Title: HACCP

By Shaik Firdose Fatima

Table of Contents

1. Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 2
What is HACCP? ............................................................................................................................... 3
Application of HACCP ....................................................................................................................... 4
2. Development Of HACCP .................................................................................................................. 5
Prerequisites .................................................................................................................................... 5
Steps................................................................................................................................................. 6
Principles ........................................................................................................................................ 10
3. Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................... 14
4. References ..................................................................................................................................... 15

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 Introduction

The food Industry is a huge industry, that ensures food quality and safety to the public. This
involves handling of food on various levels form procurement of raw materials to producing the
final product, this increases the need for food safety and makes it a priority. There is always a
concern regarding the safety and quality of food control in the industry and this emphasizes the
importance of food safety.
“Food safety refers to routines in the preparation, handling and storage of food meant to
prevent foodborne illness and injury. From farm to factory to fork, food products may
encounter any number of health hazards during their journey through the supply chain. Safe
food handling practices and procedures are thus implemented at every stage of the food
production life cycle in order to curb these risks and prevent harm to consumers.”
- Sesotec (2020)

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 What is HACCP?

Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP) is a systematic preventive approach to food
safety from biological, chemical, physical hazards and recently radiological hazards in
production processes that can cause the finished product to be unsafe and designs measure to
reduce these risks to a safe level. It is internationally accepted method to manage and identify
the food safety risks and can provide customers, public and regulatory agencies with a well-
managed food safety program.
It is a management system in which food safety is addressed through the analysis and control of
biological, chemical and physicals hazards from production to consumption.
It is related to Pillsbury Company’s projects in food production and research for the space
program. In early 1960s, NASA, Pillsbury and U.S army laboratories began with the objective to
provide safe food for space expeditions.
In 1959, Pillsbury was asked to produce food that could be used in zero gravity in space capsule.
This was started with the fact that no one knew how food would react in zero gravity. Initially
bite sized pieces of food wrapped in edible covering was given to prevent crumbling and
contamination. However, there was no 100% assurance that the food was completely safe and
the hazards were kept away which could lead to disastrous results.
The amount of testing had to be minimized as the reasonable amount would lead to
destruction of large amounts leaving the space flights with small portion.
To overcome this problem, the food was monitored and recorded from the time the raw
materials were procured to the time of production. This became critical control points from
NASA to the Pillsbury. This was their first HACCP.

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 Application Of HACCP

HACCP can be applied anywhere at all that food is being produced or served, this broad
approach can apply to anything from a small food cart to a large industrial kitchen and even
retails units that might deal with food that isn’t prepackaged. Chances are, if you work with
food, its likely that HACCP can be applied in some way to help make sure that the food is safe
for people to eat. This is applicable to more than food processes such as cosmetics and
pharmaceuticals industries also use this or a very similar approach.

Pros Cons
1. HACCP focuses heavily on 1. Cost of development and
problem prevention and problem implementation
solving, through proper monitoring
and record-keeping by the
industry.
2. It is more proactive than reactive, 2. Cost of monitoring
when compared to traditional end
product sampling quality control
methods
3. It has the potential to identify all 3. Impact on employee wages and
conceivable, reasonably expected workload
hazards, even where failures have
not previously been experienced
4. Reduce or eliminate food safety 4. Need to train supervisors managerial
hazards. and production staff
5. One of the primary economic 5. Reduced Staff time available for other
benefits of HACCP is that it tasks
provides for reduced destructive
sampling of the finished product,
as compared to the end-product
sampling required under traditional
inspection systems
6. Internationally recognized 6. Need of experienced staff increases
7. Less end of production tests.
8. Provides the business with a
marketing tool and competitive
advantage

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 Development of HACCP Plan

Prerequisites for HACCP

The production of safe food products requires that HACCP system be built upon a solid
foundation of prerequisites programs. These conditions and practices are now prerequisites to
development and implementation of effective HACCP plans. These include:
• Facilities:
The establishment should be located, constructed and maintained according to sanitary
design principles.

• Supplier Control:
Each facility should assure that its suppliers have place effective GMP and food safety
programs.

• Specifications:
There should be written specifications for all ingredients, products and packaging
materials.

• Production Equipment:
All equipment should be written specifications for all ingredients, products and
packaging materials.

• Cleaning and Sanitation

• Personal hygiene
• Chemical Control:
Documented procedures must be in place to assure the segregation and proper use of
non-food chemicals.

• Receiving, Storage and Shipping:

All raw materials and products should be stored under sanitary conditions and proper
environmental conditions.

• Traceability and Recall:

All raw materials and products should be lot coded and recall system in place so that
rapid and complete traces and recalls can be done when a product retrieval is
necessary.

• Pest Control

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 Steps Involved in HACCP

1. Assemble HACCP Team

2. Describe Product

3. Identify Intended use

4. Construct flow diagram

5. On-site confirmation of Flow

diagram

6. List all Potential Hazards

7. Determine CCPs

8. Establish Critical Limits for

each CCP

9. Establish Monitoring System fro

each CCP

10. Establish Corrective Actions

11. Establish Verification

Procedures
12. Establish Documentation
and Record keeping.

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Following steps are used to develop a HACCP System:

Step 1: Assemble HACCP Team

HACCP is applied by multidisciplinary team, so that the system is output of group with relevant
experience and knowledge combined to take decisions about product safety. This works well in
manufacturing operations and normally includes, the following disciplines:

• Manufacturing or operations personnel who understand process operations on site

• Quality or technical personnel who understand the product’s technical characteristics
regarding hazard control and have up to date information on likely hazards in that
sector of food industry.
• Engineering personnel who have knowledge and experience of the equipment and
process operations in use on site.
In addition to this, the size of the HACCP team is best if kept to 4-6 personnel for ease of
management while personnel from the following areas can be included:

• Microbiology
• Supplier/vendor assurance
• Storage and distribution
• Product development
Their objectives will be:
1. Conduct hazard analysis
2. Identify potential hazards
3. Identify hazards that must be controlled
4. Recommend controls, critical limits, procedures for monitoring and verification.
5. Recommend appropriate corrective actions when deviation occurs
6. Recommend research related to HACCP plan if important is not known and
7. Validate the HACCP plan

Step 2: Describe Product

The HACCP team must have full understanding of the product/process that they are about to
study. This can be done by creating a product description, but this will contain not only the

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specifications but information important to make safety judgements. The following criteria are
normally included:

• Hazard types to be considered

• Main ingredient groups to be used in product/process line
• Main processing technologies
• Key control measures
• Intrinsic (recipe) factors
• Packaging system
• Start and end points of the study.
•
Step 3: Identify Intended Use:

Its necessary to identify the intended use of the product, including the intended consumer
target group, because uses may involve different hazard considerations and different
consumer groups may have verifying susceptibilities to potential hazards. This is usually
included as part of the product description.
The intended consumers may be general public or a particular segment of the population such
as, infants, immunocompromised individuals, the elderly etc. vulnerable groups of the
population e.g. institutional feeding may be considered.

Step 4: construct Flow Diagram

The purpose of the flow diagram is to provide a clear, simple outline of the steps involved in
the process. The scope of the flow diagram must cover all the steps in the process which are
directly under the control of the establishment. It should be a process flow diagram, outlining
all the process activities in the operation being studied, needs to be constructed. This should
list all individual activities in a stepwise manner and should show the interactions of the
different activities. A common error in HACCP is to list the names of the equipment rather than
the process activity. This can cause difficulties as same equipment can be used in different
processes, since different hazards can apply.

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Step 5: On site Confirmation of Flow Diagram:

Since the process flow diagram is used as a tool to structure the hazard analysis, it is important
to check and confirm that it is correct. This is done by walking in line and comparing the
documented diagram with the actual process activities, noting any changes necessary. The
completed process flow diagram should be signed off as valid be a responsible member of
staff, e.g. the HACCP team leader.

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Step 6: List all Potential Hazards, conduct a Hazard Analysis and Consider Control Measures
(Principle 1 – Hazard Analysis)

Using the process flow diagram, the HACCP team now needs to consider each step-in turn and
list any potential hazards that might occur. They should then carry out an analysis to identify
the significant hazards and identify suitable control measures. To identify the significant
hazards, it is necessary to consider the likelihood of occurrence of the hazard in the type of
operation being studied as well as the severity of the potential adverse effect. Effective control
measures then need to be identified for each significant hazard.
Areas to be considered are:

• Raw materials and ingredients

• Product formulation
• Processing conditions
• Packaging
• Storage and distribution
• Preparation and use
• Target groups

Hazard Analysis

Stage 1 : hazard identification is a

brain storming session where the
team develops list of potential Stage 2: hazard evaluation is based
biological, chemical or physical on severitry of the potential hazard
hazards which may be introduced, and itslikely occurence.
increased or controlled at each
step in production.

Step 7: Determines CCPs (Principle 2)

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Critical Control Points (CCPs) are the points in the process where the hazards must be
controlled in order to ensure product safety.

Step 8: Establish Critical Limits for each CCP (Principle 3)

Critical limits are safety limits that must be achieved for each CCP to ensure that the products
are safe. When the process operates within critical limit it is safe, but if it exceeds this limit it is
potentially unsafe.
Critical limits may be based upon the factors:

• Temperature
• Time
• Physical dimensions
• Humidity

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 • Moisture level
• Water activity
• pH
• titratable acidity
• salt concentration
• available chlorine
• viscosity
• preservatives
• sensory information such as aroma and visual appearance.
Critical limit: a criterion that separates acceptability from unacceptability.
Critical limits are expressed as absolute values (never a range) and often involve criteria such
as temperature and time, pH and acidity, moisture, etc.

Step 9: Establish a Monitoring System for each CCP (Principle 4)

Monitoring is necessary to demonstrate that the CCPs being controlled within the appropriate
critical limits. Monitoring requirements are specified by the HACCP team during the HACCP
study but will usually be done by the process operators when the HACCP plan is implemented
in the operation.
Monitoring: the act of conducting a planned sequence of observations or measurements of
control parameters to assess whether a CCP is under control.
Step 10: Establish Corrective Actions (Principle 5)

Corrective action needs to be taken where monitoring shows that there is a deviation from
defined critical limit. Corrective actions will deal with the material produced while is out of
control and will also bring the process back under control.
Corrective actions should include:
1. determine and correct cause of non-compliance
2. determine the disposition of non-compliant product
3. record the corrective action that have been taken

Step 11: Establish Verification Procedures (Principle 6)

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HACCP team need to consider how to determine if the HACCP system is valid and working
effectively over time. Verification procedure are the methods that will be used to demonstrate
compliance and verification.
Commonly used verification procedures include:

• HACCP audits;
• Review of CCP monitoring records;
• Validity assessment of HACCP plan elements;
• Product testing – microbiological and chemical;
• Review of deviations, including product disposition and customer complaints.

Step 12: Establish Documentation and Record Keeping (Principle 7)

It is important to documents the HACCP system and to keep adequate records. The HACCP
plan will form a key part of the documentation, outlining the CCPs and their management
procedures (critical limits, monitoring, corrective action). It is also necessary to keep
documentation describing how the HACCP plan was developed, i.e. the hazard analysis, CCP
determination and critical limit identification processes. When HACCP plan is implemented in
the operation, records will be kept on an ongoing basis. Essential records include:

• CCP monitoring records;

• Records of corrective actions associated with critical limit deviation;
• Records of verification activities;
• Records of modifications to processes and the HACCP plans
• The HACCP plan:
➢ Listing of the HACCP team and assigned responsibilities
➢ Description of food, its distribution, intended use and the consumer.
➢ Verified flow diagram
➢ HACCP Plan summary table that includes information for:
o Steps in the process that are CCPs
o The hazard(s) of concern
o Critical limits
o Monitoring
o Corrective actions
o Verification procedures and schedules
o Record-keeping procedures
➢ Support documentation and validation records.
➢ Records that are generated during operation of the plan.

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 Conclusion

HACCP is a very beneficial method in food industry, it has been more

sophisticated that the traditional food safety methods, which usually depended
on the final product, its shelf-life, quality and so on. Here more emphasis is given
to the processes which take place to produce the final product. In traditional
methods the final product was tested for any hazards and if it is fit for
consumption, however, any reasonable testing would require a large amount of
food sample which would leave a small portion for actual consumption. In
HACCP, each process is evaluated and the hazards are identified and eliminated
before proceeding further, this makes the testing more efficient and the final
product doesn’t have to be tested. This however would require a team of
members who are experienced and qualifies in different aspects t know the
problem.
This is revolutionary in food safety and is an assurance to the producers,
consumers and food safety agencies.

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References:

1. Ronaidi. (2012). The HACCP System and Application [PowerPoint slides]. Slideshare.
< https://www.slideshare.net/NikRonaidi/the-haccp-system-and-application>
2. Guidelines: Principles and Application of HACCP. (2019). Virtual College. <
https://www.virtual-college.co.uk/resources/2019/08/principles-and-application-of-
haccp>
3. Brennan.G. (2006). Food Processing Handbook. Wiley-VCH GmbH &Co. KGaA, Weinhein,
Germany.
4. Hazard analysis and critical control points. (2021 March 23). In Wikipedia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hazard_analysis_and_critical_control_points
5. Food Law. North Dakota University.
https://www.ag.ndsu.edu/foodlaw/overview/introhaccp
6. The Essential Guide To HACCP. Safe Food Alliance. https://safefoodalliance.com/food-
safety-resources/haccp-overview/
7. Pierson, D & Cornett ,Jr. (1992). HACCP Principles and Applications. Chapman and Hall.
New York. https://books.google.co.in/books?id=8-
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