Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP)

Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP)

What is HACCP? This acronym has numerous meanings and degrees of use within the food industry all, though relate to the continued assurance of food safety from the concept to the consumption.

  • It is a concept that guides the food safety program of many food companies as well as other industries.
  • It is a process that identifies those steps or processes (CONTROL POINTS) within a food production that, if a failure occurs, will result in an unsafe food product, so the word CRITICAL is included.
  • It starts with the HAZARD ANALYSIS. This part of the process identifies at what stages of the product development to the final product consumption require specific attention to ensure food safety and resiliency of the product through the various stages of production and distribution.

Process Stages include:

Process Stages include:

Product/Recipe Development

  • Ingredients – what are the specifications to ensure reliability; what are the risk associated with the ingredients, temperature requirements through the cold chain? Raw versus processed ingredients, shelf life, lot tracking?

  • Process – what steps are included? Do any of the steps make the product safer or add to the food safety risk? Is there heating, cooling, holding periods? Are they monitored and recorded for time and temperatures? Is the equipment and the production space clean and sanitized prior to operating? Is the area cleaned and sanitized after production? This includes securely sealing ingredients and packaging to avoid contaminants.

  • Personnel – are the people making the products trained to produce the product in a safe (FOOD SAFE and PROCESS SAFE Programs) and reproducible manner? Can they identify if a problem occurs and what is the chain of command (who to tell) for identification of potential and actual failures?

  • Documentation – Is the above information recorded for conformity between product runs and as proof that the product was made correctly and safely?

  • Label – the accuracy of the information on the label is CRITICAL to ensure the consumer prepares and consumes the product correctly and aids in conveying the ingredient information to avoid health risks and assists in identifying the product attributes to the consumer.

Packaging – the package is the final barrier for the product against the environment, including distribution, unintended abuse by the consumer, and prolonging the shelf life.

Purchasing – where are they purchased – reliability and security of supply and the individual product packs; who is the supplier – do they help mitigate any risks? Is the ingredient or packaging a critical component to provide safety to the product?

Operations – where is the product being produced? Is the facility increasing or decreasing risks? Are there additional hazards associated with the facility? If contracting the production to another company or person, are the instructions to produce the product include clarity of the steps and specifications of the final product and even some in-process steps? Have you established a Confidentiality Agreement and/or Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA)? Is there a HACCP program or Food Safety Plan in place? Who is responsible for ensuring the product will be produced correctly and safely. Are they purchasing the ingredients? Do they have the specifications for the purchasing and/or the individual ingredients?

Distribution – are there temperature and/or humidity controls required through the distribution? Ensure this control is relevant for all temperature zones through the distribution. This also includes seasonal variances through the distribution zones. Are there risks or controls to ensure the product is not subject to possible contamination, either directly or indirectly, with other materials shipped in the same vehicle?
Sales – what method of sale is required for the product prior to the purchase? Does it require temperature controls? Is it subject to light or heat damage if displayed near a window during the summer?

All of the sections within the OPERATIONS section of this website relate to identifying, evaluating, monitoring, mitigating, correcting, the risks in the various operations to product wholesome, safe and quality (reproducible) food products for the consumer.

Want to go to the document list? Click on a link below to go directly to that section.
> Policy
> Standard Operating Procedures
> Records
> Work Instruction
> Reference

Challenges and Responsibilities

Challenges and Responsibilities

As with all sections of this program to ensure every product’s Food safety, it is imperative that the Hub Management and the Hub Users understand their roles and responsibilities as well as the challenges of operating in a shared facility. Many instances the responsibilities look very similar, but the challenges arise when clear understanding is not present. The primary responsibility by all to understanding is clear communication without prejudice.

Hub User and HUB Management Responsibilities

Hub User and HUB Management Responsibilities

  • Knowledge is critical and valuable
  • The sections of this website provide the backbone of the HACCP program and includes many of the resources for identifying, mitigating and reducing or, ideally, removing food safety risks for all products produced within the HUB.
  • Proving the success any food safety program is accomplished through documentation and recording areas that are monitored as contributing to risks with continual lookout for removing risks and identifying new risks as they occur. The latter can be new or different ingredients, new or modifying equipment, changing the physical space and orientation, etc.
  • The true success of a HACCP program is when all participants are AWARE and on the LOOKOUT for changes in the facility or their own products and how those changes will or could affect the risk level.

Interaction and Value

Interaction and Value

  • Within each section of this Website, the responsibilities for the HUB User and HUB Management are identified. Some of them are shared based on their knowledge and ability to adjust and make corrections.
  • Ultimately, the level to which each HUB User understands and identifies the risks associated with their own product and collaborates with HUB Management and other HUB Users to identify and mitigate potential risks of the common areas and other HUB Users’ products and processes will ensure all products produced are safe.

Document List

Document List

The documents below are for your HUB use. You may use them as complete (pdf) or modify them to suit your needs as required (Word).

Policy

  • HUB.HP.POL.104 HACCP Team  pdf | Word
  • HUB.HP.POL.113 Management Commitment Letter  pdf | Word

Standard Operating Procedure

  • HUB.HP.SOP.106 Deviation SOP  pdf| Word
  • HUB.HP.SOP.107 Documentation SOP  pdf | Word

Records

  • HUB.HP.REC.108 List of Current Hub Users and Contact Information  pdf | Word
  • HUB.HP.REC.110 HACCP Team meeting notes  pdf | Word
  • HUB.HP.REC.111 HACCP Based Food Safety Plan (generic process)  pdf | Word
  • HUB.HP.REC.112 Corrective Action Request  pdf | Word
  • HUB.HP.REC.115 Outside Lab Chain of Custody Form and Report  pdf | Word
  • HUB.HP.REC.117 HACCP Amendment Log   pdf | Word
  • HUB.HP.REC.118 HACCP and Prerequisite Program Master Task List  pdf
  • HUB.HP.REC.155 List of Documents  pdf

Reference

  • HUB.HP.REF.109 Reference Database for Hazard Identification pdf | Word