Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point principles

Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point principles

In order to protect consumers against any contamination of their food, the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) principles were developed. HACCP is an internationally recognised system for food safety management.

It is the responsibility of all food business operators to ensure that the food they produce is safe to eat. If you are an operator, then you must ensure you put in place food safety management procedures and working practices, and be able to prove that this has been done.

To produce safe food for consumers, all the important safety hazards that are associated with the production of food need to be identified and then prevented, eliminated or reduced to an acceptable level. These food safety hazards may be biological, physical or chemical.

The seven HACCP principles provide a systematic way of identifying food safety hazards, making sure that they are being managed responsibly and showing that this is being done day-in, day-out.

This involves the following steps:

·         plan - decide what needs to be done to ensure food safety and write it down

·         do - carry out your plan of action

·         check - monitor your HACCP activity and record what has been checked and when

·         act - take action when food safety is at risk and write it down

The seven HACCP principles are:

·         identify any hazards that must be prevented eliminated or reduced to acceptable levels

·         identify the critical control points (CCPs) at the step or steps at which control is essential to prevent or eliminate a hazard or to reduce it to acceptable levels

·         establish critical limits at CCPs

·         establish procedures to monitor the CCPs

·         establish corrective actions to be taken if a CCP is not under control

·         establish procedures to verify whether the above procedures are working effectively

·         establish documents and records to demonstrate the effective application of the above measures

For any query regarding HACCP certification please contact us on 9999974494