HACCP — Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points — is the internationally recognized system for controlling food safety hazards. It is built on seven principles defined by the Codex Alimentarius.
Before the seven principles
Assemble a multidisciplinary team, describe the product and its intended use, draw a flow diagram and confirm it on site. Prerequisite programs such as hygiene, pest control and cleaning must already be in place.
The seven principles
- Conduct a hazard analysis: biological, chemical, physical and allergen hazards at each step
- Determine the critical control points (CCPs)
- Establish critical limits for each CCP
- Establish monitoring procedures
- Establish corrective actions when a limit is exceeded
- Establish verification procedures
- Establish documentation and record keeping
HACCP and certification schemes
HACCP is the core of ISO 22000, FSSC 22000, BRCGS and IFS. Those schemes add management system requirements, but a weak HACCP study undermines all of them.
