Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Food safety is of great importance to consumers, the food
industry, and the economy because of the high number of
food poisoning incidents (over five million). This suggests
that economic losses ($1.0-1.2 billion) and human com-
plaints due to food-borne diseases over the last 20 years
must be taken into account (Jevsnik et al., 2008).
4.
Establish monitoring procedures
. Monitoring proce-
dures need to be established to ensure that hazards
are controlled at CCPs. Such monitoring activity may
involve pressure drops or time-temperature deviations
from prescribed limits.
5.
Establish corrective actions
. Corrective actions are pro-
cedures to be taken when monitoring (at CCPs) has
identified that the critical limit has been or is likely to be
exceeded. Such action must either make the food safe
or prevent its entry into the food chain.
6.
Establish verification procedures
. This involves taking
an overview of the HACCP-based system to ensure
that it is working adequately. It is checking that the
checks already done are true and effective at controlling
hazards.
7.
Establish record-keeping and documentation proce-
dures
. A HACCP-based system must have appropriate
documentation
Hazard analysis critical control point (HACCP)
Hazard analysis critical control point (HACCP) is a sys-
tem of food safety management (FSM) that, in the last
three decades, has become an indispensable part of both
national and international strategies toward minimizing the
prevalence of food-borne diseases, in compliance with the
recommendations of HACCP by the International Com-
mission on Microbiological Specifications for Foods and
a Codex Alimentarius Commission. As a result, recently
introduced EU hygiene regulations have been applicable
to member states since 2005-6 and require all sectors of
the food chain primary producers to apply the full HACCP
system (Arvanitoyannis, 2009).
Hazards can be divided into two categories: hazards that
can potentially harm (physical, chemical, biological) and
others that have little or no risk or are unlikely to occur
and that can often be monitored and controlled by standard
operating procedures (SOPs, such as routine employee hy-
giene practices, cleaning procedures, etc.) and GMPs and
do not need critical control points (CCPs) addressed by the
HACCP system. However, considerable hazards that might
occur in processing will need to be monitored and classified
as CCPs (Sun and Ockerman, 2005).
to
demonstrate
that
it
is
working
effectively.
The successful implementation of a HACCP plan pre-
supposes that management must be strongly committed
to the HACCP concept. If top management is committed
to HACCP implementation, company employees will be
aware that it is their duty to produce safe food (FDA, 1997).
Although HACCP-based programs were first imple-
mented in 1974 as part of the Minnesota Food Service
Quality Assurance Program, their widespread application
was initiated in the 1980s. The emphasis of HACCP is on
preventive measures to ensure adequate process controls in
conjunction with verification and corrective actions. This
strategy was shown to be much more effective than the fi-
nal product inspection. The seafood industry was one of the
first industries to which HACCP was applied but was soon
followed by other industries (Cormier et al., 2007).
The implementation of HACCP and, in particular, the de-
termination of CCPs in the food industry are often compli-
cated, as confirmed by various results obtained (substantial
differences in CCP numbers) after HACCP application. In
the case of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), quality
and safety manager ability, knowledge of production pro-
cesses, and sensitivity are usually the discriminating param-
eters for the proper identification and prioritization of risk.
The main obstacles inhibiting the application of HACCP in
SMEs are the lack of commitment, resources (human and
material), and time. The lack of skilled personnel may lead
to erroneous risk prioritization, false pathogen risk discrim-
ination, and an inability to reach decisions related to hazard
criticality (Bertolini et al., 2007).
According to the World Health Organization (WHO;
2008), CCP is a step at which control can be applied and
HACCP principles
HACCP is a systematic approach to the identification, eval-
uation, and control of food safety hazards based on the
following seven principles:
1.
Conduct a hazard analysis.
Analyze all steps of the
manufacturing process, including procurement of raw
materials and ingredients, processing, storage, and dis-
tribution.
2.
Determine the CCPs.
This is the vital step in the HACCP
system, starting from receiving fruits to the final ship-
ping step. Identify CCPs based on thorough study of
each step for necessary action.
3.
Establish critical limits.
Critical limits are specified
safety limits in CCPs that differentiate the acceptable
(safe food) from the unacceptable (unsafe food). Critical
limits are usually numerical values based on scientific
findings.
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