Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points

HACCP stands for Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points. HACCP is a system for analyzing, understanding and controlling a food manufacturing process to ensure safety. There are two core elements: "prerequisite programs" (such as GMP's - Good Manufacturing Practices) and the HACCP plan/process itself. HACCP is designed to be applied to every aspect of the food industry from "farm to table", including growth, harvest, processing, distribution, and sales.

Overall the HACCP system strives to clearly discover potential problems in food safety and also identify what must be controlled to prevent hazards/risk. This requires the use of SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures / written instructions), the generation of accurate, accountable records for all process steps and measurements as well as the employment of appropriately trained staff.

Why Employ a HACCP Program?

There are many solid reasons to employ a HACCP program to prevent hazards which may arise during food processing. A few examples include:

• Ensure consistency of process, product quality, and safety
• Legal/regulatory requirements (depending on jurisdiction)
• Focus efforts and resources on "critical" priority areas in a process
• "prevent" problems rather than "react"
• Competitiveness - international recognition
• Improved fiscal returns/finances
• Alignment with other recognized quality systems (GMP, ISO, etc.)
• Reduce potential legal liability
• Enhanced consumer confidence
• Better sales and marketing of approved products

Finally, HACCP itself is a living process. Organizations typically start with too many critical control points in their initial HACCP documentation and pare these down to truly "critical" control points over the course of internal and external audits and review.