the first foods for space flights. Since then, HACCP has been recognized internationally as a logical tool for adapting traditional inspection methods to a modern, science-based, food safety system. Based on risk-assessment, HACCP plans allow both industry and government to allocate their resources efficiently in establishing and auditing safe food production practices. In 1994, the organization of "International HACCP Alliance" was established initially for the US meat and poultry industries to assist them with implementing HACCP and now its membership has been spread over other professional/industrial areas.cite web
last = International HACCP Alliance
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title = International HACCP Alliance
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url = http://haccpalliance.org/alliance/HACCPall.pdf
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accessdate = 12 October
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Hence, HACCP has been increasingly applied to industries other than food, such as cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. This method, which in effect seeks to plan out unsafe practices, differs from traditional "produce and test" quality assurance methods which are less successful and inappropriate for highly perishable foods. In the US, HACCP compliance is regulated by 21 CFR part 120 and 123. Similarly, FAO/WHO published a guideline for all governments to handle the issue in small and less developed food businesses.cite web
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title = FAO/WHO guidance to governments on the application of HACCP in small and/or less-developed food businesses
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url = ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/009/a0799e/a0799e00.pdf
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The HACCP Seven Principles

Principle 1: Conduct a hazard analysis. Plants determine the food safety hazards and identify the preventive measures the plant can apply to control these hazards. A food safety hazard is any biological, chemical, or physical property that may cause a food to be unsafe for human consumption. Principle 2: Identify critical control points. A Critical Control Point (CCP) is a point, step, or procedure in a food process at which control can be applied and, as a result, a food safety hazard can be prevented, eliminated, or reduced to an acceptable level. Principle 3: Establish critical limits for each critical control point. A critical limit is the maximum or minimum value to which a physical, biological, or chemical hazard must be controlled at a critical control point to prevent, eliminate, or reduce to an acceptable level.

Principle 4: Establish critical control point monitoring requirements.Monitoring activities are necessary to ensure that the process is under control at each critical control point. In the United States, the FSIS is requiring that each monitoring procedure and its frequency be listed in the HACCP plan. Principle 5: Establish corrective actions. These are actions to be taken when monitoring indicates a deviation from an established critical limit. The final rule requires a plant's HACCP plan to identify the corrective actions to be taken if a critical limit is not met. Corrective actions are intended to ensure that no product injurious to health or otherwise adulterated as a result of the deviation enters commerce. Principle 6: Establish record keeping procedures. The HACCP regulation requires that all plants maintain certain documents, including its hazard analysis and written HACCP plan, and records documenting the monitoring of critical control points, critical limits, verification activities, and the handling of processing deviations.

Principle 7: Establish procedures for ensuring the HACCP system is working as intended.
Validation ensures that the plants do what they were designed to do; that is, they are successful in ensuring the production of safe product. Plants will be required to validate their own HACCP plans. FSIS will not approve HACCP plans in advance, but will review them for conformance with the final rule.
Verification ensures the HACCP plan is adequate, that is, working as intended. Verification procedures may include such activities as review of HACCP plans, CCP records, critical limits and microbial sampling and analysis. FSIS is requiring that the HACCP plan include verification tasks to be performed by plant personnel. Verification tasks would also be performed by FSIS inspectors. Both FSIS and industry will undertake microbial testing as one of several verification activities.Verification also includes 'validation' - the process of finding evidence for the accuracy of the HACCP system (e.g. scientific evidence for critical limitations).

The seven HACCP principles are included in the international system ISO 22000. This standard is a complete food safety management system incorporating the elements of prerequisite programmes for food safety, HACCP and quality management system which together form an organization’s Total Quality Management.

HACCP certification

HACCP management system certifications are only offered by several commercial enthusiasts.cite web
last = TQ Vision
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title = Welcome to TQ Vision
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url = http://tqvision.com/
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accessdate = 9 October
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last = International Certifications Limited
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title = International Certifications
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url = http://www.intlcert.com/
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accessdate = 9 October
accessyear = 2007 ] However, ASQ does provide Certified HACCP Auditor (CHA) exam to individuals seeking the professional certification.cite web
last = American Society for Quality
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title = HACCP Auditor Certification - CHA
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url = http://www.asq.org/certification/haccp-auditor/index.html
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HACCP application (USA)

* Fish and fishery products cite web
last = Food and Drug Administration
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title = Fish and fisheries products hazards and controls guidance, third edition
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url = http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~comm/haccp4.html
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accessdate = 14 October
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* Fresh-cut produces cite web
last = Food and Drug Administration
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title = (draft) Guide to minimize microbial food safety hazards of fresh-cut fruits and vegetables
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url = http://www2a.cdc.gov/phlp/docs/US%20FDA_CFSAN_Food%20Safet.pdf
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accessdate = 14 October
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* Juice and nectary products cite web
last = Food and Drug Administration
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title = Guidance for Industry: Juice HACCP Hazards and Controls Guidance, First Edition
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url = http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/juicgu10.html
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accessdate = 14 October
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* Food outlets cite web
last = Food and Drug Administration
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title = Managing Food Safety: A HACCP Principles Guide for Operators of Food Establishments at the Retail Level (Draft)
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url = http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/hret-toc.html
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accessdate = 14 October
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* Meat and poultry products cite web
last = Food Safety and Inspection Service
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title = FSIS Microbiological Hazard Identification Guide For Meat And Poultry Components Of Products Produced By Very Small Plants
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url = http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Frame/FrameRedirect.asp?main=http://www.fsis.usda.gov/oa/haccp/hidguide.htm
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accessdate = 14 October
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* School food and services cite web
last = United States Department of Agriculture
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title = Guidance for school food authorities: developing a school food safety program based on the process approach to HACCP principles
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url = http://www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/lunch/Downloadable/HACCPGuidance.pdf
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accessdate = 14 October
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HACCP implementation

It involves monitoring, verifying and validating of the daily work that is compliant with regulatory requirements in all stages all the time. The differences among those three types of work are given by Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food cite web
last = Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food
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title = Monitoring, Verification and Validation
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url = http://www.agriculture.gov.sk.ca/Default.aspx?DN=3b6394ed-c078-42db-b1ab-879a52a93873
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accessdate = 20 March
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HACCP Software

Software for HACCP (or ISO 22000) has mainly focused on a document management approach. The available software usually involve a programme which records the determination of the seven principles (or the practical 13 steps) in planning a HACCP system for an organization and associated documentations. Whilst this is useful in assisting in the planning – software for HACCP (or ISO 22000) needs to address the actual implementation of the HACCP plan and the subsequent day-to-day practical operations and management of the plan such as Critical Control Point monitoring, Corrective Action, traceability etc. Such requirement puts the software specification much closer to those of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and process control software. Aspects such as product specifications, real time monitoring of production parameters, automated alerts of monitoring jobs, corrective action required, etc are seldom integrated in the software commonly seen in the market. Data collected should also be stored in a database for easy manipulation.

[http://www.visionforfood.com Vision For Food] : an integrated modular software covering all food safety aspects in any production facilities to achieve HACCP, ISO22000 and TQM (software assisted: planning, implementation and on-going operations and management). The Software runs on a SQL database and thus data collected forms a knowledge database strengthening any TQM systems - easing anlysis of data for process control, root cause, corrective action, continual improvement, etc. The software modules include the following core functionalities:

♦ Total Quality Management

♦ Product Recipe Definition Management

♦ New Product Development

♦ Stage Gate Process Design

♦ New Product Costing

♦ Raw Material Specifications

♦ Finished Goods Specifications

♦ HACCP/ISO 22000 Design & Compliance

♦ HACCP Prerequisites

♦ Paperless Monitoring

♦ HACCP Monitoring

♦ Quality Assurance Monitoring

♦ Process Control Monitoring

♦ Production Systems Monitoring

♦ Batch Traceability

♦ Assured Quality Levels

♦ Supplier Performance

♦ Nutritional Breakdown

♦ Process Automation

MyHaccp is a work tool that manages the six prerequisite programs and the various control points of the HACCP system. It allows the HACCP team to plan, organize, execute, verify, trace and visualize all aspects of the HACCP system in the same software environment. cite web
last = MyHaccp.ca
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title = Software environment for managing the HACCP System
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url = http://www.myhaccp.ca
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accessdate = 20 August
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MyHaccpPlan is a comprehensive software for creating HACCP plans (Forms 1 to 10) by using reliable and tested generic models. It has been thought and developed specifically for helping HACCP Coordinator in the development and/or the maintenance of HACCP plans. cite web
last = MyHaccpPlan.com
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title = Software for creating and managing HACCP plans
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url = http://www.myhaccpplan.com
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accessdate = 20 August
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Notes

See also

* Failure mode and effects analysis
* Failure Mode, Effects, and Criticality Analysis
* Fault tree analysis
* Food safety
*Design Review Based on Failure Mode
* Fast food restaurant
* Hazard analysis
* Hazop
* Hygiene
* Sanitation
* Sanitation Standard Operating Procedures
* Codex Alimentarius

External links

* [http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Science/Generic_HACCP_Models/index.asp Small & Very Small Plant Outreach] - FSIS guidances for meat and poultry products
* [http://www.ifsqn.com/forum/index.php HACCP Discussion Forum]
* [http://community.postnuke.com/module-Database-viewpub-tid-3-pid-179.htm HACCP Postnuke Module]
* [http://www.cpe.rutgers.edu/programs/haccp.html Rutgers University HACCP Courses and HACCP Training]
* [http://www.triballearn.com/food_safety/index.php Online Food Safety Management Course incorporating HACCP]
* [http://www.now-what.pt/software/haccp.html Software HACCP (portuguese)]
* [http://www.inspection.gc.ca Canadian Food Inspection Agency] Contains free templates and guides for HACCP programs to meet Canadian Food and Drug Regulations for the public but targeting federally registered establishments.