HACCP

HACCP is one of the most effective food safety system. HACCP is: Hazard
Analysis Critical Control Point system. The purpose of HACCP is to identify,
monitor, and control dangers of food contamination. This system has been widely
adopted throughout the food service industry.

It is a system of seven steps:

1. Assess hazards.
2. Identify critical control points (CCPs).
3. Set up standards or limits for critical control points.
4. Set up procedures for monitoring critical control points.
5. Establish corrective actions.
6. Set up a recordkeeping system.
7. Verify that the system is working.
These steps are the basis of the following discussion.
HACCP begins with a concept called the flow of food. This term refers to the
Movement of food through a food service operation, from receiving through the
various stages of storage, preparation, and service, until it gets to the final consumer.
The flow of food is different for each item being prepared. Some menu items involve
many steps. For example, a luncheon dish of creamed chicken and vegetables over
rice might have the following steps:


1

.
Receiving raw ingredients Cooking (chicken, vegetables, cream, rice, etc.)
.
Storing raw ingredients
.
Holding and serving
.
Preparing ingredients
.
Cooling and storing leftovers (washing, cutting, trimming, etc.) Reheating,
holding, and storing leftovers
.
Even the simplest items undergo several steps. For example, a cake that
is bought already prepared from a commercial baker and served as
dessert will go through at least the following steps on its way to the
customer:
.
Receiving Storing Serving
Critical Control Points in HACCP

At each of these steps, as foods flow through the operation, risks can lead to
dangerous conditions, which are called hazards. These hazards can be divided
into three categories:

1.
Contamination, such as cross-contamination from a soiled cutting surface,
torn packaging that permits insect infestation, working on food without
washing hands, spilling cleaning chemicals on food.
2.
Growth of bacteria and other pathogens due to such conditions as
inadequate refrigeration or storage, and holding hot foods below 135°F
(57°C).
3.
Survival of pathogens or the continued presence of toxins, usually because
of inadequate cooking or heating or inadequate sanitizing of equipment
and surfaces.
The important difference is that the hazards addressed by HACCP include
chemical and other hazards in addition to disease-causing organisms. Naturally,
however, most of the hazards we are concerned with are those that affect potentially
hazardous foods .

At each step where there is a risk of one of these hazards, it is possible to take
action that eliminates the hazard or reduces it to a minimum. These steps are called
critical control points, or CCPs. In simple language, setting up an HACCP system
starts with reviewing the flow of food to figure out where something might go
wrong, then deciding what can be done about it. In the language of HACCP, these
steps are called assessing the hazards and identifying critical control points.

2

Setting Standards and Following Procedures

The next step in designing an HACCP food safety system is setting up
procedures for critical control points. At each critical control point, food workers
need to know what standards must be met, what procedures to follow to meet the
standards, and what to do if they aren’t met. To reduce the chances for making
mistakes, these standards and procedures are written out. Whenever possible,
they should be included in the operation’s recipes. In Chapter 5, you will see how
CCPs are incorporated into a standardized recipe.

Some procedures are general and include the sanitation rules discussed earlier
in this chapter. For example: Wash hands before handling food and after handling
raw foods; hold foods above 135°F (57°C) or below 41°F (5°C). Others apply to
specific items. For example: Cook a beef roast to an internal temperature of at least
145°F (63°C) and ensure that it stays at that temperature for at least 3 minutes. The
Minimum Safe Internal Temperatures discussed on page 29 are an important part
of the standards of a HACCP system.

Careful observation is needed to know when standards are met. This often
involves measuring. The only way to know, for example, that a roast has reached
the required internal temperature is to measure it, using a clean, sanitized
thermometer.

Managers must ensure that all employees are trained to follow procedures
and have the equipment needed to do the job.

Once these procedures are developed, additional steps in setting up an
HACCP system are important to ensure that the system is effective: monitoring
critical control points, taking corrective action if procedures are not followed,
keeping records of all aspects of the system, and verifying that the system is
working.