HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point)

Introduction:
Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) was developed in the 1960s in the United
States to ensure food safety for the first manned National Aeronautics and Space
Administration space missions (NASA). NASA required a ‘zero defect’ program to guarantee
safety in the food astronauts consumed in space.

HACCP is endorsed by the:

• FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization)
• Codex Alimentarius (a commission of the United Nations)
• USFDA (US Food and Drug Administration)
• European Union
• WHO (World Health Organization)

The objectives of application of the HACCP system:

• Prevention of food-borne illness
• Reduction of losses due to product recall
• Protection of reputation
• Reduction of costs of food analysis
• More efficient quality assurance system
• Focuses on identifying and preventing hazards from contaminating food, based on sound
science.
• Permits more efficient and effective government oversight, primarily because record
keeping allows investigators to see how well a firm is complying with food safety laws over a
period, rather than how well it is doing on any given day.
• Helps food companies to compete more effectively in the world market.
• Reduces barriers to international trade.

Guidelines in the application of HACCP system:

1. Assemble the HACCP team
2. Describe product
3. Identify intended use
4. Construct flow diagram
5. On-site verification of flow diagram
6. List all potential hazards, conduct a hazard analysis and determine control measures
7. Determine CCPs
8. Establish critical limits for each CCP
9. Establish a monitoring system for each CCP
10. Establish corrective actions
11. Establish verification procedures
12. Establish record keeping and documentation

1. Assemble the HACCP Team:

A multi-disciplinary HACCP team needs to include knowledge of the following aspects:
Raw materials, specialist (quality assurance/technical), operation activities,
engineering/equipment technical knowledge of HACCP, process, finished product,
hazard expertise, environment (premises, property, surroundings)
2. Describe the product:
Describe the product giving detail of its composition, physical/chemical structure, and
packaging, safety information, processing treatments, storage and method of
distribution. Product name, composition, end product characteristics, method of
preservation, primary packaging, shipping, storage conditions, distribution method, shelf
life, special labelling, customer preparation
3. Identify the intended use: Identify the intended use of the product, its target consumer
with reference to sensitive population. Five sensitive groups in the population are
categorized such as elderly, infants, pregnant, sick and immuno-compromised.
4. Construct a process flow diagram: Details of all process activities including inspections,
transportation, storage and delays in the process are to be given. Inputs into the process
in terms of raw materials, packaging, water and chemicals and output from the process
e.g. waste – packaging, raw materials, product-in-progress, rework and rejected
products also need to be mention.
5. On site verification of the process flow diagram: It should be done by all members of
the HACCP team during all stages and hours of operation. Validate process flow diagram
by HACCP team, observe process flow, sampling activities, interview and outline / non
-routine operations.

Prerequisite Programs (PRP): PRP focus on employees, facilities, and equipment. Examples
of prerequisite programs includes illness policy, cleaning and sanitizing procedures, garbage
removal, pest control, equipment selection, employee hygiene.

7 Principles of HACCP:

1. Conduct a hazard analysis

2. Determine the CCPs
3. Establish critical limit(s)
4. Establish a monitoring system
5. Establish corrective actions
6. Establish verification procedures
7. Establish documentation
1) Conduct a hazard analysis: Identify hazards associated with a specific menu item by
preparing a flow diagram that outlines all handling/preparation steps from receiving
to service.Listing of likely hazards associated with each step and identification of
how to prevent the hazards at each step.Hazards can be biological, chemical,
physical or allergens. Also a listof hazards need to be projected that are likely to
occur andthat will cause severe consequences if not controlled.Hazards that are low
risk and are not likely may not need to be considered.

2) Determine CCPs: A control point is any point, step, or procedure where biological,
physical, or chemical factors can be controlled.A critical control point(CCP) is a point,
step, or procedure where an identified hazard can be prevented, eliminated, or
reduced to acceptable levels.Critical control points are monitored much more
frequently than are control points.
3) Establish critical limits: This step involves establishing criteria that must be met to
prevent, eliminate, or reduce the identified hazard at the CCP so that the food is safe
to eat. Examples of critical limits are temperature, time, physical dimensions, water
activity, pH, and available chlorine. Critical limits can come from regulatory
standards and guidelines, scientific literature, experimental studies, and consultation
with experts.
4) Establish monitoring procedures: Monitoring is a planned observation or
measurement to determine if a CCP is under control. Examples of monitoring include
visual observations, temperature measurements, time assessment, pH
measurements, water activity measurements, etc.
5) Establish corrective actions: Corrective actions focus on what to do when a food
does not meet the critical limit. Example of a corrective action is temperature of a
cooker, throwing out food might be a corrective action. Maintains records of all
corrective actions taken.
6) Establish verification procedures: Four phases of verification needed for a HACCP
plan:
1. Determine that the critical limits at all CCPS are sound.
2. Make sure that the establishment’s HACCP plan is being properly
implemented.
3. Have regulatory personnel review the plan to make sure that it is being
properly implemented.
4. Check the accuracy of all monitoring equipment.
7) Establish record keeping: The following make up the records of a HACCP Plan
– List of HACCP team and their assigned responsibilities
– Description of each menu item
– Flow diagram for each menu item indicating CCPs
– Hazards associated with each CCP and preventive measures
– Critical limits
– Monitoring procedures
– Corrective actions plan
– Record keeping procedures
 – Procedures for verification of the HACCP plan

HACCP is not a “stand-alone” system. Good hygiene practices and other prerequisites for food
processing as well as strong management commitment are also necessary; HACCP is not a substitute
for these. Training is another essential requirement for a successful HACCP system. As an aid to
developing specific training to support a HACCP plan, prepare working instructions and procedures
that define the tasks of the operating personnel at each critical control point.

Advantages of HACCP:
Most important advantages related to implementation of HACCP in food sector comprises:

 identifying and preventing hazards resulting food unsafe

 Scientific approach
 permits more efficient and effective government oversight, primarily because the recordkeeping
allows investigators to see how well a firm is complying with food safety laws and following practices
that reduce the risk of unsafe food over a period rather than how well it is doing on any given day
 rendering responsibility for ensuring food safety appropriately on the food business operators
 reduces barriers to international trade which make food companies to compete more effectively in
the world market.

The CODEX Modified CCP Decision Tree:

Established in 1963, The CODEX Alimentarius is an international organization, under the umbrella of
the World Health Organisation and the Food and Agriculture Organisation on the United Nations.
Codex establishes international food standards, guidelines and codes of practice to contribute to the
safety, quality and fairness of the international food trade. The adoption of Codex standards are
voluntary, however, Codex standards are adopted by many participating countries and serve in many
cases as a basis for national legislation.
Codex has established a “decision-tree approach” to HACCP and this information is provided to help
companies determine whether a certain step in their process is a control point (CP) or a CCP (critical
control point).

 
As detailed in any Codex HACCP document, the decision tree matrix helps identify critical control
points and guides the team to ensure that controls are in place, if control is needed and if the CCP is
not active, the product or the process will need to be modified (see decision tree matrix).
When using the decision tree, ASTA (American Spice Trade Association) recommends that question 3
is always asked, even if question 2 defines a control as a CCP, to ensure that the risk of re-
contamination is considered throughout the HACCP study.
BISCUIT INDUSTRY HACCP PLAN:

Biscuit raw
material
storage

Mixing

Biscuit piece
formation

Baking

Aeration

Packaging

Storage

Distribution

Biscuit production line

Table 1: Guideline followed for HACCP plan.
Product description

1. What is your product name and Chocolate chip cookie (500 g)

weight/volume?
2. What type of product is it (e.g., raw, Baked
ready-to-eat, ready-to-cook, or ready Ready to eat
for further processing, etc.)?
3. What are your product’s important None
food safety characteristics (e.g.,
acidity, Aw, salinity, etc.)?
4. What allergens does your product Chocolate chip cookie contains wheat, egg,
contain? milk, and soya allergens.
5. What restricted ingredients None
(preservatives, additives, etc.) does
your product contain, and in what
amounts (e.g., grams)?
6. What are your food processing steps Receiving incoming materials, ambient storage,
(e.g., cooking, cooling, pasteurization, cool refrigerator storage, packaging material
etc.)? storage in a separate location, weighing
ingredients, mixing, sheeting, cutting, spraying
cookie sheets, placing cookie dough on
cooking sheet, racking, baking, cooling,
transferring cookies onto a table, bagging,
weighing, metal detecting, retail box packaging
and labelling, case packaging and labelling,
placing on pallets, room temperature storage,
shipping.
7. How do you package your product Cookies are packaged in plastic film and then
(e.g., vacuum, modified atmosphere, in cardboard boxes.
etc.) and what packaging materials do
you use?
8. How do you store your product (e.g., Room temperature storage. Products are
keep refrigerated, keep frozen, keep shipped at ambient temperatures in a clean
dry) in your establishment and when truck.
you ship your product?
9. What is the shelf-life of your product Three months at room temperature.
under proper storage conditions?
10. How is the best before date to be The best before date is printed on the
noted on your product? (When cardboard box as YY MM DD. Example: 15 JA
product shelf life is more than 3 04 (January 04, 2015)
months, lot code or manufacturing
date is to be printed on product
label.)
11. Who will consume your product (e.g., General population. Note: Chocolate chip
the general public, the elderly, the cookies are not suitable for people with egg,
immunocompromised, infants)? milk, soya, or wheat allergies or gluten
intolerance.
 12. How might the consumer mishandle Products that have passed the best before
your product, and what safety date can have quality defects – the best before
measures will prevent this? date is printed on the cardboard box.
13. Where will the product be sold? Food service, retail, distributor, wholesale.

14. What information is on your product Individual cookie box label contains
label? information such as product name, weight,
ingredients, allergens, nutritional table, claims,
storage and handling instructions, best before
date, manufacturing company name, address,
and contact information.
Corrugated box label contains information
such as product name, best before date,
quantity of cookie boxes, storage and handling
instructions, manufacturing company name,
address, and contact information.

Table 2: Material requirement

Ingredients
Whole Wheat flour Eggs
Butter Sugar
Skim milk powder Baking soda
Chocolate chips Vanilla flavour
Vegetable oil Molasses
Chemicals (hand washing, sanitation and maintenance)
Hand soap Sanitizer
Hand sanitizer Lubricant
Degreaser
HACCP Principle on biscuit plant:

Biological Hazards:
1. Identifying Hazards
Biological hazard: Pathogen survival due to improper temperature distribution and time /
temperature applications (e.g. Listeria monocytogenes, Escherichia coli, Shigella spp., Salmonella spp.)
2. Identifying Critical Control Points
CCP # 1 Baking
3. Establishing Critical Limits
The internal temperature of the product must be at least 85°C for a minimum of 1 minute.
4. Establishing Monitoring Procedures
1. Measure the product’s internal temperature from different areas of the oven rack (top,
middle, and bottom) during each baking session.
2. Insert the thermometer into the centre of the product and wait until the thermometer
reading is steady.
3. Record each result on the “Daily Baking Record” including the date, the time, and initials.
5. Establishing Corrective Actions
When critical limits are not being met for one or more product samples
1. The product must be baked for a longer period until the product’s internal temperature
reaches at least 85°C for a minimum of 1 minute, or the product must be destroyed.
2. Immediately investigate the cause of the non-conformance and take necessary corrective
actions to prevent reoccurrence.
3. Record all non-conformances and corrective actions taken on the “Daily Baking Record,”
including the date, the time, and initials.
6. Establishing Verification Procedures
1. At the end of each production day, review the “Daily Baking Record” to ensure that it has
been properly completed.
2. Once per week, ensure that the temperature check follows the written monitoring
procedure.
3. 3. If non-conformance is found during the verification procedure, immediately investigate
the cause of the non-conformance and take necessary corrective actions to prevent
reoccurrence. 4. Record all observations on the “Daily Baking Record,” including the date, the
time, and initials.
7. Keeping Records
Daily Baking Record

Physical Hazards:
1. Identifying Hazards
Presence of hazardous extraneous metallic material in the finished product due to the
failure of the metal detector to detect metal and reject the product when metal is detected.
2. Identifying Critical Control Points
CCP # 2 Metal detecting
3. Establishing Critical Limits
Metal detector must detect stainless steel test samples when the test samples are passed
through the detector with the product. The metal detector must reject the product.
4. Establishing Monitoring Procedures
1. Test the metal detector at the start, every hour during packaging, and at the end of each
packaging run.
 2. Test the metal detector by passing a sample piece of metal through the detector to
ensure that it is operating effectively and able to detect metal present in the product.
3. A properly operating metal detector must detect the metal sample in the product.
4. Each time a metal contaminant is detected, the metal detector belt must retract, and the
rejected product must drop into the rejection box.
5. Establishing Corrective Actions
A. When the metal detector fails to detect a metal test sample
1. Immediately stop the line and place all products processed since the last successful check
on hold.
2. All products processed while the metal detector was not functional must be held until
they can be passed through a functional metal detector.
B. When a product is rejected by the metal detector
1. Inspect the product for the metal piece.
6. Establishing Verification Procedures
1. At the end of each production day, review the “Daily Metal Detector Check Record” to
ensure that it has been properly completed.
2. Once per week, ensure that the monitoring of the metal detector follows the written
monitoring procedure.
7. Keeping Records
Daily Metal Detector Check Record

Chemical Hazards:
1. Identifying Hazards
Presence of undeclared allergens in the finished product can cause severe allergenic
reactions in sensitive consumers
2. Identifying Critical Control Points
CCP # 3 Retail box packaging and labelling
3. Establishing Critical Limits
The finished product must be packaged in a box that has the correct allergen information on
it. The product label is printed on the packaging material (i.e. cardboard box).
4. Establishing Monitoring Procedures
1. Daily, check the product packaging material (i.e. cardboard box) at the start, middle, and
end of the packaging process, and each time a new lot of packaging materials is opened.
Sample two cardboard boxes at each check.
2. At the start of the packaging process, ensure that there are no product packaging
materials from previous packaging processes present in the area.
3. Check the product packaging material (i.e. cardboard box) to confirm that the correct
packaging materials are being used for the product.
5. Establishing Corrective Actions
A. Previous product packaging materials are present in the packaging area
1. Immediately place the packaging area on hold.
2. Remove all previous product packaging materials.
3. Inspect the area and ensure that there are no previous product packaging
materials present before releasing the packaging area for packaging.
B. Incorrect packaging materials are being used for the product
1. Immediately stop the line and place all packaged products since the last
successful check on hold.
 2. Products put on hold must be repackaged with the correct packaging
materials or if critical limit cannot be met, product must be destroyed.
6. Establishing Verification Procedures
1. Review the “Daily Packaging Record” to ensure that it has been properly completed.
2. Once per week, ensure that the packaging material check follows the written monitoring
procedure.
3. If non-conformance is found during the verification procedure, investigate the cause of
the non-conformance and take necessary corrective actions to prevent reoccurrence.
4. Record all observations (e.g., packaging checks, nonconformances, and corrective actions
taken) on the “Daily Packaging Record,” including the date, the time, and initials.
7. Keeping Records
Daily Packaging Record

References:
 http://www.fao.org/3/y1579e/y1579e03.htm
 https://krishi.icar.gov.in/jspui/bitstream/123456789/20496/1/HACCP.pdf
 https://foodregulatory.fssai.gov.in/All%20Docs/Safe%20Food
%20Practices/IndiaHACCP%20Certification%20Criteria%20Oct%202017.pdf
 https://www.intracen.org/uploadedFiles/intracenorg/Content/Exporters/Exporting_Bet
ter/Quality_Management/Redesign/EQ71%20eng_HACCP(1).pdf
 https://www.astaspice.org/food-safety-technical-guidance/best-practices-and-
guidance/haccp-guide-to-spices-and-seasonings/
