Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP)

If your business operates within the food and drink industry, then you should be familiar with a hazard analysis and critical control point system. Commonly referred to as HACCP, these systems were introduced to mitigate food safety hazards from entering the food and drink we consume. Having a robust HACCP system in place can be the difference between running the risk of harming consumers, or not.

Get immediate support in putting together a HACCP plan, get in touch with a Croner Health and Safety expert today on 01455 858 132.

Failure to implement a compliant system can result in breaking the law under the Food Safety Management Legislation (under Article 5 of the Regulation (EC) 852/2004). This can not only have a detrimental effect on your business both financially and reputationally, bit this can also result in a criminal prosecution.

• What does HACCP stand for?
• Why is it HCCP used?
• Who uses Hazard analysis and critical control points?
• What is a HACCP hazard?
• What are the seven HACCP principles?
• What is a HACCP decision tree?
• What are the advantages of HACCP?
• Is HACCP mandatory?
• How often should HACCP be reviewed?
• How long should records be kept?
• Get expert help on HACCP

What does HACCP stand for?

HACCP stands for Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points. This system focuses on the hazards present in the environment where food and drink are made or produced. Its primary function is analysing how these hazards can be mitigated, controlled and managed.

HACCP can be used throughout the whole food production process, from how food is grown, to production and food processing.

Why is it HCCP used?

Employers in the food industry should implement an HACCP system to prevent hazards from entering the food production line. Hazards in the food industry are particularly important to control as the potential for serious risks to health are numerous. Bacteria, viruses and fungal spores can cause serious illnesses, and chemical contamination, as well as small objects, can cause injuries to the consumer and individuals handling food.

HACCP identifies the areas where there is potential for error in the production process, and sets in motion a plan for preventing unsafe food from entering circulation and being ingested by consumers.

Who uses Hazard analysis and critical control points?

Any business that handles the production of food, retailing food, and catering must have a food safety management system in place. This ensures that any controlled substance that enters the food chain is assessed, and preventative actions are present to stop hazards from causing illness and injuries.

HACCP isn't limited to human food consumption, it is also used in the manufacture of animal food, makeup and cosmetics.

What is a HACCP hazard?

As defined by the Food Standard Agency (FSA) a hazard is something that has the potential to cause harm. With this in mind, a HACCP hazard will apply to all food safety hazards, including the four types of food contamination.

Microbiological

This type of hazard typically occurs when a microorganism is the cause of contamination in food, such as:

• Bacteria, such as Salmonella and Campylobacter.
• Viruses, such as Norovirus.
• Parasites, such as worms and protozoa.
• Fungi, such as Yeast and moulds.

Chemical

A chemical hazard can both occur naturally or intentionally (man-made). For example, sodium nitrates can be added as part of preservation processes, whilst other chemicals are added to improve the flavour of the food. There is also the possibility that certain chemicals can be added to food and drink unintentionally, such as toxins, allergenic chemicals, hazardous substances, and excess chemicals.

Physical hazards

Physical hazards are materials or objects that can be found in the food we consume. This kind of hazard can cause injuries to teeth, mouth, and throat and cause a choking hazard. These can be split into two different types of hazards, naturally occurring and unnatural.

• Naturally occurring hazards could include fruit stones and pips, bones and shells.
• Unnatural hazards could include stones, pebbles, hair (human and animal), fingernails, plastic, plasters, glass and wood.

Allergenic

An allergenic hazard is caused by allergens, these can trigger severe and dangerous reactions in some individuals. There are fourteen recognized allergens that you should be aware of.

What are the preliminary tasks of a HACCP plan?

Your HACCP plan is a document that takes into account all of the various technical and scientific principles of HACCP to ensure that hazards are controlled.

There are twelve tasks involved in developing a HACCP plan, these tasks can be split into two steps.

• Preliminary tasks.
• Applying the HACCP principles.

The preliminary tasks that you need to consider are:

1. Putting together a HACCP team.

1. Describing the product.
2. Identifying the product's intended use.
3. Creating a flow diagram.
4. Confirmation of the flow diagram.

Following these steps are of great importance when you are developing a HACCP system and plan.

What are the seven HACCP principles?

Establishments that are handling food need to have robust food safety procedures or systems that are based on the HACCP principles. The seven HACCP principles are as follows:

1. Identify hazards by carrying out a hazard analysis.
2. Determine critical control points (CCPs).
3. Establish critical limits.
4. Establish monitoring procedures.
5. Establishing a corrective action plan.
6. Establish verification procedures, validation, and review procedures
7. Establish record-keeping procedures.

These principles must be included in your HACCP plan and be actioned in order.

A critical control point is the step where the control can be applied. This is a crucial part of the prevention or elimination of the food safety hazard. For example, a critical control point could be testing raw ingredients for chemical residue.

You can work out what your critical control point should be by utilizing a decision tree.

What is a HACCP decision tree?

There is no rule that businesses have to use a decision tree when putting together their critical control points, but it can be an incredibly useful tool to have in your arsenal.

There are five key questions that make up a decision tree, each one should be answered for each product or group. You should also answer these questions at each step where a risk is identified.

1. Are adequate actions for hazard controls in place?
2. Are actions required?
3. Is the step necessary to eliminate the hazard?
4. Can the hazard increase at this step?
5. Does a further step eliminate the hazard?

What are the advantages of HACCP?

There are several advantages to the HACCP system. A robust HACCP will give your customers peace of mind in knowing that your businesses are doing everything that they can to keep on top of food safety. In addition to this, it will keep the costs linked to customer complaints to a minimum and help avoid the recall and destruction of products.

A HACCP system will also ensure that your business is compliant with food safety laws and will enable you to showcase evidence of this should you find yourself facing legal action.

Is HACCP mandatory?

HACCP made it into the UK Law after the EU Regulation (EC) 852/2004 on the hygiene of foodstuffs was put into place. Since the UK left the EU, the laws on HACCP still apply under the UK laws on food safety management and food hygiene.

How often should HACCP be reviewed?

As with your other documentation procedures, your HACCP should be regularly reviewed to ensure that all the information and procedures are up to date. Regular reviews are imperative to ensuring that food safety hazards are controlled correctly. At a minimum, you should review your documentation and monitoring procedures on a yearly basis.

Employers should ensure that they're carrying out a review of the monitoring procedures, and the overall food safety system when introducing a new ingredient to the process or changing the equipment used.

How long should records be kept?

As part of the seven principles of the HACCP system, it's essential that records are kept. If you find yourself in an unfortunate situation where you're facing legal action or a food safety incident, you will need to provide evidence of the process you have followed and that you have done your due diligence.

Where there is no legal requirement to keep records for a set period of time, it's left down to each individual business to determine how long they should keep their records.

Get expert help on HACCP

If your business handles food and drink at any stage of the food production process, whether that be at the source or at the final stage in the restaurant, you should ensure that you get an expert Health and Safety opinion.

Croner's dedicated Health and Safety advisory team are on hand 24/7 to assist you with urgent queries regarding your HACCP plan.

Call now on 01455 858 132.