How to Write HACCP Plan? [Complete Guide]

Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP) is an internationally recognized method of identifying and managing food safety related risk that, when integrated into an active food safety program, can provide assurance to your customers, the public, and regulatory agencies that a food safety program is well managed.

HACCP is a management method that addresses food safety by analyzing and controlling biological, chemical, and physical hazards from raw material production, procurement, and handling to final product manufacturing, distribution, and consumption.

Many of the world’s leading manufacturers and vendors now use the system as the foundation for their food safety management programs and Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) audit methods.

A food safety program, on the other hand, does not end with the HACCP plan. Prerequisite programs such as pest management, traceability and recall, cleanliness, and sanitation must be created and implemented in order to make food safe. Additionally, through the development of ingredient standards and a vendor assurance system, the issue of ensuring that suppliers and distributors have a food safety program must be addressed.

Why is HACCP in place?

Inspection-based food safety systems and food recall were already in place by the time NASA (with cooperation from Pillsbury and U.S. Army Laboratories) created HACCP for food safety. However, these are both reactive systems that detect possible food safety issues after the operation is completed.

Following a recall due to glass detected in cereal, Pillsbury began using HACCP in their earth-bound food production shortly after their collaboration with NASA. Their approach was a success, which led to the FDA inspectors adopting principles in 1974. After a wave of E. coli outbreaks in beef in the 1990s, the guidelines gained traction.

Modern HACCP rules were born in August 1997. The National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Food proposed seven principles under the HACCP to assure food safety from harvest to consumption.

Following that, regulatory adoption of the program spread since the method established a strong, preventative framework for food safety. Programs for risky food products, such as meat, juice, and seafood, are needed.

Since the passage of the Food Safety Modernization Act in 2011, practically all facilities that manufacture, process, pack, distribute, receive, hold, or import food have been required to do Hazard Analysis and Risk-Based Preventive Control (HARPC).

The importance of HACCP plan in the food industry

Using a HACCP plan is critical to the success of your food industry in a variety of ways, including:

It is the least expensive method of managing your food safety and sanitation systems.
Prevents costly fines and/or legal action as a result of food safety and hygiene violations.
Assists you in developing a strong reputation that will attract more clients to your firm.
Allows you to fully document your compliance and due diligence.
Increased staff knowledge encourages ongoing improvement in the quality and safety of the food products you serve as well as your procedures.
Preventing or managing hazards helps to prevent downtime, increasing your company’s productivity.
Identifying and addressing dangers reduces the possibility of consumer complaints.
Identify and analyze any potential hazards.

HACCP: Prerequisite programs

A HACCP plan requires time and effort to create. Start by implementing a few prerequisite programs in your facilities to get ready for success. For instance, you might wish to develop a pest control program in your manufacturing plant or instruct your personnel on personal cleanliness.

This kind of prerequisite program lays the groundwork for creating an effective HACCP system from scratch. Some frequent examples of prerequisite programs are provided on the FDA website.

Now that the foundational procedures required to guarantee a safe working environment have been established, you may begin the process of creating a HACCP plan.

A HACCP plan should ideally be created by your business for each food item or food processing system. It is intended to be customized to your particular product, procedure, and operational circumstances.

The following four actions should be taken before creating a HACCP plan:

Put together a HACCP team
Describe the item and procedure
Determine the product’s intended use and final consumers
Create a flowchart for the procedure

The goal at this point is to compile the data and materials needed to create a HACCP plan. Let’s examine each stage in more detail.

Form a HACCP Team

First and foremost, put together a committed team to create and oversee your HACCP-based food safety program. Professionals from a variety of fields, including quality control, engineering, sanitation, food microbiology, and production, should be on the team.

Every team member ought to have some experience and knowledge of your process and product. Additionally, ensure that the HACCP team includes at least one or two local staff members who are actively involved in your daily operations because their practical knowledge may make it easier to see any operational limits.

Additionally, it could be required to enlist the aid of outside specialists in order to spot any potential biological, chemical, or physical risks in your process or product at an early stage. Outside specialists ought to serve as advisers as opposed to becoming integral team members. Your internal HACCP team should continue to have the last say in all matters.

Describe the Product and Process

Your HACCP team must create a description of the product or items you are delivering, as well as its direct distribution strategies, at this step. The following details must to be included in the usual product description:

The common name of the product
A list of the product’s ingredients
An explanation of the preparation method
Any specific packaging requirements (For instance, does it need modified packaging?)

The merchandise’s shelf life

How should the product be disseminated? Should it be kept at a specific temperature when being distributed, for example?

This step’s goal is to assist you in finding any potential dangers or crucial restrictions in the product’s components, manufacturing, and distribution. For instance, the description might make it clearer to you that the product might be vulnerable to microbial development.

Determine the product’s intended use and end-users

You should now specify how the product is to be used. Does the product, for instance, require heating or additional preparation before consumption? Are there any ingredients in the product that are utilized in other products?

You must also describe the product’s intended end-user in this phase. Is the product suitable for general consumption? Or perhaps a certain customer demographic, such as young children, elderly people, or people with compromised immune systems, is the product’s target market.

Create a flowchart for the procedure

Making a flow diagram of your process is the next stage in developing your HACCP plan. This diagram must show every stage in the production process, from purchasing ingredients to shipping the finished product, and is the responsibility of your HACCP team.

The goal is to give a detailed breakdown of each stage of the process that the facility oversees. You might also wish to include some of the procedures that come before and/or after the processing that takes place in the facility. The flow diagram must be clear and uncomplicated.

Conduct a Hazard Analysis

Your HACCP team must proceed with their hazard analysis. Before starting the process, your team should go over definitions of food safety hazards and preventive methods.

Hazard analysis

(1) Every official establishment shall conduct, or have conducted, a hazard analysis to identify the food safety risks that are anticipated to arise in the production process and identify the establishment’s preventive measures that can be used to mitigate those risks. Food must be included in the hazard analysis.
Before, during, and after entry into the establishment, there may be safety dangers.

(2) A flow chart describing each process and product flow must be prepared, as well as the intended usage or customers of the finished product must be identified.

A hazard analysis is often a two-step process. The first stage is to identify potential human health hazards that may be introduced prior to, during, and after production. Establishments frequently concentrate on “during production” dangers.

When conducting a hazard analysis, you must include “before” and “after” production to assure a safe product. These possible risks are classified as biological (including microbiological), chemical, and physical.
The second stage is to identify existing controls for those threats after they have been identified.

Hazard classifications

Biological Hazards

Biological dangers are characterized by microbial contamination of food. These small organisms, which can be found in the air, food, water, animals, and the human body, are not intrinsically dangerous; in fact, many of them benefit our body. Regardless, foodborne illness can occur if hazardous germs get into the food we eat. There are three sorts of microorganisms that might harm your health: bacteria, viruses, and parasites.

Temperature, pH levels, and the moisture content of the meal are all elements that influence harmful microbe growth. The USDA has named the temperature range that promotes bacterial development the Danger Zone. This temperature range, 40° F – 140° F, allows bacteria to proliferate the fastest, virtually tripling in 20 minutes. Furthermore, a food’s pH level, or acidity, might hasten growth. Less acidic foods, such as milk, encourage bacteria at a higher rate than highly acidic ones, such as lemon juice. Microbes prefer warmer, wetter conditions, therefore moist foods provide breeding grounds for microorganisms.

Chemical Hazards

Chemical hazards are determined by the presence of hazardous compounds that can be found naturally in food or mistakenly added during preparation. Naturally occurring compounds such as mycotoxins, purposely added chemicals such as the preservative sodium nitrate, and unintentionally added chemicals such as pesticides are examples of chemical risks.

Physical Hazards

Foreign objects found in food products are considered physical risks. They are either naturally occurring in the specific item, such as fruit stems, or are not generally found in the food item, such as hair or plastic. Unnatural physical hazards are often more hazardous to one’s health, whereas natural physical hazards can be completely safe.

Allergenic Hazards

The final, and possibly most lethal, category is allergic risks. Allergies are the sixth greatest cause of chronic illness in the United States, affecting more than 50 million individuals each year. Allergic reactions arise when the human body responds abnormally to certain proteins found in food.

Establish critical control points (CCP)

Knowing how to build a HACCP plan also requires determining which of your controlled processing steps is a critical control point. Each process in your full flow diagrams must go through a series of evaluations in order to identify CCPs. Any phase in your operation where creating critical control points (CCPs) and establishing critical limits can allow you to control specific dangers to an acceptable level is considered a critical control point.

Your company’s principal line of defense against dangers is its critical control points. Control methods can be evaluated using known scientific literature surveys or decision tools like a HACCP decision tree or a food risk assessment matrix.

One or more hazards may be handled in each phase and must be listed under a food operation for evaluation. CCPs must be applied consistently to each batch of food products served. CCPs for a restaurant and other food enterprises could include the following:

Receiving and supplying food
Thawing
Storage conditions
Cooking to safe minimum temperatures or other types of thermal processing
Cooling
Reheating

Some food enterprises may require more detailed examples of important control points. Some procedures, such as microbiological testing products, physical and chemical measurements, or analytical testing, may be used to validate the efficiency of CCPs in limiting dangers that can have serious health consequences.
Cooking beef patties is a concrete illustration of a CCP in a restaurant. Undercooked beef patties have been linked to severe diseases in customers due to pathogen proliferation. This is due to the abundance of pathogenic germs, which can be inactivated by properly cooking beef patties.
Because there will be no further processing after this phase, the right cooking process to regulate internal temperatures can be considered a CCP in this circumstance. The CCP protects the safety of cooked beef patties and other raw meats.

Establish critical limits

A critical limit is a maximum and/or minimum value below which a biological, chemical, or physical characteristic must be regulated in order to prevent, eliminate, or minimize the occurrence of a food safety hazard to an acceptable level. At a CCP, critical limits are utilized to differentiate between safe and harmful operating circumstances. Critical limits are not the same as operational limitations, which are set for reasons other than food safety.

Each CCP will include one or more control measures to ensure that the identified hazards are avoided, mitigated, or eliminated. Each control measure is coupled with one or more critical limits. Critical limitations may be determined by things such as:

Temperature
Time
Physical measurements
Humidity
Moisture content
Water sports
pH
Acidity that is titratable
Concentration of salt
Chlorine is readily available.
Viscosity
Preservatives

Aroma and visual appearance are examples of sensory information.
Critical boundaries must be founded on scientific evidence. There is at least one food safety criterion that must be met for each CCP. Food safety critical limits and criteria can be obtained from a variety of sources, including regulatory standards and guidelines, literature surveys, experimental data, and experts.

Create a CCP monitoring procedure system

Monitoring processes are those that are carried out on a regular basis, either by humans or by mechanical methods, in order to measure the process at any given CCP and establish a record for future reference. Monitoring processes involve staff observations or checks (for example, reviewing the documentation accompanying arriving supplies) as well as equipment checks (for example, continuous recording thermometers).

Constant monitoring is always preferable. When continuous monitoring is not practicable, your HACCP team must decide on non-continuous monitoring protocols, how frequently they will be done, and what calibrated monitoring equipment will be utilized.

When determining the frequency of non-continuous monitoring inspections, numerous factors must be considered. The most critical need is that procedures be conducted frequently enough to accurately represent whether the process is under control. When deciding on monitoring frequency, get advice from professionals in practical statistics and statistical process control.

Another factor to consider for your HACCP team is the establishment’s ability to take remedial steps if monitoring uncovers deviations from key limits. If your monitoring reveals a divergence, you must take corrective action on all affected products.

This typically comprises all products manufactured since the last satisfactory monitoring assessment. Assume your monitoring technique is to check the cooking temperature every hour; if the crucial limit is not met, you would take corrective steps retroactively to the latest satisfactory check, ideally the one an hour ago. If the temperature was only monitored once every shift, the entire shift’s production would be halted until corrective actions were done.

When deciding on monitoring protocols and frequency, your HACCP team must evaluate the need for immediate, real-time feedback. Physical and chemical processes are generally favored over microbiological ones for monitoring because they provide more immediate response.

Because of the potentially significant repercussions of loss of control, monitoring processes must be carefully planned, supportable, and efficient. Employees who are responsible for monitoring CCPs must be trained in the approaches that will be utilized to monitor all critical limits. They must completely comprehend the goal and significance of monitoring, as well as accurately report monitoring actions and outcomes as they occur.

The individual doing the monitoring must record precise values. That is, if the critical limit is a minimum internal temperature of, say, 160°F, the person would record his or her observations as the exact temperature attained, rather than “yes/no” or “OK.” The same is true if the monitoring procedure includes a sensory evaluation, such as a color change on litmus paper. Train your personnel who will be conducting and recording monitoring outcomes. Assure that they understand the connection between their monitoring tasks and food safety so that they can record data accurately.

Each entry on a HACCP plan record must be made at the time the precise event happened, including the date and time recorded, and be signed by the establishment employee making the entry.

Create protocols for corrective action

Because no system is perfect, remedial actions must be implemented when preventative measures fail to keep potentially dangerous foods from reaching consumers. Corrective steps should include:

Determine and address the source of noncompliance.
Determine how to dispose of non-compliant products.
Keep track of the corrective steps that have been performed.

Specific remedial actions for each CCP should be planned in advance and included in the HACCP plan. At a minimum, the HACCP plan should describe what happens when a deviation occurs, who is accountable for performing corrective steps, and that a record of the activities taken will be produced and maintained. Individuals with a solid understanding of the process, product, and HACCP plan should be tasked with overseeing remedial actions.

Verify the HACCP plan

Other than monitoring, verification is described as operations that confirm the validity of the HACCP plan and that the system is operating in accordance with the plan.

Verification includes determining whether the facility’s HACCP system is operating in accordance with the HACCP plan. Because adequate verified safeguards are included early in the process, an effective HACCP system necessitates little end-product testing. Firms should rely on frequent evaluations of their HACCP plan, verification that the HACCP plan is being followed correctly, and inspection of CCP monitoring and corrective action records, rather than end-product testing.

Another key part of verification is the initial validation of the HACCP plan to ensure that the plan is scientifically and technically sound, that all hazards have been identified, and that these hazards will be effectively managed if the HACCP plan is correctly implemented.

The following information is frequently required to confirm the HACCP plan:
Expert guidance and scientific research
Observations, measurements, and evaluations at the plant

As needed, a HACCP team or an independent expert performs and documents subsequent validations. Validations are performed, for example, when there is an unusual system failure, a significant product, process, or packaging change occurs, or new hazards are identified.

Documentation and record-keeping

This final step entails establishing both record-keeping processes and the company’s documentation system (defining procedures, document control mechanisms, and so on). Consider:

How are you going to document your system?
What information should you include?
Who is accountable for carrying it out?
For how long do you retain records? What are you doing with them?
Who requires access to what papers, and how are they controlled?

A better-documented plan contributes to improved execution. As you may have guessed, designing and documenting an effective HACCP plan is a difficult undertaking. Training in methodology, experience, and technical features are critical components of successful HACCP plan implementation.

FAQs about HACCP Plan

HACCP definition?

HACCP is a process control method that determines where food production hazards may occur and takes severe measures to prevent them. By monitoring and managing each phase, dangers are reduced.

Why HACCP?

HACCP prioritizes and controls food manufacturing hazards. By reducing microbiological, chemical, and physical food concerns, the sector may better convince customers that their products are safe. Foodborne hazards reduce public health protection.

Major Food Hazards

Consumers are concerned about chemical residues like pesticides and antibiotics, although these dangers are almost non-existent. Microbiological pollutants include Salmonella, E. Clostridium botulinum, E. coli, Listeria, Campylobacter HACCP controls the biggest dangers.

HACCP origin?

HACCP is old. Pillsbury first employed it in the 1960s to make safe, high-quality meals for astronauts. HACCP is endorsed by the National Academy of Sciences, National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods, and Codex Alimentarius.

HACCP vs. Food Production and Inspection Programs

The current food inspection program depends more on detection than prevention. The current inspection program was created in the 1930s, when ill animals and physical contaminants were major issues. Today’s focus is on invisible microbiological and chemical contamination. USDA just enforced HACCP for 7,000 meat and poultry factories.

How has the meat and poultry industry used HACCP?

Many meat and poultry processing plants have used HACCP. Many companies teach management and in-plant workers in HACCP.

What is USDA’s Pathogen Reduction/HACCP Regulation

USDA is taking initiatives to improve the safety of meat and poultry throughout the production, processing, distribution, and marketing chain. The USDA finalized Pathogen Reduction/HACCP on July 25, 1996. The final rule targets foodborne pathogens, strengthens industry duty to create safe food, and focuses inspection and plant efforts on prevention. Final rule covers three areas:

SOP for sanitation
Microbiology
HACCP analysis

HACCP in food production.

National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods produced seven principles as the HACCP’s foundation:

Identify potential food production concerns via a hazard analysis.
Identify the critical control points (CCPs) where dangers can be prevented and/or controlled.
Limit each CCP’s preventive measures. CCPs must meet a crucial limit. Critical limits may represent FSIS requirements and FDA tolerances.
Set monitoring requirements for CCPs to ensure they stay within limits. Monitoring CCP processes may involve materials or instruments.
If monitoring shows a CCP isn’t within limitations, take corrective action. Corrective actions must be in place in case of a problem to prevent a public health hazard.
Establish effective recordkeeping procedures to prove HACCP works. Monitoring, verification, and deviations should be documented.
Verify the HACCP system’s functioning. Verification processes may include evaluating the HACCP plan, CCP records, and critical limits. Plant employees and FSIS inspectors will verify.

Microbiological testing in HACCP programs

Microbiological testing can help certify HACCP plans and follow product trends and profiles. By tracking microbiological data, plants can discover whether production isn’t effectively controlled or if preventative attempts are reducing bacterial levels. Less effective is end-product microbiological testing.

There isn’t enough data to identify an “appropriate” level of bacteria on raw meat and poultry, therefore an end-product test will only provide trends. End-product testing may suggest germs are present, but it doesn’t eliminate contamination.

What are new technologies in HACCP?

HACCP programs shall use new technology to reduce or eliminate dangerous contamination. New production technologies that prevent or eliminate hazards should be widely used. The industry has requested USDA approval for numerous new technologies.

What are HACCP plans for the food industry?

HACCP uses seven concepts. Every food manufacturing process at a plant needs its own HACCP plan. Government and business organizations are developing general HACCP plans to guide plant, process, and product-specific systems. The International Meat and Poultry HACCP Alliance produced a training curriculum.

How would farm-to-table HACCP work?

HACCP should be practiced from the farm to the person cooking the food, whether in a restaurant or at home. Monitoring feed, keeping farm sanitation, and implementing proper animal health management helps prevent contamination on a farm.

During slaughter and processing, contamination must be avoided. After meat and poultry leave the facility, transportation, storage, and distribution should be regulated.

Sanitation, refrigeration, storage, and handling avoid contamination in retail establishments. Food handlers must store, handle, and cook food safely in restaurants, food service, and households.

HACCP for Consumers

Proper storage, handling, cooking, and cleaning can mimic HACCP at home. From purchasing meat or poultry through cooking and serving a meal, there are various food safety precautions to consider.

Meat and poultry should be refrigerated, kept apart from prepared and ready-to-eat items, thoroughly cooked, and leftovers refrigerated and cooked to prevent bacterial growth.

FIVETAX