Unit 5

MEAT PLANT SANITATION

Syllabus
Meat processing equipment, microbiology and safety of fleshy foods, plant
hygiene and sanitation and hygiene, inspection and quality control, GMP,
HACCP, Packaging, handling of products for storage and transportation

Notes

Meat processing Equiments

EQUIPMENT USED IN MEAT PROCESSING

In modern meat processing, most of the processing steps can be

mechanized.

The major items of meat processing equipment needed to fabricate the most
commonly known meat products are listed and briefly described hereunder.

MEAT GRINDER MINCER :

A meat grinder is a machine used to force meat or meat trimmings by means
of a feeding worm (auger) under pressure through a horizontally mounted
cylinder (barrel).

A cutting system consisting of star-shaped knives rotating with the feeding

worm and stationary perforated discs (grinding plates).

If frozen meat and meat rich in connective tissue is to be minced to small

particles, it should be minced first through a coarse disc followed by a second
operation to the desired size.
TWO DIFFERENT CUTTING SYSTEM

I. The “Enterprise System” : Used in smaller meat grinders with orifice

diameters upto 98 mm and consists of one star knife, sharpened only on the
side facing the disc, and one grinder plate. Hole diameters varies from 13 to 5
mm

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 II. The “Unger System”: Used in meat grinders with orifice diameters up to 440
mm and consists of the kidney plate, one or two cutting knives (star knives)
sharpened on both edges and one or two grinder plates

BOWL CUTTER BOWL CHOPPER

Meat chopping equipment designed to produce small or very small lean meat
and fat particles. consists of horizontally revolving bowl, curved knives rotating
vertically on horizontal axle at high speed upto 500rpm.

Equipped with strong cover which protects against accidents and design
plays crucial role in the efficient of the chopping process by routing the mixture
flow.

Equipped with thermometer.

Modern large scale operate under vacuum, helps to improve color and texture
by keeping oxygen out of meat mixes and avoid air pockets.

PISTON STUFFER

Used for filling all types of meat batter in casings, glass jars, cans, etc.
A piston is moved inside a cylinder forcing the meat through the filling nozzle
into the containers.
Sometimes simple hand-held funnels are used to push meat mixes into
casings.
Modern filling machine for large operation designed as continuous vacuum
stuffers, enclosed air is removed from the product, improve color and texture of
finished product.

CLIPPING MACHINE

Small aluminium sealing clips the sausage ends.

Casing brakes slow release the shirred casings from filling horns ensuring
tight filling. Then filled casing segment are clipped in portions.

Generally used in large operation and mostly operated by compressed air.

For medium-scale, manually operated hand clippers are used.

SMOKEHOUSES

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 Tradition and small –scale operation:

Burning damp hardwood sawdust, heating sawdust or log, etc.

Modern smoke generation:

Burning/smouldering of saw dust Smoke generation through friction

Smoke generation through steam

COMBINED EQUIPMENT

Modern facilities can combine smoking, cooking and cooling operations and
continuous process. Parameter: Temperature upto 100 ºC and RH upto 100%.
Refrigerated Units: as fermenting/ripening room for first crucial steps in
production of fermented sausages/ram ham products (air temperature and air
humidity accurately controlled).

BRINE INJECTOR

Serve for injection of brine into the meat. Brine is water containing dissolved
salt and curing substance as well as additives such as phosphates, spices,
sugar, soy protein, etc. Injection is done by introducing pointed needles into the
muscle tissue. Brine injection mainly used for various types of ham, bacon, and
whole muscle products. the Brine injector should be cleaned and disinfected
regularly. Before the injector is used, again all holes and needles should be
rinsed with warm water to avoid blockage of the needle hole.

TUMBLER/MASSAGER

Rotating drum with steel paddles inside slowly moves meat causing the
mechanical massaging effect. Salt and phosphates are added to achieve equal
brine distribution and liberate protein extraction. Tumbler temperature below
10ºC to avoid microbial growth Tumbler temperature below 1º C, best
temperature to extract soluble protein from muscle meat.

VACUUM PACKAGING MACHINE

Meat product placed in a vacuum bag. Air is removed from the bag by a
vacuum packaging machine and sealed.

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 Mixture of gas is injected evacuating the air, inhibit bacterial growth, stabilize
the meat color. Gas used are CO2 and N2.

MIXER/BLENDER

To blend meat and spices, or coarse and finely chopped meat. Consists of
parallel shafts . Various paddles mounted in shaft to mix meat. Discharged
through tilting by 90 degree the meat. Vacuum mixer are also use to mix
under vacuum, helps in development of desirable product color and texture.

EMULSIFYING MACHINE
For very fine meat emulsion. Functional parts are perforated plate, attached
to which two edged blades are rotating. Centrifugal pump forces pre-ground
meat through perforated plate. Emulsifier operates at higher speed then bowl
cutter, produce finer emulsion-like mix.

FROZEN MEAT CUTTER

It makes frozen meat suitable for immediate comminuting in grinders, bowl

cutter, etc. without previous thawing. Two types of machine used either 1.
With knives cutting in vertical direction or 2. Using rotating drums with
attached sharp knives. Hardest frozen product can be cut by knives cutting in
vertical direction.

MICROBIOLOGY AND SAFETY OF FLESHY FOODS

Meat and meat products are highly perishable commodities and hence should
be properly stored, processed ,packed and distributed in order to prevent
the microbial growth.

The pathogens such as Aeromonas hydrophila,Bacillus cereus ,Camylobacter

jejuni,Clostridium perfringens ,Escherchai Coli,Salmonella can cause
illness,grows
and mutilply in human body ,producing toxins(food intoxication) or releasing
toxins in the food (food toxico infection) .
Introduction

The major bacterial pathogens found in meat include Bacillus cereus,

Clostridium botulinum,Clostridium perfringens,Staphylococcus aureus .

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 Hazards such as
bacteria ,fungi, allergens ,chemicals and foreign matter can be present in meat
products.
The contamination of meat can come from unhygienic slaughtering, handling
and processing conditions and operators hand.

Raw material remains an important and probably the major source of human
food borne infection with pathogenic agents
Unprocessed meat will spoil within hours or day

Spoilage is caused by practically unavailable infection and subsequent

decomposition of meat by bacteria and fungi and people handling meat.
Effect of microbes on meat and meat products

The effects that microbial contamination causes on meat include spoilage of

the meat include spoilage of meat,food poisoning which results into reduction
of
income to farmers as well as meat sellers.
The consumers and meat handlers may acquire infectious diseases such as
Clostridiosis ,listeriosis,Salmonellosis,tetanus due to poor handling of food
animals and meat.

Spoilage is a condition in which food becomes inedible due to undesirable

changes in colour ,texture,apperance .
The microbes grow to high levels producing enzymes that breakdown the food
components such as proteins,fats and sugars.

A number of tests which include organoleptically physical, chemical and

microbiological test(Plate count-total microbial load) used to know the spoilage
level of food products.
Tests to detect microbial spoilage

Physical tests (measurement of pH ,surface tension and electrical conductivity

and chemical tests-catalase production, hydrogen sulphide production and
lactic acid
Microbial quality of meat can be assessed by total viable counts ,coliform
counts ,anaerobic counts, mould counts, specific pathogen count such as E
Coli
,S.aurues,Salmonella.

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 It is pertinent to mention the total microbial contamination of raw meat
products should not exceed 10 5 CFU g-1 and 10 4 CFU g-1

The nutritional ,sensory and microbial quality can be maintained if meat and
meat products are quickly stored at refrigerator temperature.
It is necessary to adopt good hygienic practices during preparation of meat
products at home to prevent food poisoning.

Effective cooking and proper refrigeration of meat are effective means to

check the microbial food poisoning
Adequate heat treatment kills parasites ,viruses ,fungi and bacteria but cannot
destroy bacterial and fungal toxins

Prevention of Microbial food Poisoning

When meat or meat products are reheated ,it is essential to bring an internal
temperature of 74 deg celsius to destroy microbes.
Cross contamination of processed meat with raw meat also be checked.

The education of food handlers,retailers,butchers and food processes about

basic principles of personal hygiene to prevent poisoning.

plant hygiene and sanitation

pdf

GMP
Good Manufacturing Practices GMP and Standard Operating Procedures
SOP are two tools for a meat processing facility that help for the production
of high
quality and safe meat products.

The programs established for GMP's and SOP's will provide the basis for other
programs the help to assure the level of product quality such as standards for
ISO 9000 and for product safety in the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control
Point HACCP system.

Many companies like to view these systems as a pyramid Figure 1.) with the
GMP's and SOP's supporting the more advanced program of HACCP and all
three programs being important for the ISO 9000 system.

Figure 1

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 Personnel
Meat processing companies will need written guidelines and programs for the
personnel that work in the food production facilities.

GMP's for personnel should cover disease control, cleanliness, education and
training, and supervision.

All employees that work in the food production areas of the plant should be
aware of the plant GMP's for personnel.

This may be accomplished by providing information during the interview

process of hiring of employees, by an intensive training session after hiring a
new
employee and by educational updates on a yearly or as needed basis.
at processing companies will need written guidelines and programs for the
personnel that work in the food production facilities.
GMP's for personnel should cover disease control, cleanliness, education and
training, and supervision.

All employees that work in the food production areas of the plant should be
aware of the plant GMP's for personnel.

This may be accomplished by providing information during the interview

process of hiring of employees, by an intensive training session after hiring a
new employee and by educational updates on a yearly or as needed basis.

Disease control is an important aspect of food safety.

Any person that is ill should not be working with food production.

Some processing plants have standard a policy requiring employees to get a

doctors approval to return to work if they miss two or more work days due
to sick leave.

Addition production employees should not have open lesions, included boils,
sores or infected wounds.
Both illnesses and open lesions could be a source of microbial contamination
for the food or the food-contact surfaces.
Personnel in the production area will also need to practice many things related
to cleanliness .

This would include outer garments, personal cleanliness, washing hands,

removing jewelry, maintaining gloves, wearing hairnets, storing of personal

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 belongings, and excluding such things a gum, tobacco and makeup from the
food production area.

any meat processing companies in the United States provide production

employees with proper clean outer garments.
In some facilities outer garments are color coded to ensure that employees
from the uncooked segment of production are clearly identified from
employees in the cooked segment of the facility.

Removing jewelry that might fall into food products and result in a physical
hazard or microbial contamination.

Production and Process Control

This subpart describes the most detailed requirements. It includes a large

section on processes and controls and a small section on warehousing and
distribution.
The section on processes and controls has two major subdivisions: (a) raw
materials and other ingredients; and (b) manufacturing operations.

The first subsection has descriptions of required inspection, storage and

handling of ingredients.

Specific information regarding the treatment of ingredients subject to

microbiological activity and the handling of ingredients subject to aflatoxin or
other toxins is provided.

Requirements on storage of frozen raw materials and ingredients, and bulk

liquid and dry ingredients are also given.
The manufacturing operations subsection requires conditions and controls
necessary to minimize the potential for growth of microorganisms, or for the
contamination of food.

Monitoring of factors such as time, temperature, humidity, water activity, pH,

pressure and flow rates is important for the control of conditions

The following requirements for holding foods are given in this subsection:

(a) Refrigerated foods must be kept at or under 45' F 7.2 0 C as appropriate

for the particular food involved.
(b) Frozen foods must be maintained in a frozen state.
(c) Hot foods must be kept at or above 140 F 60 C.
The manufacturing operations subsection also requires the establishment of
measures that prevent the finished food product from contamination by raw

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 materials, other ingredients, refuse and metal or other foreign materials.

The section on warehousing and distribution requires that the transportation

and storage operations are conducted under conditions that prevent physical,
chemical and microbiological contamination.
Buildings and Facilities

The general principles of plant design and construction is necessary to assure

sanitary conditions are given in the plant and grounds section of this subpart.

Adequate lighting and ventilation are required under this subpart.

The sanitary operations section establishes general maintenance requirements

and provides specific requirements regarding the storage and use of cleaning
and
sanitizing agents and other toxic substances
Pest control and the storage and handling of cleaned equipment and utensils
are also addressed.
In the sanitary facilities and controls section minimum requirements are
established for: water supply, plumbing, sewage disposal, toilet facilities, hand-
washing facilities and rubbish and offal disposal.

Equipment

In this subpart the general principles of design, construction and maintenance

of equipment and utensils are described.
Protection against contamination of food with lubricants, fuel, metal fragments,
contaminated water and other contaminants must be provided.
Easiness of cleaning and maintenance of clean conditions are emphasized.

Instrumentation used to control critical parameters like pH, temperature and

water activity must be accurate and adequately maintained.

SOP 7 Automatic Labeling Machine

Purpose: Cleaning and sanitizing of labeling machine to reduce microbial
contaminants in the packaging room and keep machine in good working
condition.

Frequency: Daily for routine cleaning Weekly for complete breakdown of

machine for cleaning inside parts

Who: Packaging line supervisor or his/her designee

Procedure:

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 For daily cleaning:

 Remove all debris and physical matter using a squeegee.

 Wipe with a clean cloth dipped in a mild soapy detergent.

 Mist lightly with a 200 ppm quaternary ammonium compounds QUATS

solution.

 Let air dry.

 Inspect machine to make sure it is clean.

For weekly breakdown:

 Call maintenance to lock out all electrical sources and remove all access
panels.

 Remove all particulate matter from inside and outside panels and all
exposed machine parts.

 Spray with alkaline soapy detergent solution. Let it work for 15 minutes.

 Rinse with clean water.

 Let air dry

 Mist lightly with a 200 ppm QUATS solution.

 Let air dry

 Inspect machine to make sure all parts are clean.

 Call maintenance to put machine back together.

Corrective Action:

If particulate matter is found on any area of the machine upon inspection,

repeat clean-up procedure as detailed above for that particular area.

If machine fails to start after weekly breakdown, call maintenance. Do not

attempt to fix machine!
Guidelines for Developing a Standard Operating Procedure for Sanitation
Sanitation SOPs) in Federally Inspected Meat and Poultry Establishments

Food borne illness is a significant public health problem in the United States.
While data on illness associated with meat and poultry products are limited,
data from various sources suggest that food borne microbial pathogens may
cause up to 7 million cases of illness each year and 7,000 deaths.

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 Of these, nearly 5 million cases of illness and more than 4,000 deaths may be
associated with meat and poultry products.

The Food Safety and Inspection Service FSIS is pursuing a broad and long
term science-based strategy to improve the safety of meat and poultry
products to
better protect public health.

FSIS is undertaking steps to improve the safety of meat and poultry throughout
the food production processing, distribution and marketing chain.

The Agency's goal is to reduce the risk to public health of consuming meat and
poultry products by reducing pathogenic microbial contamination.
The FSIS strategy relies heavily on building the principle of prevention into
production processes.

Sections 308.7, 381.57 and 381.58 of the Meat and Poultry Inspection
Regulations require that rooms, compartments, equipment and utensils used
for processing or handling meat or poultry in a federally inspected
establishment must be kept clean and in a sanitary condition.

Establishments are responsible for sanitation of facilities, equipment and

utensils.

Sanitation maintains or restores a state of cleanliness, and promotes hygiene

for the prevention of food borne illness.
Sanitation encompasses many areas and functions of an establishment, even
when not in production.

However, there are certain sanitary procedures that must be addressed and
maintained on a daily basis to prevent direct product contamination or
adulteration.

Good sanitation is essential in these areas to maintain a safe food production

process.

FSIS is requiring meat. and poultry establishments to develop and implement a

written Standard Operating Procedure for sanitation Sanitation SOPs) which
addresses these areas.

An establishment's adherence to its written SOP for sanitation will demonstrate

knowledge of and commitment to sanitation and production of safe
meat and poultry products.

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 The Sanitation SOP developed by the establishment must detail daily sanitation
procedures it will use before (pre-operational sanitation) and during
(operational sanitation) operation to prevent direct product contamination or
adulteration.
FSIS program employees will verify an establishment's adherence to its
Sanitation SOP and will take appropriate action when there is noncompliance.

These guidelines, where applicable, are for:

livestock slaughter and/or processing establishments;

poultry slaughter and/or processing establishments;

import inspection establishments; and

identification warehouses.

The establishment should update the Sanitation SOP to reflect changes in

equipment and facilities, processes, new technology or designated
establishment employees.
Pre-Operational Sanitation

Established procedures of pre-operational sanitation must result in clean

facilities, equipment and utensils prior to starting production.

Clean facilities, equipment and utensils are free of any soil, tissue debris,
chemical or other injurious substance that could contaminate a meat or poultry
food product.

Pre-operational sanitation established procedures shall describe the daily,

routine sanitary procedures to prevent direct product contamination or
adulteration.
The sanitary procedures must include the cleaning of product contact surfaces
of facilities, equipment and utensils to prevent direct product contamination or
adulteration.

The following additional sanitary procedures for preoperational sanitation might

include:
Descriptions of equipment disassembly, reassembly after cleaning, use of
acceptable chemicals according to label direction and cleaning techniques.
The application of sanitizers to product contact surfaces, after cleaning.
Sanitizers are used to reduce or destroy bacteria that may have survived the
cleaning process

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 Operational Sanitation

All federally inspected establishments must describe daily, routine sanitary

procedures that the establishment will conduct during operations to prevent
direct product contamination or adulteration.
Established procedures for operational sanitation must result in a sanitary
environment for preparing, storing or handling any meat or poultry food
product in accordance with sections 308/381 of the Meat and Poultry
Inspection
Regulations. Established procedures during operations
might include, where applicable:

equipment and utensil cleaning-sanitizing-disinfecting

during production, as appropriate, at breaks, between shifts
and at midshift cleanup;
employee hygiene: includes personal hygiene,
cleanliness of outer garments and gloves, hair
restraints, hand washing, health, etc.; and

product handling in raw and in cooked product

areas.The established sanitary procedures for
operational sanitation will vary with the
establishment. Establishments with complex
processing need additional sanitary procedures to
ensure a sanitary environment and to prevent cross
contamination. Establishments that do not slaughter
or process (such as an Import Inspection facility)
should develop established sanitary procedures
specific to that facility.

IV. Implementing and Monitoring of

the Sanitation SOP

The Sanitation SOP shall identify

establishment employee(s) (positions rather
than specific names of employees) responsible
for the implementation and maintenance of
the Sanitation SOP.
Employee(s) are to be identified to monitor
and evaluate the effectiveness of the

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 Sanitation SOP and make corrections when
needed.
The evaluation can be performed by using one
or more of the following methods:

 organoleptic (sensory-e.g., sight, feel,

smell);

 chemical (e.g., checking the chlorine level);

and

 microbiological (e.g., microbial swabbing

and culturing of product contact surfaces of
equipment or utensils).

Establishments might specify the method, frequency and

recordkeeping processes associated with monitoring.
Pre-operational sanitation monitoring should, at a minimum,
evaluate and document the effective cleaning of all direct product
contact facilities, equipment and/or utensils that are to be used at
the start of the production.
Operational sanitation monitoring should, at a minimum, document
adherence to the SOP, including actions that identify and correct
instances or circumstances of direct product contamination which
occur from environmental sources (facilities, equipment, pests,
etc.) or employee practices (personal hygiene, product handling,
etc.)
All establishment records of pre-operational and operational
sanitation monitoring, including corrective actions to prevent direct
product contamination or adulteration, must be maintained by the
establishment for at least six months, and be made available to
FSIS program employees.

After 48 hours, they may be maintained off-site.

Corrective Actions
When deviations occur from the established
sanitary procedures within the Sanitation SOP,
the establishment must take corrective

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 actions to prevent direct product
contamination or adulteration.
Instructions should be provided to employees
and management officials for documenting
corrective actions. The actions must be
recorded.

HACCP
Introduction
The Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point HACCP is a science-based,
systematic process developed for controlling systems for food safety. This
provides a
basic structure of a preventative system for safer production of meat products.
The preventative approach of this system appears to be its key to producing
the safest meat for the consumers.
It means that the potential chemical, biological, and physical food safety
hazards that either occur naturally, contributed by the environment or forms
due to a
deviation in production processes, are eliminated, prevented, or minimized to a
justifiable level for the production of safe meat products.

History of HACCP
HACCP became known when Pillsbury Company collaborated with the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration NASA, the U.S. Army Natick
Laboratories, and the U.S. Air Force Space Laboratory Project Group in 1959 to
ensure the use of food safety for the space program.

A system of analysis called ‘Modes of Failure’ was developed by Natick. The

system became a common practice and has evolved since its introduction into
this concept that we now know as HACCP.
HACCP was initially introduced in 1971 at the National Conference of Food
Protection to the general public.
As a result of a publication of a report by the National Academy of Sciences
presented in 1985, ‘An Evaluation of the Role of Microbiological Criteria for
Foods and Food Ingredients,’ the HACCP gained more popularity as a concept
for food safety by the food industry.
Principles of HACCP

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 When it comes to the employment of HACCP for meat processing in any
facility, it is essential to understand the seven principles of the HACCP
Conducting Hazard Analysis – It uses a flow diagram that serves as a blueprint
of steps explaining the production of any product. It helps to identify where
potential hazards can occur.

Identification of Critical Control Points – Critical control points are points where
certain controls are applied for prevention, reduction, or elimination of a
food safety hazard.
Establishing critical control limits for certain preventative measures that are
associated with every identified CCP.
Establishing Monitoring Requirements for CCP – Procedures should be
developed that utilize the data obtained from monitoring for adjusting the
process and
maintaining control.
Establishing Corrective Actions – The corrective actions are applied when
monitoring shows that a deviation has occurred in the production process.

Establishing record-keeping procedures for every CCP.

Establishing procedures for verifying that the HACCP system is working
accurately
Implementation of HACCP for Meat Processing
The principles mentioned above must be used when developing a HACCP plan
or addressing each product by the facility. A single HACCP plan can address
multiple products within one processing category, given that any needed
features of the HACCP plan that are product specific are marked clearly in the
plan.
A single HACCP plan can also address only one product passing through
multiple categories of processing. FSIS requires that all establishments must
develop HACCP plans that cater to the following processing categories:
Slaughter – all species.

Raw product-ground: ground beef, ground pork, fresh sausages, ground

poultry, whole hog sausage, meat, and poultry patties.
Raw product not-ground: primal cuts, boneless cuts, tenderized cuts without
microbial inhibitors, seasoned cuts, and parts.

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 Thermally Processed-Commercially sterile: ready to eat meals, canned
products, low acid canned foods.
Not Heated Treated-Shelf Stable: dry-cured pork, country hams, prosciutto
pickled pigs ears and feet, summer sausage, dry salami.
Heat Treated-Shelf Stable: popped pork skins, meat, and poultry jerky, snack
sticks, meat bases used for soups.
Fully Cooked-Not Shelf Stable: hams hot dogs, wieners, cooked corned beef,
pastrami, prepared dinners, meat and poultry salads, poultry sausage and
poultry loaves.

Heat Treated Not Fully Cooked, Not Self Stable): smoked sausages, bacon,
half-cooked patties, food products with breading and batter set (not fully
cooked)
Products with Secondary Inhibitors Not Shelf Stable): cured beef tongue,
uncooked roast beef, uncooked cured corned beef, uncooked cured pork
products.
Developing HACCP Plans for Meat Processing

When developing a HACCP plan, the management must remain committed to

the program.

HACCP works as a helping agent for delivering quality food products to

consumers. For developing a HACCP plan, you need to assemble a team. It
must include people involved in production processes as well as individuals
from management and quality control personnel.

Once a food product is identified, it must be categorized by listing product

formulation, techniques of processing, etc. After this, a flow diagram must be
developed to describe the manufacturing process.
This chart helps to identify any chemical, biological, and physical hazards that
can occur at any step of the process, and this is known as hazard analysis.

Once the diagram is developed, you move forward to the next step that is
selecting CCPs where potential hazards are identified.

CCPs are procedures or steps where some sort of control is applied to prevent,
reduce, or eliminate a potential food safety hazard from occurring.

For every CCP, it is a must to define critical limits or justifiable values.

The selection of critical limits must be made based on information obtained
from scientific literature, research, or pre-defined regulations by the

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 government.
You should include the source of your guidance in documentation as
supporting documentation for the HACCP plan.
For each CCP, certain monitoring requirements are established. Monitoring
helps to identify a deviation that occurs at any step of the process. If a
deviation appears, corrective actions must be taken
Principles of HACCP for Meat
Processing
Conducting Hazard Analysis – Principle 1

This principle involves defining the steps that are involved in the production
processes and identifying where potential hazards might occur.
The team responsible for HACCP focuses on these hazards and work to
prevent, eliminate, or reduce the chances of their appearance.
Also, a justification for excluding or including any hazard must be reported, and
potential measures of control should be identified.
Identification of The Critical Control Points – Principle 2

A critical control point CCP can be referred to as a step, point, or procedure

where any control measure can be applied to prevent, reduce, or eliminate any
food safety hazards from happening. A CCP decision tree will help the HACCP
team to identify the critical control points at any step of the process.
A critical control point can control more than one food safety hazards or in
some situations, a single CCP is needed to control one hazard. How many
CCPs are required depends upon the steps of processing and control required
for food safety assurance.
Establishing Critical limits – Principle 3

A critical limit is defined as a minimum and/or maximum value of controlling of a

physical, chemical, or biological parameter for eliminating, reducing, or
preventing any food safety hazard to an acceptable level of occurrence.
These critical limits are usually defined as temperature, weight, pH, time, water
activity, etc., based on regulatory standards and scientific literature.
Monitoring Critical Control Points – Principle 4
The team responsible for the implementation of HACCP for meat processing
will define the procedures for monitoring for measuring critical limits at every

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 critical control points.
Monitoring procedures must define the process by which measurements will be
taken, who will be responsible, and how frequently the measuring will
take place during the production processes
Establishing Corrective Actions – Principle 5

Corrective actions can be defined as procedures that can be followed to deal

with a deviation when it occurs.

The HACCP team will have to identify the steps that can be taken to prevent
harmful food products from entering the food chain and define the steps that
will be
taken for the correction of these processes.

It involves identifying problems and steps that should be taken to make sure
the potential hazards will never occur again.

Verification – Principle 6
Activities, apart from monitoring, that decide the validity of the HACCP plan for
meat processing and whether the system is working according to the defined
structure.
The team for HACCP will identify activities, for example, record review, CCP
auditing, prior shipment review, product testing, etc. as segments of
verification
activities.
Record-keeping – Principle 7

One important part of the HACCP plan is recording all information that is used
to prove that a food product was safely produced.
Records must contain all sorts of information about the HACCP plan including
usage of guides such as meat and poultry hazards and controls guide.
Record keeping must involve all data relating to the team of HACCP team,
description of products, flow diagrams, analysis of hazards, identification of
CCPs,
monitoring system, corrective actions, and verification procedures.

FOOD SAFETY - PG 99

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