In 1998, the US Department of Agriculture established HACCP for meat processing plants. Most of these institutions should have started using HACCP by January 1999. Very small plants had until January 25, 2000 (the US Department of Agriculture regulates meat and poultry, the FDA all other products).
HACCP was approved by the National Academy of Sciences, the Food Commission and the National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Food. The article discusses 7 basic principles of food hazards. Currently, the FDA is considering the possibility of developing regulations that set HACCP as a food safety standard in other areas of the food industry, including both domestic and imported food products.
A number of food companies in the US already use the system in their production processes, and it is used in other countries, including Canada.
7 Basic HACCP principles for food control hazards
- Hazard Analysis: Identified potential hazards associated with food and measures to combat these hazards. The hazard may be biological, such as a microbe; chemicals such as toxin; or physical, such as shredded glass or metal fragments.
- Identify critical control points: These are points in the production of food from its raw state by processing and delivering to the consumer to the consumer, at which potential danger can be controlled or eliminated. Examples are the preparation, cooling, packaging, and metal detection.
- Create preventive measures with critical limits for each control point: For example, for cooked food, this may include setting the minimum cooking temperature and the time required to eliminate any harmful microbes.
- Establish monitoring procedures for critical control points: Such procedures may include determining how and by what time and temperature of preparation should be monitored.
- Install corrective actions: Corrective actions to be taken when monitoring indicates that a critical limit has not been met, such as processing or disposing of food, if the minimum cooking temperature is not performed.
- Establish procedures to verify system performance: for example, testing time and temperature recorders to verify that the cooking device is working properly.
- Create an effective record for storing a HACCP system document: This will include records of hazards and their methods of control, monitoring of safety requirements and actions taken to eliminate potential problems. Each of these principles must be supported by sound scientific knowledge: for example, published microbiological studies on time and temperature factors to combat foodborne pathogens.
