HACCP in Food Industry

HACCP (APPCC in Spanish) is the preventive system with which a food business identifies the hazards in its processes and establishes how to control them.

The acronym stands for Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points. Instead of relying on testing the finished product, the system reviews each stage, from receipt to dispatch, and looks for biological, chemical and physical hazards and allergens. Regulation (EC) 852/2004 on the hygiene of foodstuffs, in its Article 5, requires operators working after primary production to put in place, implement and maintain procedures based on its seven principles: hazard analysis, determination of critical control points (CCPs), critical limits, monitoring, corrective actions, verification, and documentation and records. The regulation allows simple systems in small businesses, supported by guides to good hygiene practice.

The HACCP plan rests on the prerequisites or general hygiene plans: water, pests, maintenance, training, suppliers, allergens and, among them, cleaning and disinfection. The cleaning and disinfection plan sets out for each area and piece of equipment the method, the product, the dose, the contact time, the frequency, the person responsible and how it is verified.

HACCP is a system of the food business, not an attribute of the products it uses. The manufacturer of a cleaning product provides its technical data sheet and its safety data sheet (SDS), which the business incorporates into its plan to justify the chosen product, its dose and the need for rinsing. In the food industry, disinfectants must be authorised for that use.

More information: Cleaning and disinfection plan · Hazard analysis · Food safety