Hazard analysis critical control points approach

While quality was formerly achieved by inspection of final products, it is accomplished now by prevention through controlling critical steps in the production processes along the agri-food chain. Hazard analysis critical control points (HACCP) represent a typical example of such a preventive approach. Although this concept was developed primarily to assure food safety, the basic principle is also applicable to assuring non-safety quality attributes such as color, flavor, and nutritional value. " This section translates the HACCP principles into a critical quality control point (CQP) concept that can be part of a system to assure food quality. 

Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP) systems with respect to foods are a systematic and practical approach to enhance the safety of foods from primary production to final consumption through the identification, evaluation and control of hazards that are significant for food safety (WHO, 1995 Brera et al., 1998). Inherent in this approach is that it is the producer who will be responsible for identifying and implementing preventative actions in all aspects of the food production chain to ensure maximum safety from specific food safety hazards. Thus, the producer must set in motion a plan to identify, monitor... 

Analysis and periodic monitoring are primary to achieve quality standards. However, a more total quality approach is required [39]. Periodic control and review of water treatment and transport facilities, evaluation and protection of the water source, and the evaluation of the quality and performance of the laboratory analyses are also essential to achieve better quality. Implementation of the hazard analysis critical control points (HACCP) approach to water supplies and use, specifically in the food industry, has been recommended [41,42]. The hazards encountered in water treatment in food factories must be identified and controlled. Possible hazards encountered have recently been presented as a report of the European Hygienic Engineering and Design Group [43]. 

Adherence to GMP guidelines already offers a sound basis for avoiding microbial contamination or other products mishap. However, in some cases it is also wise to carry out special manufacturing process fault prevention analyses. Similar approaches have already proven their worth in other industrial sectors, such as automobile and foodstuffs. The conceptual basis for such studies are FMEA, Failure Mode and Effects Analysis-Fehlermoglich-keits- und -Einflussanalyse (DIN 25 448), and the HACCP concept (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points, (Pierson, 1993). 

This nonsystematic approach to monitoring has proven inadequate for protecting the U.S. food supply. In response, the FDA enacted the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) program of 1997 (U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 1995, 2001). In the U.S., the FDA has established action levels in suspect seafood for the toxins causing some of the shellfish poisonings (see Table 7.3). When an action level is reached, the HACCP plan must be followed to prevent unsafe product from reaching consumers. 

Another nontraditional approach to assessing quality systems is the hazard analysis and critical control point (HACCP). The Pillsbury Company conceived the HACCP in the early 1960s with the cooperation and participation of the National Aeronautic and Space Administration. Essentially, HACCP is a system that identifies and monitors specific food-borne hazards that can potentially affect the safety of food. Some medical device and diagnostics companies are implementing the same principles as the HACCP program. 

The National Advisory Committee s Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) program has been endorsed as an effective and rational means of assuring food safety from harvest to consumption [8], The basic principles used to develop a HACCP plan include hazard analysis, verification procedures, critical control point identification, establishing critical limits, monitoring procedures, corrective actions, verification procedures, and record keeping and documentation. This same approach could be loosely applied to the identification and control of microbiological hazards encountered by consumers in their environment. 

A systematic, preventive approach to food and pharmaceutical safety that includes physical, chemical, and biological hazards as a means of prevention rather than finished product inspection. It has seven key principles, which are conduct a hazard analysis, identify critical control points, establish critical limits for each critical control point, establish critical control point monitoring requirements, establish corrective actions, establish record-keeping procedures, and establish procedures for ensuring the HACCP system is working as intended. HACCP is used in the food industry to identify potential food safety hazards, so that key... 

HACCP. A May 1987 National Academy of Sciences report urged USDA to shift from its traditional poke and sniff inspection method to a science-based approach, called hazard analysis at critical control points (HACCP), under which operators develop objective tests for contamination risk at various critical control points of the manufacturing process and adopt measures to... 

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