Hazard analysis and critical control points or HACCP is a systematic preventive approach
to food safety from biological, chemical, and physical hazards in production processes
that can cause the finished product to be unsafe, and designs measurements to reduce
these risks to a safe level.
In this manner, HACCP is referred as the prevention of hazards rather than finished product inspection.
The HACCP system can be used at all stages of a food chain, from food production and
preparation processes including packaging, distribution, etc.
The Food and Drug Administration and the United States Department of Agriculture say that
their mandatory HACCP programs for juice and meat are an effective approach to food safety
and protecting public health.
Meat HACCP systems are regulated by the USDA, while seafood and juice are regulated by the
FDA.
The use of HACCP is currently voluntary in other food industries.
HACCP is believed to stem from a production process monitoring used during World War II
because traditional "end of the pipe" testing on artillery shell's firing mechanisms could
not be performed, and a large percent of the artillery shells made at the time were either
duds or misfiring.
HACCP itself was conceived in the 1960s when the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration
asked Pillsbury to design and manufacture the first foods for space flights.
Since then, HACCP has been recognized internationally as a logical tool for adapting traditional
inspection methods to a modern, science-based, food safety system.
Based on risk-assessment, HACCP plans allow both industry and government to allocate their
resources efficiently in establishing and auditing safe food production practices.
In 1994, the organization of International HACCP Alliance was established initially for
the US meat and poultry industries to assist them with implementing HACCP and now its membership
has been spread over other professional/industrial areas.
Hence, HACCP has been increasingly applied to industries other than food, such as cosmetics
and pharmaceuticals.
This method, which in effect seeks to plan out unsafe practices based on science, differs
from traditional "produce and sort" quality control methods that do nothing to prevent
hazards from occurring and must identify them at the end of the process.
HACCP is focused only on the health safety issues of a product and not the quality of
the product, yet HACCP principles are the basis of most food quality and safety assurance
systems,and the United States, HACCP compliance is regulated by 21 CFR part 120 and 123.
Similarly, FAO/WHO published a guideline for all governments to handle the issue in small
and less developed food businesses.
History In the early 1960s, a collaborated effort
between the Pillsbury Company, NASA, and the U.S. Army Laboratories began with the objective
to provide safe food for space expeditions.
People involved in this collaboration included Herbert Hollander, Mary Klicka, and Hamed
El-Bisi of the United States Army Laboratories in Natick, Massachusetts, Dr. Paul A. Lachance
of the Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston, Texas, and Howard E. Baumann representing
Pillsbury as its lead scientist.
In order to ensure that the food that would be sent to space was safe, Lachance imposed
strict microbial requirements, including pathogen limits.
Using the traditional end product testing method, it was soon realized that almost all
of the food manufactured was being used on testing and very little was left for actual
use.
It was realized that a new approach was needed.
NASA's own requirements for Critical Control Points in engineering management would be
used as a guide for food safety.
CCP derived from Failure mode and effects analysis from NASA via the munitions industry
to test weapon and engineering system reliability.
Using that information, NASA and Pillsbury required contractors to identify "critical
failure areas" and eliminate them from the system, a first in the food industry then.
Baumann, a microbiologist by training, was so pleased with Pillsbury's experience in
the space program that he advocated for his company to adopt what would become HACCP at
Pillsbury.
Soon thereafter, Pillsbury was confronted with a food safety issue of its own when glass
contamination was found in farina, a cereal commonly used in infant food.
Baumann's leadership promoted HACCP in Pillsbury for producing commercial foods, and applied
to its own food production.
This led to a panel discussion at the 1971 National Conference on Food Protection that
included examining CCPs and Good Manufacturing Practices in producing safe foods.
Several botulism cases were attributed to under-processed low-acid canned foods in 1970-71.
The United States Food and Drug Administration asked Pillsbury to organize and conduct a
training program on the inspection of canned foods for FDA inspectors.
This 21 day program was first held in September 1972 with 11 days of classroom lecture and
10 days of canning plant evaluations.
Canned food regulations were first published in 1969.
Pillsbury's training program to the FDA in 1969, titled "Food Safety through the Hazard
Analysis and Critical Control Point System", was the first time that HACCP was used.
HACCP was initially set on three principles, now shown as principles one, two, and four
in the section below.
Pillsbury quickly adopted two more principles, numbers three and five, to its own company
in 1975.
It was further supported by the National Academy of Sciences that governmental inspections
by the FDA go from reviewing plant records to compliance with its HACCP system.
A second proposal by the NAS led to the development of the National Advisory Committee on Microbiological
Criteria for Foods in 1987.
NACMCF was initially responsible for defining HACCP's systems and guidelines for its application
and were coordinated with the Codex Committee for Food Hygiene, that led to reports starting
in 1992 and further harmonization in 1997.
By 1997, the seven HACCP principles listed below became the standard.
A year earlier, the American Society for Quality offered their first certifications for HACCP
Auditors. in 2004.).
HACCP expanded in all realms of the food industry, going into meat, poultry, seafood, dairy,
and has spread now from the farm to the fork.
Principles Conduct a hazard analysis
Plans determine the food safety hazards and identify the preventive measures the plan
can apply to control these hazards.
A food safety hazard is any biological, chemical, or physical property that may cause a food
to be unsafe for human consumption.
Identify critical control points A critical control point is a point, step,
or procedure in a food manufacturing process at which control can be applied and, as a
result, a food safety hazard can be prevented, eliminated, or reduced to an acceptable level.
Establish critical limits for each critical control point
A critical limit is the maximum or minimum value to which a physical, biological, or
chemical hazard must be controlled at a critical control point to prevent, eliminate, or reduce
to an acceptable level.
Establish critical control point monitoring requirements
Monitoring activities are necessary to ensure that the process is under control at each
critical control point.
In the United States, the FSIS requires that each monitoring procedure and its frequency
be listed in the HACCP plan.
Establish corrective actions These are actions to be taken when monitoring
indicates a deviation from an established critical limit.
The final rule requires a plant's HACCP plan to identify the corrective actions to be taken
if a critical limit is not met.
Corrective actions are intended to ensure that no product is injurious to health or
otherwise adulterated as a result of the deviation enters commerce.
Establish procedures for ensuring the HACCP system is working as intended
Validation ensures that the plants do what they were designed to do; that is, they are
successful in ensuring the production of a safe product.
Plants will be required to validate their own HACCP plans.
FSIS will not approve HACCP plans in advance, but will review them for conformance with
the final rule.
Verification ensures the HACCP plan is adequate, that is, working as intended.
Verification procedures may include such activities as review of HACCP plans, CCP records, critical
limits and microbial sampling and analysis.
FSIS is requiring that the HACCP plan include verification tasks to be performed by plant
personnel.
Verification tasks would also be performed by FSIS inspectors.
Both FSIS and industry will undertake microbial testing as one of several verification activities.
Verification also includes 'validation' – the process of finding evidence for the accuracy
of the HACCP system.
Establish record keeping procedures The HACCP regulation requires that all plants
maintain certain documents, including its hazard analysis and written HACCP plan, and
records documenting the monitoring of critical control points, critical limits, verification
activities, and the handling of processing deviations.
Implementation involves monitoring, verifying, and validating of the daily work that is compliant
with regulatory requirements in all stages all the time.
The differences among those three types of work are given by Saskatchewan Agriculture
and Food.
Standards The seven HACCP principles are included in
the international standard ISO 22000 FSMS 2005.
This standard is a complete food safety and quality management system incorporating the
elements of prerequisite programmes(GMP & SSOP), HACCP and the quality management system, which
together form an organization's Total Quality Management system.
Other Standards, such as Safe Quality Food Institute's SQF 2000 Code, also relies upon
the HACCP methodology as the basis for developing and maintaining Food Safety and Food Quality
Plans and programs in concert with the fundamental prerequisites of Good Manufacturing Practices.
Training Training for developing and implementing HACCP
Food Safety management system are offered by several quality assurance companies.
However, ASQ does provide a Trained HACCP Auditor exam to individuals seeking professional
training.
In the UK the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health offers a HACCP for Food Manufacturing
qualification, accredited by the QCA.
Application Fish and fishery products
Fresh-cut produce Drinks and nectary products
Food outlets Meat and poultry products
School food and services Water Quality Management
The use of HACCP for water quality management was first proposed nearly 20 years ago.
Thereafter, a number of water quality initiatives applied HACCP principles and steps to the
control of infectious disease from water, and provided the basis for the Water Safety
Plan approach in the third edition of the World Health Organization Guidelines for Drinking-water
Quality,, which has been described as “a way of adapting the HACCP approach to drinking
water systems”.
HACCP for Building Water Systems Hazards associated with water systems in buildings
include physical, chemical and microbial hazards.
In 2013, NSF International, a public health and safety NGO, established education, training
and certification programs in HACCP for Building Water Systems.
The programs, developed with the guidance of subject matter experts Aaron Rosenblatt
and William McCoy center on the use of the use of HACCP principles adapted to the specific
requirements of domestic and utility water systems in buildings, in order to prevent
plumbing-associated hazards from harming people.
Hazards addressed include scalding, lead, and disinfection byproductsas well as a range
of clinically important pathogens, such as Legionella, pseudomonas, non-tubercular Mycobacteria,
acinetobacter, Elizabethkingia and Naegleria.
Early adopters of HACCP for Building Water Systems include leading healthcare institutions,
notably Mayo Clinic.
ISO 22000 ISO 22000 is a standard designed to help augment
HACCP on issues related to food safety.
Although several companies, especially the big ones, have either implemented or are on
the point of implementing ISO 22000, there are many others which are hesitant to adopt
it.
The main reason behind that is the lack of information and the fear that the new standard
is too demanding in terms of bureaucratic work, from abstract of case study.
See also References
External links International HACCP Alliance
Small & Very Small Plant Outreach – FSIS guidances for meat and poultry products
Canadian Food Inspection Agency Contains free templates and guides for HACCP programs to
meet Canadian Food and Drug Regulations for the public but targeting federally registered
establishments.