Hazard analysis by critical control points

HACCP is one of the minimum standards that is often required in a food processing enterprise to ensure that products do not contain harmful levels of biological, physical or chemical hazards such as pathogenic microorganisms or toxins. The overall idea of HACCP is to identify specific CCPs, which are those steps in the production process where the safety of the final product can be controlled most efficiently, and then define systematic procedures for monitoring and corrective action, to ensure that the risk is controlled at each 

The production steps covered by the HACCP plan are described systematically in the form of a flow diagram. All hazards that may jeopardise the safety of the food are listed and it is decided which ones should be included in the analysis. 

Principle 2 Determine the critical control points (CCPs). 

Each step in the flow diagram is analysed to determine if it is suitable as a CCP for one or more of die hazards found using Principle 1. A production step is a CCP if it fulfils all of the following three requirements the step contains a control measure for the hazard lack of control at this step could lead to this hazard reaching an unacceptable level and subsequent steps are not going to eliminate the hazard. 

The level of a measure necessary to ensure that a hazard is fully controlled is determined and called the critical limit. For example, how high the temperature must be to ensure that a pathogen has been eliminated, or how low the humidity must be to prevent the growth of mould fungi. Principle 4 Establish a system to monitor control of the CCP(s). 

---

The issue of anthelmintic use in poultry production is covered in Chapter 12 and quality assurance systems based on hazard analysis by critical control point (HACCP) systems are described in detail by van Elzakker et al. (2004) and in Chapters 22 and 23 and are therefore not addressed here. 

Each selected commodity will be analysed, using the procedures developed for Hazard Analysis by Critical Control Points (HACCP), for each of the following seven aspects of safety and/or quality microbial toxins and abiotic contaminants correspondence with traditional values about proper food nutrient content and food additives harmful micro-organisms freshness and taste natural plant toxicants and adulterations. 

---