How to write a HACCP plan?

HACCP Plan – In this article, we are going to discuss how to make a HACCP or hazard analysis and critical control points plan.

1. Introduction

HACCP is one of the internationally accepted food safety management systems that are currently widely adopted by many companies in the food industry. HACCP is an integrated system that allows for effective monitoring and control of specified hazards from farm to table. HACCP is a system that focuses on the control of food safety hazards by combining monitoring, verification, and corrective actions. HACCP is a concept, not just a technique or procedure. It is about being proactive and to have an understanding of the food safety risks associated with the process steps in different aspects to include.

HACCP plans also helps us to understand better what we are doing so we can improve our performance.

2. HACCP plan

HACCP plans include the following:

a. Hazard identification and risk assessment
b. Controls
c. Monitoring procedures after implementation of control measures.
d. Verification of the effectiveness of the control measures
e. Corrective action.
f. Records and reports for each step of the process.
g. Training and education, etc.

3. Components of a HACCP plan

Hazard identification is the first step in hazard analysis and critical control point plans. Hazard identification can be described as a scientific process of evaluating the types, causes, and conditions of hazards that might exist in a product, process, or service. A hazard may be described as anything that might cause harm to either humans (food consumers) or animals (food producers). Hazard identification is an important activity because it is the first step in the development of a HACCP plan. Hazard identification is the first step in hazard analysis and critical control point plans and this becomes the basis for dealing with specific significant hazards.

The second step in the process is risk assessment. Risk assessment is about determining whether a certain hazard can cause harm to humans, or animals, and how great that harm will be when it does occur. The more injuries or deaths that have occurred from a particular hazard, the greater we consider it to be a significant risk. This is true for both humans and animals.

One of the things that we look at in risk assessment is the exposure of people, especially children, and pregnant women to potentially toxic chemicals in their diet every day. This is why pregnant women are monitored for the amount of alcohol and drugs they take because we know that some substances can cause harm to the fetus.

The third step in the process is risk analysis which includes the main part of the critical control points (CCPs). Critical control points are an important part of a HACCP plan. They are a list(s) of points that need to be checked frequently in order to determine whether they have become contaminated, polluted, or maybe failing to meet their specifications.

The final step in the process is verification. This involves checking whether the CCPs are at their specified specifications and that they are working as expected. Verification allows us to assess the effectiveness and efficiency of critical control points in food industries.

A useful example of monitoring results showing how a product reached its specification is a “waterfall chart”. A waterfall chart consists of monitoring data plotted on a graph in which a single data point corresponds to one step(s) in the manufacturing process. For each step, you can see how well the measuring device works, if it correctly performs its task, what happens when there is pollution by a chemical over time, etcetera.

4. Final remarks

HACCP plans are used by a lot of companies in many different food industries because the HACCP system allows for effective monitoring and control of specific hazards from farm to table. After all, there is not any similar system in the food industry today. This is why it’s so popular in many companies today. If you are involved in the food industry, I strongly suggest that you use a HACCP plan to stay on top of your business.