HACCP

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HACCP Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point

On October 4, 1957 on the 4th of October 1957, on the 4th of October 1957, Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the first satellite to be launched in the world. American President Dwight D. Eisenhower responded by declaring to the United States to the space race. Eisenhower was the first president to sign the National Aeronautics and Space Act on July 29, 1958. It was the basis for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to launch an American satellite into orbit and put the first person to space.

Food was a key element in the space program for manned astronauts. The first team who were involved in this project included Herbert Hollander, Mary Klicka, and Hamed El-Bisi of the United States Army Laboratories in Natick, Massachusetts and Dr. Paul A. Lachance of the Manned Spacecraft Center (Johnson Space Center since February 1973) located in Houston, Texas. Pillsbury was added to on the project as an contractor the year 1959 and had Howard E. Baumann representing the company as its chief scientist. The primary objective was to create food products that wouldn’t break in the absence of gravity, and as well as be safe for eating. Lachance set strict microbial requirements that included pathogen limits (including E. coli, Salmonella as well as Clostridium botulinum) for all food products destined specifically for use in space. The entire team realized that the old methods of quality control were not adequate since there would be numerous tests needed in the actual product that was to be utilized. NASA own specifications regarding critical Control Points (CCP) in engineering management could be used as a reference for food safety. CCP was derived from Failure mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) which was developed by NASA through the munitions industry to assess the reliability of engineering and weapon systems. Utilizing this data, NASA and Pillsbury required contractors to determine “critical failure areas” and remove these areas from the system. This was an unprecedented move in the food industry, and later in. Baumann is a microbiologist by education, was so impressed by the experiences of Pillsbury’s NASA space programme that he made a pitch for his business to adopt what would later become HACCP in Pillsbury.

In the following days, Pillsbury was confronted with a food safety concern of its own after glass was discovered to be contaminated in farina, a grain commonly used in baby food. Baumann’s leadership encouraged HACCP within Pillsbury in the production of commercial foods and also applied it to the production of its own food items. The result was an open discussion in the year 1971 National Conference on Food Protection which focused on CCPs along with Good Manufacturing Practices in producing safe food products. A number of botulism cases were linked to canned foods that were not properly processed and low in acid during the 1970-71 timeframe. It was the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requested Pillsbury to create and run an education program for how to inspect canned food to FDA inspectors. The 21-day program began in September of 1972, with 11 days of lectures in the classroom along with 10 days evaluations of the canning plant. Food regulations for canned foods (21 CFR 108, 21 CFR 110, 21 CFR 113, and 21 CFR 114) were first released in 1973. Pillsbury’s program of training to FDA in 1972. FDA from 1972 which was titled “Food Safety through the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point System” is the very first instance HACCP was utilized.

HACCP was initially based upon three pillars, and is currently referred to as the principles one three, two as well as four, in the sections below. Pillsbury swiftly adopted two additional guidelines, numbers three and five, for its own business in the year 1975. The company was also endorsed by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) that government inspections conducted by the FDA begin by reviewing the plant’s documents to verify compliance with its HACCP system. Another proposal from the NAS resulted in the creation of the National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods (NACMCF) in 1987. NACMCF was the first to be responsible to define HACCP’s system and guidelines for its implementation and was closely linked to the Codex Committee for Food Hygiene and led to reports beginning in 1992 and further harmonization in 1997. In 1997 the 7 HACCP concepts listed here were adopted as the norm. The previous year in 1997, they had announced that the American Society for Quality offered their first accreditations in the field of HACCP Auditors. (First called Certified Quality Auditor HACCP), they changed their name in 2004 to Certified HACCP Auditor (CHA) in 2004.

HACCP has been expanded to all areas that are related to food production, extending into poultry, meat seafood, dairy and is now spreading all the way from farm to fork.

Fundamental principles and methods of operation

Principle 1 Conduct a hazard assessment. – Plans determine the hazards to food safety and determine the prevention measures they can use to mitigate these risks. A food safety risk is any chemical, biological, or physical element that could cause food items to be dangerous for humans to consume.

principle 2: Find crucial control areas. – A critical control point (CCP) is a location in a step, procedure, or other stage in the process of manufacturing food that allows control to be applied. As consequently the risk of food safety could be avoided or eliminated. Or, it can be diminished to a level acceptable.

Principia 3: Set the critical limits for each points of control. – A critical limit is the highest or minimum value at that a biological, physical or chemical danger has to be managed at a crucial control point in order to avoid or eliminate it, or reduce it to a manageable degree.

Principia 4: Set up Critical Control Point Monitoring Requirements. – Monitoring activities are essential for monitoring to warrant that processes are in control at every crucial control points. The United States, the FSIS has mandated that each monitoring process and its frequency be documented on the HACCP plan.

5. Principle Implement the corrective measures. – These are steps to take when the monitoring shows a deviation from a previously established critical limit. This final requirement requires the facility’s HACCP plan to specify the corrective measures to be taken if a specific limit cannot be met. Corrective actions are meant in order to warrant that no food item that is harmful to human health or altered due to the omission is introduced into commerce.

Principia 6: Create procedures to warrant that you are ensuring that the HACCP system is operating in the way it was intended. – Validation ensures that the plant is doing exactly what they were intended to do, that is, they’re successful in producing safe products. Plants must test the validity of their HACCP plans. FSIS does not endorse HACCP plans ahead of time however, they will be able to review plans to assure they are in compliance with the final regulation.

Verification assures that it is certain that the HACCP plan is in order which means it is functioning according to the plan’s specifications. Verification processes can include tasks as reviewing HACCP programs, CCP records, critical limits, microbial sampling and analysis. FSIS requires for the HACCP plan incorporate verification activities to be completed by personnel from the plant. Verification tasks are also carried out in the hands of FSIS inspectors. Both FSIS and the industry will conduct Microbial tests as part of the many verification tasks.

Validation is also part of verification which is the process of locating evidence of the reliability of the HACCP system (e.g. scientific evidence to support critical weaknesses).

7. Implement the procedures for keeping records. – The HACCP regulation requires all establishments to keep certain records, including its hazard analysis, documented HACCP plan, as well as documents detailing the monitoring of key control points Critical Limits, Verification procedures, and the management of deviations in processing.

Standards

Seven HACCP principles are incorporated into the internationally recognized standards ISO 22000 FSMS 2005. It is a complete quality and safety management system, which includes the components of the preconditional programmes(GMP and SOP), HACCP and the quality management system. These are all part of an organisation’s Total Quality Management system.

HACCP training

HACCP management system training is only provided by a few commercial experts. In reality, ASQ does add Trained HACCP Auditor (CHA) test for those who are looking for well-qualified training. Within the UK The Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) provide an HACCP to Food Manufacturing certification that is accredited with the QCA (Qualifications and Curriculum Authority).

HACCP application

Range of application

It is applicable to many categories of food items, including seafood bulk production lines for milk, Bulk Cream and Butter Production Line, the industry of animal meat, Organic Chemical Contaminants in food, Corn Curl Manufacturing Plant and many more.

USA
  • Products from the fishery and fishing industry
  • Freshly cut produce
  • Juice and nectary items
  • Food outlets
  • The products of poultry, meat and other animals
  • Food and other services for school children

HACCP Implementation

It is about monitoring, verifying and confirming the day-to-day work to warrant that it is in compliance with the standards of regulation at every stage throughout the day. The differentiators between the three kinds of work are outlined in the report of Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food.

HACCP versus ISO 22000

ISO 22000 is the new standard that will replace HACCP regarding issues pertaining to food safety. While many companies, particularly those with large budgets have either adopted or are in the process of the implementation of ISO 22000, there are numerous others that are cautious and/or hesitant to take the step of implementing the standard. The primary reason for this is a lack of information and the worry that the new standard will be too complex in terms of bureaucratic tasks as derived from abstracts of case studies.

ISO 22000 will not replace HACCP. The standards for HACCP are established in accordance with the global consensus of the United Nations Codex Alimentarius Commission and are the foundation for international trade and national laws all over the world. HACCP is a system and ISO 22000 is a standard. ISO 22000 can be used to evaluate the success of a business’s implementation of HACCP and also requirements to HACCP as well as quality management systems. Other standards are also able to be utilized to measure the success of HACCP – ISO 22000 is not the only one.