In 1998, the US Department of Agriculture established the HACCP system for meat and poultry processing plants. Most of these establishments were required to start using HACCP in January 1999. Very small plants had until January. 25, 2000. (USDA regulates meat and poultry; FDA all other foods).
HACCP has been endorsed by the National Academy of Sciences, the Codex Alimentations Commission, and the National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods. The 7 key principles of food hazards are discussed in the article. The FDA is now considering developing regulations that would establish HACCP as the food safety standard in other areas of the food industry, including domestic and imported food products.
Several US food companies are already using the system in their manufacturing processes and it is in use in other countries, including Canada.
7 key HACCP principles to control food hazards
- Analyze hazards: The potential hazards associated with a food and the measures to control those hazards are identified. The hazard can be biological, like a microbe; chemical, such as a toxin; or physical, such as ground glass or metal shards.
- Identify critical control points: These are points in the production of a food from raw to processing and shipping to consumer consumption where the potential hazard can be controlled or eliminated. Some examples are cooking, chilling, canning, and metal detecting.
- Establish preventive measures with critical limits for each control point: For a cooked food, for example, this could include setting the minimum cooking temperature and the time required to ensure the removal of any harmful microbes.
- Establish procedures to monitor critical control points: Such procedures may include determining how and who should monitor the cooking time and temperature.
- Establish corrective actions: Corrective action to be taken when monitoring shows that a critical limit has not been reached, for example reprocessing or disposal of food if the minimum cooking temperature is not reached.
- Establish procedures to verify that the system is working properly: for example, testing time and temperature recording devices to verify that a cooking unit is working properly.
- Establish an effective record to maintain a document of the HACCP system: This would include records of hazards and their control methods, monitoring of safety requirements, and actions taken to correct potential problems. Each of these principles must be supported by sound scientific knowledge: for example, published microbiological studies on time and temperature factors to control foodborne pathogens.