CONSULTANCY SERVICES

Industry Specific Standards

Hazard Analysis And Critical Control Points (HACCP)

Introduction

Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) is a systematic preventive approach to food and pharmaceutical safety that addresses physical, chemical, and biological hazards. In the food industry, HACCP is used to identify potential food safety hazards, so that key actions, known as Critical Control Points (CCP's) can be taken to reduce or eliminate the risk of the hazards.

HACCP is an internationally recognized system that assures food safety at all stages of the food chain and provides a more structured approach to the control of food hazards compared to the traditional inspection and quality control procedures. Its emphasis is on prevention and hence, the control of hazards is built into the design, manufacturing, packaging and distribution as well.

As of Jan. 1,2006, the European Union mandated all food manufacturing facilities that produce food for the European market to incorporate HACCP into their food safety systems.

Starting in the 1990s, various customers in the food chain required their suppliers to have certified HACCP systems. Therefore, a number of countries, including Australia, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands and the United States, developed auditable national food safety management standards (FSMSs).

Benefits of Implementation

HACCP provides uncountable benefits - both tangible and intangible. A typical organisation would enjoy the following:

• a sound risk-assessment framework that allows both industry and government to allocate their resources efficiently in establishing and auditing safe food production practices
• an internationally-recognised system for assuring food safety
• improved compliance with hygiene regulation
• customer recognition and approval, as well as the potential to penetrate new markets

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is the relationship between HACCP and ISO 22000?

HACCP plays a large role in ISO 22000. So, if your company already has HACCP in place, you are one step closer to ISO 22000. ISO 22000 strengthens the HACCP system in several ways. It is a management system standard and as such, has requirements for policy, planning, implementation and operation, performance assessment, management review and improvement. ISO 22000 is also compatible with other ISO management system standards such as ISO 9001.