HACCP

HACCP: A State-of-the-Art Approach to Food Safety
Space-age technology designed to keep food safe in outer space may soon become
standard here on Earth.
Traditionally, industry and regulators have depended on spot-checks of manufacturing
conditions and random sampling of final products to ensure safe food. This approach,
however, tends to be reactive, rather than preventive, and can be less efficient than the
new system.
The new system is known as Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point, or
HACCP (Pronounced hassip). Many of its principles already are in place in the FDA-
regulated low-acid canned food industry. FDA also established HACCP for the seafood
industry in a final rule December 18, 1995 and for the juice industry in a final rule
released January 19, 2001. The final rule for the juice industry will take effect on
January 22, 2002 for large and medium businesses, January 21, 2003 for small
businesses, and January 20, 2004 for very small businesses.
In 1998, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has established HACCP for meat and
poultry processing plants, as well. Most of these establishments were required to start
using HACCP by January 1999. Very small plants had until Jan. 25, 2000. (USDA
regulates meat and poultry; FDA all other foods.)
FDA now is considering developing regulations that would establish HACCP as the food
safety standard throughout other areas of the food industry, including both domestic
and imported food products.
HACCP has been endorsed by the National Academy of Sciences, the Codex
Alimentarius Commission (an international food standard-setting organization), and the
National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods.
The Indian standard is based on the revision of the guidelines for the application of
the HACCP system CAC/GL 18-1993 and is identical to it. The revision has now been
included as Annex to the third revision of recommended International Code of Practice--
-General Principles of Food Hygiene [CAC/RCP-1] which was adopted be the codex
Alimentarius Commission, at its twenty second session [ALINORM 97/13 A]
IS No. 2491:1972 Code for hygienic conditions for food processing units
IS /ISO 9001:1994 Quality systems-Model for quality assurance in design,
development, production, installation and servicing

Kamtech Associates Pvt. Ltd.
307,218, Shri Gopal Tower, Nr. Ahinsa Circle, C-scheme, Jaipur 302001
Ph: +91-141-377559,371308, E-mail: kamtech@kamtechassociates.com

What is HACCP?
HACCP involves seven principles:
Analyze hazards. Potential hazards associated with a food and measures to
control those hazards are identified. The hazard could be biological, such as a
microbe; chemical, such as a toxin; or physical, such as ground glass or metal
fragments.
Identify critical control points. These are points in a food's production--from
its raw state through processing and shipping to consumption by the consumer--
at which the potential hazard can be controlled or eliminated. Examples are
cooking, cooling, packaging, and metal detection.
Establish preventive measures with critical limits for each control
point. For a cooked food, for example, this might include setting the minimum
cooking temperature and time required to ensure the elimination of any harmful
microbes.
Establish procedures to monitor the critical control points. Such
procedures might include determining how and by whom cooking time and
temperature should be monitored.
Establish corrective actions to be taken when monitoring shows that a
critical limit has not been met--for example, reprocessing or disposing of
food if the minimum cooking temperature is not met.
Establish procedures to verify that the system is working properly--for
example, testing time-and-temperature recording devices to verify that a cooking
unit is working properly.
Establish effective record keeping to document the HACCP system. This
would include records of hazards and their control methods, the monitoring of
safety requirements and action taken to correct potential problems. Each of
these principles must be backed by sound scientific knowledge: for example,
published microbiological studies on time and temperature factors for controlling
food borne pathogens.
Need for HACCP
New challenges to the U.S. food supply have prompted FDA to consider adopting a
HACCP-based food safety system on a wider basis. One of the most important
challenges is the increasing number of new food pathogens. For example, between
1973 and 1988, bacteria not previously recognized as important causes of food-borne
illness--such as Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Salmonella enteritidis--became more
widespread.
There also is increasing public health concern about chemical contamination of food: for
example, the effects of lead in food on the nervous system.


Another important factor is that the size of the food industry and the diversity of
products and processes have grown tremendously--in the amount of domestic food
manufactured and the number and kinds of foods imported. At the same time, FDA and
state and local agencies have the same limited level of resources to ensure food safety.
The need for HACCP in the United States, particularly in the seafood and juice
industries, is further fueled by the growing trend in international trade for worldwide
equivalence of food products and the Codex Alimentarious Commission's adoption of
HACCP as the international standard for food safety.
Advantages
HACCP offers a number of advantages over the current system. Most importantly,
HACCP:
Focuses on identifying and preventing hazards from contaminating food
Is based on sound science & scientific Methods
Permits more efficient and effective government oversight, primarily because the
record keeping allows investigators to see how well a firm is complying with food
safety laws over a period rather than how well it is doing on any given day
Places responsibility for ensuring food safety appropriately on the food
manufacturer or distributor
Helps food companies compete more effectively in the world market
Reduces barriers to international trade.
Some Definitions
CCP Decision Tree:
A sequence of questions to assist in determining whether a control point is a
CCP.

Control:
(a) To manage the conditions of an operation to maintain compliance with
established criteria.
(b) The state where correct procedures are being followed and criteria are being
met.

Control Point:
Any step at which biological, chemical, or physical factors can be controlled.

Corrective Action:
Procedures followed when a deviation occurs.


Critical Control Point:
A step at which control can be applied and is essential to prevent or eliminate a
food safety hazard or reduce it to an acceptable level.

Deviation:
Failure to meet a critical limit.

HACCP:
A systematic approach to the identification, evaluation, and control of food safety
hazards.

HACCP Plan:
The written document which is based upon the principles of HACCP and which
delineates the procedures to be followed.

HACCP Team:
The group of people who are responsible for developing, implementing and
maintaining the HACCP system.
Hazard:
A biological, chemical, or physical agent that is reasonably likely to cause illness
or injury in the absence of its control.

Monitor:
To conduct a planned sequence of observations or measurements to assess
whether a CCP is under control and to produce an accurate record for future use
in verification.

Step:
A point, procedure, operation or stage in the food system from primary
production to final consumption.

Verification:
Those activities, other than monitoring, that determine the validity of the HACCP
plan and that the system is operating according to the plan.


HACCP PRINCIPLES
HACCP is a systematic approach to the identification, evaluation, and control of
food safety hazards based on the following seven principles:
Principle 1: Conduct a hazard analysis.
Principle 2: Determine the critical control points (CCPs).
Principle 3: Establish critical limits.
Principle 4: Establish monitoring procedures.
Principle 5: Establish corrective actions.
Principle 6: Establish verification procedures.
Principle 7: Establish record-keeping and documentation
procedures.
Education and Training
The success of a HACCP system depends on educating and training management
and employees in the importance of their role in producing safe foods. This
should also include information the control of foodborne hazards related to all
stages of the food chain. It is important to recognize that employees must first
understand what HACCP is and then learn the skills necessary to make it function
properly. Specific training activities should include working instructions and
procedures that outline the tasks of employees monitoring each CCP.
Management must provide adequate time for thorough education and training.
Personnel must be given the materials and equipment necessary to perform
these tasks. Effective training is an important prerequisite to successful
implementation of a HACCP plan.



Conduct a hazard analysis (Principle 1)
Determine critical control points (CCPs)
(Principle 2)
Establish critical limits (Principle 3)
Establish monitoring procedures (Principle 4)
Establish corrective actions (Principle 5)
Establish verification procedures (Principle 6)
Establish record-keeping and documentation
procedures (Principle 7)
HACCP Certification
Assemble the HACCP Team
Describe the Food and its Distribution
Describe the Intended Use and Consumers
of the Food
Develop a Flow Diagram That Describes
the Process
Verify the Flow Diagram

HACCP

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HACCP: A State-of-the-Art Approach to Food Safety

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