Food safety systems based on the HACCP principles have been successfully applied in food processing plants, retail food stores, and food service operations. The seven principles of HACCP have been universally accepted by government agencies, trade associations and the food industry around the world. There are the Principles Of HACCP they are as follows:
Conducting a hazard Analysis– The hazard identification is done in two steps, first the identification of hazards, then an evaluation of the hazard. The application of this principle involves listing the steps in the process and identifying where significant hazards are likely to Occur. The HACCP team will focus on hazards that can be prevented, eliminated or controlled by the HACCP plan. A justification for including or excluding the hazard is reported and possible control measures are identified.
Establish Critical Limits- Here one decides the criteria to be met to control the hazard at that point which may include the temperature to be set or the time etc. A critical limit (CL) is the maximum and/or minimum value to which a biological, chemical, or physical parameter must be controlled at a CCP to prevent, eliminate, or reduce to an acceptable level the occurrence of a food safety hazard. The critical limit is usually a measure such as time, temperature, water activity (Aw), pH, weight, or some other measure that is based on scientific literature and/or regulatory standards.
Identifying
the critical control points– A specific procedure for every critical point is decided. This is the
critical limit for the CCP. If this limit is ever exceeded corrective action
must be taken, and all affected product controlled. A critical control point
(CCP) is a point, step or procedure at which control can be applied and a food
safety hazard can be prevented, eliminated or reduced to acceptable levels. The
HACCP team will use a CCP decision tree to help identify the critical control
points in the process. A critical control point may control more that one food
safety hazard or in some cases more than one CCP is needed to control a single
hazard. The number of CCP's needed depends on the processing steps and the
control needed to assure food safety.
Establishing
Monitoring procedures – The kind
of monitoring, whether full time or part time and the regularity of showing
measurements in the monitoring procedures etc is determined in this. The
monitoring that takes place at the critical control points is essential to the
effectiveness of the HACCP program. The HACCP team will describe monitoring
procedures for the measurement of the critical limit at each critical control
point. Monitoring procedures should describe how the measurement will be taken,
when the measurement is taken, who is responsible for the measurement and how
frequently the measurement is taken during production.
Establishing
corrective actions – Here one
establishes the actions to be taken if the critical limits are not met.
Deciding these factors beforehand helps in taking the appropriate steps on time
when the conditions are not met. Corrective actions are the procedures that are
followed when a deviation in a critical limit occurs. The HACCP team will
identify the steps that will be taken to prevent potentially hazardous food
from entering the food chain and the steps that are needed to correct the
process. This usually includes identification of the problems and the steps
taken to assure that the problem will not occur again.
Establishing
record keeping procedures – One determines what records are needed to show that the critical limits
have been met, and the system is in control. A key component of the HACCP plan
is recording information that can be used to prove that the a food was produced
safely. The records also need to include information about the HACCP plan.
Record should include information on the HACCP Team, product description, flow
diagrams, the hazard analysis, the CCP's identified, Critical Limits,
Monitoring System, Corrective Actions, Recordkeeping Procedures, and
Verification Procedures.
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