Design and Implementation of HACCP Plans
New harmonised EU Food Hygiene legislation that came into force on 1st January 2006 demands that (Article 5 of 852/2004) food business operators implement and maintain a permanent and documented food safety procedure based on the Codex HACCP Principles. Chapter XII of 852/2004 also refers to the need for those responsible for the development and maintenance of HACCP to have received adequate HACCP Training.
Having in place HACCP will ensure that you have identified your significant microbiological, chemical, physical and allergenic hazards and the controls needed to eliminate or reduce these. The next step is then to determine your critical control points, which are points in your process where loss of control might realistically result in a hazard causing consumer illness or injury and where no later step can guarantee to eliminate that hazard. From here it is important to define critical limits, which are the measurable values (e.g. temperature) separating safe from unsafe food and to implement monitoring systems. This can be a manual system like using a temperature probe but also an automated system such as the flow diversion valves used in the dairy industry. Pre-planned corrective actions, for when critical limits are breached, must be defined together with responsibility for taking action.
Verification of HACCP is critically important. Review of all parts of the plan needs to be undertaken regularly and whenever the process, ingredients, final product, key equipment, packaging, instructions on use, food law, codes of practice or key personnel change. Without reviewing the plan it is quite possible that significant hazards produced by any of these changes may be overlooked, leading to a food safety risk. It would also be impossible to ascertain whether your plan was controlling food hazards and risk as intended.
For those operating to the BRC Technical Standards, any of the other Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) endorsed standards, or SALSA, we can ensure that your HACCP system meets the stringent and exhaustive requirements that you will find within them.
For those who operate in the catering trade we can help you to implement a system based on the Food Standards Agency’s “Safer Food – Better Business” guidelines.
HACCP Training
Chapter XII of 852/2004 refers to the need for those responsible for the development and maintenance of HACCP to have received adequate HACCP training.
Our course tutors have a wealth of HACCP experience and hold the CIEH Professional Trainer Certificate or teaching training qualifications ensuring that training courses are up to date, effective, fun and easy to follow.