HACCP Basics

HACCP Basics

Objectives To understand the need for HACCP To understand the benefit of HACCP To understand the principles of HACCP To understand the management and resource requirements To understand how to prepare a HACCP plan To understand how to implement a HACCP plan To understand how to document the system To understand how to ensure on going HACCP compliance

What Is HACCP? The Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point System A Preventative Approach A Powerful Product Safety Management Technique A Proven and Structured Method for Hazard Identification and Control

What Is a Hazard? A Biological, Chemical or Physical agent, in, condition of, food with the potential to cause an adverse health effect.

Biological Hazards Pathogenic BacteriaSalmonella, E-Coli, Listeria, etc. Parasites and ProtozoaFlatworms, Tapeworms, Flukes, etc. Viruses- Viral Gastroenteritis, Hepatitis A, etc. Moulds

Chemical Hazards Cleaning Chemicals Pesticides Ink/Adhesive Toxic Metals Pest Control Refrigerants Fumes/Dust

Physical Hazards People - buttons, jewellery, drawing pins, paper clips, matchsticks, pens. Natural Material - bone, nut shells, seeds, fruit stones. Environment – glass, wood, chips from tiles, concrete. Equipment. Pests

Why Use HACCP? The management of product safety- The commercial implications of a potential major food incident. Limitations of traditional Quality Control – Traditional reliance is placed on random sampling. External pressures- Customers, Media, Legislation.

Major Food Incidents Food – Eggs, Country-UK, Contaminate-Salmonella, Cause-Contamination during process, Number of Ill/effect- 81, Cost- 3 Million Food- French fries, Country-USA, Contaminate-Wire Bristles, Cause-Incorrect action at metal detector, Number of Ill/effect-8Mlbs of potatoes destroyed, Cost 4 Million. Food-Coca Cola, Country-UK, Contaminate-Fungicide, Cause-contamination through packaging, Number of Ill/effect-50 Million cans recalled, Cost- 60 Million.

Legislative Requirements EC directive on the Hygiene of Foodstuffs “ A proprietor of a food business shall identify any step in the activities of the food business which is critical to ensure food safety and ensure that adequate safety procedures are identified, implemented,maintained and reviewed on the basis of the following principles .

Legislative Requirements “ Analysis of the potential food hazards in a food business operation; Identification of the points in these operations where food hazards may occur; Deciding which of the points identified are critical to ensure food safety; Identification and implementation of effective control and monitoring procedures at those points; and Review the analysis of food hazards, the critical points and the control and monitoring procedures periodically, and whenever the food business’s operations change.”

Legislative Requirements General Product Safety Directive ( 92/95EEC) Producers shall: “ Adopt measures commensurate with the characteristics of the products which they supply, to enable them to be informed of risks which these products might present and to take appropriate action .”

What Is the Risk? An estimate of the likelihood of the hazard occurring and its potential adverse health effects.

Definition of a Control Measure Any action or activity that can be used to prevent or eliminate a food safety hazard or to reduce it to acceptable levels. ( Factors capable of control)

The HACCP Team A multi-disciplinary team effort Team leader to be appointed Minimum core HACCP team should ideally consist of; Quality Assurance/Technical, Operations or Production, Engineering. Additional expertise may be provided from; Research and Development, Distribution, Purchasing,Human Resources.

Prerequisite Programmes Well-planned prerequisite programmes will effectively design out generalised hazards that apply to the whole operation, leaving HACCP to deal with the specific product-process hazards.

What Is a Prerequisite Programme? Prerequisites are normally systems in their own right and can be classified as the following; Quality Management Systems Good Manufacturing Systems Personnel (health screening) and Training Preventive Maintenance Calibration Pest Control Supplier Quality Assurance Traceability

How to Do a HACCP Study Define the Scope of the Study Classes of Hazard( Micro/Chemical/Physical) Process/Food chain segment Limits of study( define start and finish of the process) Describe the Product and identify intended use Principle raw materials Composition/Formulation Packaging Storage conditions and durability Distribution

How to Do a HACCP Study Construct a Process Flow Diagram Raw materials Process activities Temperature and time data Equipment design features Storage conditions Validate the Process Flow Diagram An accurate representation of the process at ALL times

How to Do a HACCP Study Conduct a Hazard Analysis What are the hazards What is the risk What are the control measures Identify Critical Control Points When all hazards and control measures have been described, the HACCP team establishes the points where control is critical to assuring the safety of the product. The CCP is a step which control can be applied and is essential to prevent or eliminate a food safety hazard or reduce it to acceptable levels( Codex Alimentarius)

How to Do a HACCP Study Identify Critical Limits Set a critical limit for each CCP- this describes the difference between safe and unsafe product at the CCP. They must involve a measurable parameter and may also be known as the absolute tolerance or safety limit for the CCP. Examples as follows; Chemical limits- Max pH 4.5 ( Hazard:Listeria growth) control measure:formulation pH. Physical limits- 71.7c for 15 seconds ( Hazard; salmonella survival) control measure: milk pasturised

How to Do a HACCP Study Critical Limit- Target Levels Control criteria which are more stringent than Critical limits. Can be used to take action and reduce risk of a deviation. For Example; During the cooking of raw chicken portions, the critical limit is 70 C for 2 minutes. A target level of 74 C has been set which has been determined as the ideal cooking temperature. This establishes a safety buffer zone to reduce the potential hazard of the survival of salmonella.

How to Do a HACCP Study Identifying monitoring procedures A planned sequence of measurements or observations of control parameters to assess whether a CCP is under control. Broken down into 3 main areas; Procedure,Frequency and Responsibility. Must be able to detect a loss of control at the CCP( where it has deviated from its critical limits) as it is on the basis of the monitoring results that decisions are made and action is taken.

How to Do a HACCP Study Monitoring procedures may involve On-Line systems, where critical factors are measured during the process - these may be continuous systems where critical data are continuously recorded. Off-Line systems, where samples are taken for measurement of the critical factors elsewhere - this has the disadvantage that the sample taken may not fully represent the whole batch. Observational procedures, where specific action is observed by the monitor. For example, observation by a supervisor that the operator is following the correct debag procedure correctly.

How to Do a HACCP study Establish corrective action The HACCP principle requires that corrective action is to be taken when monitoring results show deviation from the critical limit(s) at a CCP. The HACCP plan is therefore likely to have two levels of corrective action, i.e. actions to prevent deviation and actions to correct following a deviation. Corrective actions should be developed by the HACCP team and should be specified on the HACCP Control Chart. Responsibilities must be assigned for corrective action both to prevent and correct deviations. Senior management will be appropriate where the corrective actions involve shutting down plant for periods of time or where disposal actions are required.

Putting the Plan into practice Validation of the HACCP plan – can it work, is the flow diagram accurate to the process, have all hazards been accounted for?- obtain evidence that the elements of the plan are effective. Training of all relevant personnel – Essential for effective HACCP implementation, Awareness training for all staff, Specific training for CCP monitors. CCP monitoring – the act of conducting a planned sequence of observations or measurements of control parameters to assess whether a CCP is under control. Reporting deviations from Critical Limits- records are essential to provide evidence of safe food production, sign off and review procedures. Taking defined corrective actions- decide who is responsible and at what level. Keep adequate records. Review and verify the HACCP.

Maintaining the HACCP System Verification activities HACCP Audits - A systematic and independent examination to determine whether the HACCP plan is effective (validation) and compliance with the documented HACCP plan ( verification). Data Analysis and Review – Should be reviewed on a regular basis to identify trends and allow improvements to be made. Maintenance activities Keeping up to date with hazard issues – are better control measures or monitoring procedures now available? Ongoing Training – Ensures that new personnel understand the HACCP system and their individual role. Ensuring the HACCP plan continues to be current – manage any changes in process or equipment to ensure the hazards/risks do not arise or increase.