CHAPTER 5:

THE HAZARD ANALYSIS

CRITICAL CONTROL
POINT (HACCP) SYSTEM:
A SAFETY ASSURANCE
PROCESS
Learning Objectives:

Recognize the usefulness of the HACCP

system as a food protection tool.
Recognize the types of potentially
hazardous foods that commonly require a
HACCP system to ensure product safety.
Identify the principles involved in
implementing a HACCP system
Define
-Hazard
-Hazard Analysis
-Critical Control Point
-Critical Limit
 List Hazards (risk factors) related to each product
analyzed
 Assess hazards (risk factors) in order of severity
 Identify points in the flow of food to be monitored
 Describe evaluation of the process
 State measures used to correct potential problems
 Identify data required to provide documentation
for review and problem solving
 Apply the HACCP system to analyze and protect
food items from contamination during processing,
preparation, and service.
 Essential Terms:

Critical Control Point – The second

principle in creating HACCP system. It is an
operation (practice, preparation step, or
procedure) in the flow of food which will prevent,
eliminate, or reduce hazards to acceptable levels.
Critical Limit – Application of this principle
involves considering what should be done to
reduce the hazard risk to safe levels.
HACCP Plan – should provide as much
information as possible about the hazards
associated with each individual food item or
group of food items covered by the system. The
procedures for monitoring critical control points
and record maintenance must also be contained
in the establishment’s HACCP plan.
Hazard - may be biological, chemical, or physical in
nature. These hazards are frequently introduced into
the food by people, poor food handling practices,
and/or contaminated equipment.
- is a situation that poses a level of threat to life,
health, property, or environment. Most hazards are
dormant or potential, with only a theoretical risk of
harm; however, once a hazard becomes "active", it
can create an emergency situation. A hazard does not
exist when it is happening. A hazardous situation that
has come to pass is called an incident. Hazard
and vulnerability interact together to create risk.
Hazard Analysis – the first principle in a HACCP
system. This involves identifying hazards that might be
introduced to food by certain food production practices or the
intended use of product.
- Hazard Analysis also starts with a thorough review of
your menu or product list to identify all of the potentially
hazardous foods you serve.
Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point
(HACCP) system – designed to anticipate and control
problems before they happen. HACCP is the preferred
approach to retail food safety because it provides the most
effective and efficient way to ensure that food products are
safe.
Monitoring – a critical activity within a HACCP system.
It can help pinpoint the cause of a problem and provide an
early warning that a potentially hazardous situation might
exsist.

Risk – the probability that a condition or conditions will

lead to a hazard.

Verification – this process typically consists of two

phases. You must verify that the critical limits you have
established for your CCPs will prevent, eliminate, or reduce
hazards to acceptable leveles and you must also verify that
your overall HACCP plan is functioning effectively.
 The Problem:
The challenge of reducing the number of cases of foodborne
illness has made it necessary to reevaluate our nation’s food
safety system. The food industry and food regulatory agencies
are being confronted with a number of new challenges,
including:
 New germs that cause foodborne illness
 The changing nature of our global food supply
 New techniques for processing and serving food
 Changing eating habits of consumers
 A growing number of people who are at increased risk of
experiencing foodborne illness.
The number of foods imported into the U.S. increases every
year. In addition, the number of new methods used to process
and prepare foods continues to grow. New items are produced
and different foods are grown imported. This challenges the
government’s ability to effectively monitor food safety.
Governmental agencies at all levels are having to cut back
their staff and service due to increased costs and taxpayer
mandates to decrease spending. This makes it necessary to
shift more and more of the responsibility for food safety to
food establishment managers and employees. Those
individuals who are engaged in food production and service
are required to assume greater responsibility for ensuring the
safety of the food they produce.
The size and scope of the food industry exert great pressures
on the FDA, USDA, and state and local food safety programs.
The Solution:

For this reason, the Hazard Analysis

Critical Control Point (HACCP) food
system is being recommended as the
best method for ensuring food safety in
retail establishments. This system has
been used by food processors for many
years to monitor and protect food from
contamination.
 What is HACCP System?
 HACCP stands for Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point
 helps food managers identify and control potential problems
before they happen.
 The most effective when tailored to the specific needs of the
retail food establishment. It is designed to provide flexibility to
the food establishment when controlling the hazards that
cause foodborne illness.
 Must be compatible with products sold, the clients served, and
the facilites and equipment used during food production.
 Its approach is based on controlling time, temperature, and
specific factors that are known to contribute to foodborne
disease outbreaks.
 The 1st priority of this system is to ensure the safety of the
potentially hazardous foods on the menu.
 HACCP records also assist health department personnel as
they perform routine inspections of your establishment.
 If a foodborne disease outbreak occurs, HACCP records are
very useful to the investigators as they attempt to determine
the cause of illness.
 It offers two additional benefits over conventional inspection
methods.

 The HACCP system enables food managers to identify the

foods and processes that are most likely to cause
foodborne illness.
 The HACCP system more accurately describes the overall
condition of the establishment.
THE SEVEN PRINCIPLES IN A HAZARD
ANALYSIS CRITICAL CONTROL POINT
SYSTEM

The basic structure of a HACCP system

consists of seven principles. Each principle
is unique, they all work together to form
the basic structure of an effective food
safety program.
Principle 1 – Hazard Analysis
- This involves identifying hazards that might be
introduced to food by certain food production practices or
the intended use of the product. Hazard analysis starts with
a thorough review of your menu or product list to identify
all of the potentially hazardous foods you serve. Potentially
hazardous foods include:
 Meats
 Dairy Products
 Poultry, eggs
 Cooked foods such as beans, pasta, rice, potatoes
 Cut cantaloupe and raw seed sprouts
 - Hazards may be biological, chemical, or physical in nature.
These hazards are frequently introduced into the food by
people, poor food handling practices, and/or contaminated
equipment. Some foods may be naturally contaminated as in
the case of raw meats, poultry, fish, and unwashed fruits and
vegetables.

 BIOLOGICAL HAZARDS – Food is not produced in a

sterile (microorganism free) environment. Therefore, it can
easily be contaminated by biological hazards such as
bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites. Knowledge of
biological hazards sources and the foods they most
frequently contaminate is essential to an effective HACCP
plan.
Do not forget: Moderate hazards can be severe if transmitted
to high risk individuals such as the very young, frail elderly,
or those with weakened immune system.
 CHEMICAL HAZARDS – are substances that are either
naturally present or are added to food production. When
constructing a HACCP flowchart, consider the possibility of
chemical contamination. Train food workers in the proper
handling and storage of chemicals. This is essential to your
overall food safety program. Reduce the chance of chemical
contamination by purchasing food items and additives from
approved sources.
 PHYSICAL HAZARDS – Physical contaminants in food can
cause injury to the consumer. Glass metal shavings, a food
worker’s personal property (jewelry, false fingernails, and hair
pins), toothpicks, and pieces of worn equipment are
examples o physical agents that may accidentally enter food
during production and service.
 During the hazard analysis step, you should also estimate
risk. Some of the factors that influence risk are the:

• Type of customers served

• Types of foods on the menu
• Nature of organism
• Past outbreaks
• Size and type of food production operations
• Extent type of employee training
Sample Menu
 BREAKFAST

Orange Juice Apple Juice Grapefruit Half Strawberries

Oatmeal Cream of Wheat Shredded Wheat Raisin Bran
Scrambled Eggs Bacon Sausage Links Hash Browns
French Toast Sausage Gravy Cheese Omelet Pancakes
Belgian Waffle Breakfast Burrito White/Wheat Toast Egg Beaters

LUNCH

Apple Sauce Pasta Salad Potato Salad Spinach Salad

Chili Navy Bean Soup Clam Chowder Vegetable Soup
French Fries Hamburgers Pork Tenderloin Fish Fillet
Chicken Fillet Ham & Cheese Chicken Wings Corned Beef & Swiss

DINNER

Tossed Salad Cobb Salad Cottage Cheese Tuna Salad in Tomato

Baked Potato Broccoli & Cheese Wild Rice Melon Balls
Country Fried Steak Turkey/Dressing Liver & Onions Meat Loaf
Frozen Yogurt Chocolate Brownie Cherry Pie Angel Food Cake
Coffee Iced Tea Milk Soft Drinks
Sample Menu with Potentially
Hazardous Foods Circled
 BREAKFAST

Orange Juice Apple Juice Grapefruit Half Strawberries

Oatmeal Cream of Wheat Shredded Wheat Raisin Bran
Scrambled Eggs Bacon Sausage Links Hash Browns
French Toast Sausage Gravy Cheese Omelet Pancakes
Belgian Waffle Breakfast Burrito White/Wheat Toast Egg Beaters

LUNCH

Apple Sauce Pasta Salad Potato Salad Spinach Salad

Chili Navy Bean Soup Clam Chowder Vegetable Soup
French Fries Hamburgers Pork Tenderloin Fish Fillet
Chicken Fillet Ham & Cheese Chicken Wings Corned Beef & Swiss

DINNER

Tossed Salad Cobb Salad Cottage Cheese Tuna Salad in Tomato

Baked Potato Broccoli & Cheese Wild Rice Melon Balls
Country Fried Steak Turkey/Dressing Liver & Onions Meat Loaf
Frozen Yogurt Chocolate Brownie Cherry Pie Angel Food Cake
Coffee Iced Tea Milk Soft Drinks
 - The last phase of the hazard analysis step involves
establishing preventive measures. After the hazards have
been identified, you must consider what preventive
measures, if any, can be employed for each hazard.
Preventive measures include:
 Controlling the temperature of the food
 Cross contamination control
 Good personal hygiene practices
 Other procedures that can prevent, minimize, or eliminate
an identified health hazard
 Principle 2 – Identify Critical Control
Points (CCPs)
A critical point is an operation (practice, preparation step, or
procedure) in the flow of food which will prevent, eliminate, or reduce
hazards to acceptable levels. It provides a kill stepl that will destroy
bacteria or a control step that prevents or slows down the rate of
bacteria growth.
Some examples of CCPs are:
 Cooking, reheating, and hot-holding
 Chilling, chilled storage, and chilled display
 Receiving, thawing, mixing ingredients, and other food handling stages
 Product formulation (e.g., reducing the pH of a food to below 4.6 or
Aw to .85 or below)
 Purchasing seafood, MAP foods, and ready-to-eat foods, where further
processing would not prevent a hazard, from approved sources.
-The most commonly used CCPs are cooking, cooling, reheating,
and hot/cold holding.
-Cooking and reheating to proper temperatures will destroy
bacteria, whereas proper cooling, hot-holding, and cold-
holding will prevent or slow down the rate of bacterial
growth.
-The FDA Food Code also recognizes specific food handling and
sanitation practices (such as thawing methods), prevention of
cross contamination, and certain aspects of employee and
environmental hygiene as CCPs.
-Many food establishment operators prefer to think them as
“standard operating procedure” (SOPs) or house policies
rather than CCPs.
 CCPs and SOPs
CCPs are considered to be operations that involve:
 Time
 Temperature
 Acidity
 Purchasing and receiving procedures related to:
 Seafood
 Modified atmosphere packaged foods
 Ready-to-eat foods where a later processing step in food flow would prevent
hazard
 Thawing of ready-to-eat foods where a later processing step in the food flow
would not prevent a hazard.

SOPs include:
 Good employee hygiene practices (i.e., handwashing)
 Cross contamination control (i.e., keeping raw products separate from cooked
and ready-to-eat foods)
 Environmental hygiene practices (i.e., effective cleaning and sanitizing of
equipment and utensils).
 Identification of critical control points begins with a review of the
recipe for the potentially hazardous ingredients and the
development of a flow chart for the recipe. Some of the more
common elements in the flow of food include:
 Purchase of products and ingredients from sources inspected and
approved by regulatory agencies
 Receiving products and ingredients
 Storage of products and ingredients
 Preparation steps which may involve thawing, cooking, and other
processing activities
 Holding or display of food
 Service of food
 Cooling food
 Storing cooled food
 Reheating food for service
 Time as Public Health Control

- Controlling the temperature of food products throughout the flow

of food is the most essential preventative measure for ensuring a
safe food.
- Time can also be used as an important measure.
- The growth of microbes is dependent on both temperature and
time. It commonly takes 4 hours or more in the temperature
danger zone for bacteria to multiply to levels where they will cause
foodborne illness.
- Sometimes, foods loses its quality if you adjust its temperature.
Rather than controlling the temperature of the food, the emphasis
is placed on controlling the amount of time the food is in danger
zone. When time is used as a CCP, do not allow more that 4 hours
from preparation to consumption.
- If time only, rather than time in conjunction with temperature, is
used as the public health control for a working supply of
potentially hazardous food before cooking or for read-to-eat
potentially hazardous food that is displayed or held for service for
immediate consumption:
1. The food shall be marked or otherwise identified to indicate the
time that is 4 hours past the point in time when the food is
removed form temperature control.
2. The food shall be cooked and served, served if ready-to-eat, or
discarded within 4 hours from the point in time when the food is
removed from temperature control.
3. The food in unmarked containers or packages or marked to
exceed a 4 hour limit shall be discarded.
4. Written procedures shall that ensure compliance with these
provisions and proper cooling practices as prescribed in the FDA
Food Code be maintained in the food establishment and made
available to the regulatory authority upon request.
 Principle 3 – Establish the Critical Limits
(Thresholds) Which Must Be Met at Each
Critical Control Point
- Application of this principles involves considering what should be
done to reduce the hazard risk to safe levels.
- Set critical limits to make sure that each critical control point
effectively blocks a biological, chemical, or physical hazard.
- Critical limits should be thought of as the upper and lower boundaries
of food safety.
- When these boundaries are exceeded, a hazard may exist or could
develop.
- A well-defined critical limit makes it easier to determine when the
limit has not been met.
- Each CCP has one or more critical limits to monitor to assure the
hazards are:
 Prevented
 Eliminated
 Reduced to acceptable levels.
- Each limit relates to a process that will keep food in range of
safety by controlling
 Temperature
 Time
 The ability of the food to support the growth of infectious and
toxin-producing microorganisms.
 To be effective, each critical limit should be based on information from
food regulatory codes, scientific literature, experimental studies, and
food safety experts. You must be able to easily measure or observe a
critical limit.
CRITERIA MOST FREQUENTLY USED FOR CRITICAL LIMITS

Boundaries
Critical Limit of Food Safety

Limit the amount of time food is in the

temperature danger zone during preparation
Time and service processes to 4 hours or less.
Keep potentially hazardous foods at a below 41oF
(5oC) or above 140oF (60oC). Maintain specific
cooking, cooling, reheating and hot-holding
Temperature temperatures.

Foods with a water activity (AW) of .85 or less do

Water Activity not support growth of disease causing bacteria.
Disease-causing bacteria do not grow in foods
pH (acidity level) that have a pH of 4.6 or below.
 Principle 4 – Establish Procedures to Monitor
CCPs
o In each food establishment, someone should be responsible for
monitoring critical control points.
o To monitor, make observations and measurements to determine
whether a critical control point is under control.
o The risk of foodborne illness increases when a critical control
point is not met.
o Monitoring is critical part of a HACCP system and provides
written documentation that can be used to verify that the HACCP
system is working properly.
o Time, temperature, pH, and water activity are the critical limits
most commonly monitored to ensure that a critical limit is under
control.
o Monitoring can be performed either continuously or
predetermined intervals in the food production process.
o Continuous monitoring, such as that used to manage the
temperature and the timing of a cook-chill operation, is performed
using the temperature recording charts.
o Continuous monitoring is always preferred because it provides on-
going feedback that can be used to determine when critical limits
have been exceeded.
o Monitoring must be “doable”. More frequent monitoring catches
problems earlier and provides more options for correction (i.e.,
reheat instead of discard food)
o Observations of cross-contamination control, employee hygiene
compliance, and product formulation control may also be
incorporated into the monitoring system.
o Food workers responsible for monitoring CCPs must know how to
accurately monitor critical control points and record the
information accurately in data records.
o Monitoring is one of the most important activities in a HACCP
system. An operation that identifies critical control and establishes
critical limits without having a monitoring system in place has not
actually implemented a HACCP system in place has not actually
implemented a HACCP system.
o Critical limits without monitoring are meaningless.
Principle 5 – Establish the Corrective Action
to Be Taken When Monitoring Shows That a
Critical Limit Has Been Exceeded
Serious problems can occur when critical limits are not met. If you
detect a critical limit was exceeded during the production of a
HACCP monitored food, correct the problem immediately. The flow
of food should not continue until all CCPs have been met.
1. Determine what went wrong.
2. Choose and apply the appropriate corrective action.

 For example, if the temperature of the BBQ pork on your steam table
is not at 14o0F (600C) or higher, check the steam table to make sure it
is working properly and will keep food hot. At the same time, put the
pork on the stove and reheat it rapidly to 1650F (740C). The pork
should be discarded if you suspect it has been in the temperature
danger zone for four hours or more.
Additional corrective actions include having employees measure
the temperature of the product at more frequent intervals and stir
the pork to ensure the even distribution of heat throughout the
product.
Record the additional steps and verify that the critical limit is met
using the revised system.
Taking immediate corrective action is vital to the effectiveness of
your food safety system.
 Principle 6 – Establish Procedures to Verify
That the HACCP System is Working
- The 6th principle in the HACCP system is verifying that your system is
working properly.
- The verification process typically consists of two phases.
1. You must verify that the critical limits you have established for your
CCPs will prevent, eliminate, or reduce hazards to acceptable levels.
2. You must verify that your overall HACCP plan is functioning effectively.
The HACCP system should be reviewed and, if necessary, modified to
accommodate changes in:
 your clientele (i.e., more high-risk clients)
 the items on your menu (addition of potentially hazardous foods or
substitution of low-risk foods for high-risk foods)]
 the process used to prepare HACCP products.
Your management team should review and evaluate the establishment’s
HACCP program at least once in a year, or more often if necessary.
 GUIDELINES FOR DETERMINING HOW AND WHEN
TO IMPLEMENT HACCP PLAN VERIFICATION
PROCEDURES
Verification procedures may include:
 Initiation of appropriate verification inspection schedules
 A review of the HACCP plan
 A review of the CCP records
 A review of departures from critical limits and how they are adequate
to control hazards
 A review of the written record of verification inspections which
certifies compliance with the HACCP plan or deviations from the plan
and corrective action taken

 Validation of the HACCP plan, including on-site review and

verification of flow of diagrams and Critical Control Points
 A review of the modifications made to the HACCP plan.
 Verification inspections should be conducted under the following
condition:
Routinely and unannounced to ensure that selected CCPs are under
control
If it is determined that intensive coverage of a specific food is needed
because of new information concerning food safety
When foods prepared at the establishment have been linked to a
foodborne illness
When established criteria have not been met
To verify that changes have been implemented correctly after a HACCP
plan has been modified.
 Verification reports should contain the following information:
Existence of the HACCP plan and person(s) responsible for
administering and updating plan
The status of records associated with CCP monitoring
Direct monitoring data of the CCP while in operation; certification
that monitoring equipment is properly calibrated and in working
order; deviations; and corrective actions noted
Any samples analyzed to verify that CCPs are under control. Analyses
may involve physical, chemical, microbiological, or organoleptic
methods
Modifications to the HACCP plan
Training and knowledge of individuals responsible for monitoring
CCPs.

These figures contains guidelines that can assist you in determining hpw and
when to implement HACCP plan verification procedures as well as the kind of
information your verification reports should contain.
 Principle 7 – Establish an Effective Record
Keeping System That Documents the HACCP
System
- An effective HACCP system requires the development and maintenance
of a written HACCP plan.
- The plan should provide as much information as possible about the
hazards associated with each individual food item or group of food items
covered by the system.
- The amount of record keeping required in a HACCP plan will vary
depending on the type of food processing used from one food
establishment to another. For example, a cook-chill operation in a
campus dining hall would require more record keeping than a limited
menu cook-serve operation in a neighbor café.
- The details of your HACCP plan will be determined by the complexity of
your food production operation.
- Keep sufficient records to prove your system is working effectively. But
keep it as simple as possible.
- Changing a procedure at a CCP but not recording the change on your
flowchart almost guarantees that similar problems will repeat.
- A clipboard, work sheet, thermometer, watch or clock, and any
other equipment needed to monitor and record these limits
must be readily available to the food production staff.
- An example of what information to keep in records, as suggested
by the FDA Food Code, is presented on the next slide. The title
of the figure is: Examples of Documents That Can Be Included in
the Total HACCP System (Source: FDA Food Code). The
information in the featured figure provides an example on how
the information can be organized in your HACCP plan.
1. List of HACCP team members and their assigned responsibilites.

2. Description of the food product and its intended use

3. Flow diagram of the food preparation steps with CCPs noted

4. Hazards associated with each CCP and preventive measures

5. Critical limits

6. Monitoring systems

7. Corrective action plans for deviations from critical limits

8. Record keeping procedures

9. Procedures for verification of the HACCP system

Principles in HACCP System Process Steps
Quick-Chill Reheating
Bacteria (especially spore-
1. Hazard analysis formers) Bacteria
2. Identify CCP Yes Yes
Reheat to an internal
140oF to 70oF in 2 hours or temperature of 165oF
less. 70oF to 41oF in 4 hours or above within 2
3. Identify Critical Limit or less. hours
4. Monitoring [Procedures Cook monitors
Frequency Person(s) Cook monitors product product temp. every
Responsible] temp. every 60 minutes 30 minutes
5. Corrective Continue heating
Action(s)/Person(s) Discard product if CCP limit until CCP limit is
Responsible is not met achieved
6. Verification
Procedure(s)/Person(s)
Responsible Food Manager Food Manager
Record data on a
Record data on a time/temp. time/temp. chart
7. HACCP Records chart and initial and initial
INFORMATION COMMONLY INCLUDED IN A
HACCP PLAN
The method you use to record the information is
not especially important, as long as it is easy for
the staff to use and provides quick access to the
information contained in the log.
Education and Training
- Education and training are key to the success
implementation of a HACCP program.
- Your employee’s training programs should be tailored to
the operations they work.
 The contain of the training program should
 Provide employees with an overview of the HACCP system and
how it works to ensure food safety.
 Include an in-depth examination of the CCPs and critical limits in
your HACCP system.
 The primary goal of the training program is to make employees
skilled in performing the specific tasks (monitoring and
recording) which the HACCP plan requires them to perform.
Motivate them by stressing the importance of their roles and their
responsibility to the success of the program.
- HACCP training must be an ongoing activity due
to the high employee trunover that most
establishments experience.
- Effective training and supervision will help you
achieve the benefits of a HACCP based operation
in a much shorter period of time. This will save
you money and, more important, enhance the
safety of the products you are serving to your
clients.
Roles and Responsibilities under HACCP
The role of health department personnel and other regulators is to
promote the use of HACCP by the food industry. They can help you
to better understand the HACCP concept and how to implement a
HACCP system. Regulatory personnel also will review your HACCP
documents periodically to ensure that critical control points are
properly identified, critical limits are properly set, required
monitoring is being performed, and the HACCP plain is being revised
when necessary.

The role of the food establishment managers and supervisors is to

develop, implement, and maintain the HACCP system. You must
continuously use and improve your HACCP system if safe food
management is to be achieved.