The HACCP and FSO Systems for Food Safety
499
for Foods (ICMSF)
8 and/or National Advisory Committee on the Microbiological Criteria for Foods
(NACMCF):
14
• Control point: Any point in a specific food system where loss of control does not lead to an
unacceptable health risk.
• Critical control point (CCP): Any point or procedure in a food system where control can be
exercised and a hazard can be minimized or prevented.
• Critical limit: One or more prescribed tolerances that must be met to ensure that a CCP effectively
controls a microbiological health hazard.
• CCP decision tree: A sequence of questions to assist in determining whether a control point is a
CCP.
• Corrective action: Procedures followed when a deviation occurs.
• Deviation: Failure to meet a required critical limit for a CCP.
• HACCP plan: The written document that delineates the formal procedures to be followed in
accordance with these general principles.
• Hazard: Any biological, chemical, or physical property that may cause an unacceptable consumer
health risk (unacceptable contamination, toxin levels, growth, and/or survival of undesirable
organisms).
• Monitoring: A planned sequence of observations or measurements of critical limits designed
to produce an accurate record and intended to ensure that the critical limit maintains product
safety.
• Risk category: One of six categories prioritizing risk based on food hazards.
• Validation: That element of verification focused on collecting and evaluating scientific and technical information to determine whether the HACCP plan, when properly implemented, will
effectively control the hazards.
• Verification: Methods, procedures, and tests used to determine whether the HACCP system is in
compliance with the HACCP plan.
HACCP Principles
Although interpreted variously, the ICMSF and NACMCF view HACCP as a natural and systematic
approach to food safety and as consisting of the following seven principles:
1. Assess the hazards and risks associated with the growing, harvesting, raw materials, ingredients,
processing, manufacturing, distribution, marketing, preparation, and consumption of the food in
question.
2. Determine the CCP(s) required to control the identified hazards.
3. Establish the critical limits that must be met at each identified CCP.
4. Establish procedures to monitor the CCP(s).
5. Establish corrective actions to be taken when there is a deviation identified by monitoring a given
CCP.
6. Establish procedures for verification that the HACCP system is working correctly.
7. Establish effective record-keeping systems that document the HACCP plan.
Each of these principles is discussed in more detail below.
499
for Foods (ICMSF)
8 and/or National Advisory Committee on the Microbiological Criteria for Foods
(NACMCF):
14
• Control point: Any point in a specific food system where loss of control does not lead to an
unacceptable health risk.
• Critical control point (CCP): Any point or procedure in a food system where control can be
exercised and a hazard can be minimized or prevented.
• Critical limit: One or more prescribed tolerances that must be met to ensure that a CCP effectively
controls a microbiological health hazard.
• CCP decision tree: A sequence of questions to assist in determining whether a control point is a
CCP.
• Corrective action: Procedures followed when a deviation occurs.
• Deviation: Failure to meet a required critical limit for a CCP.
• HACCP plan: The written document that delineates the formal procedures to be followed in
accordance with these general principles.
• Hazard: Any biological, chemical, or physical property that may cause an unacceptable consumer
health risk (unacceptable contamination, toxin levels, growth, and/or survival of undesirable
organisms).
• Monitoring: A planned sequence of observations or measurements of critical limits designed
to produce an accurate record and intended to ensure that the critical limit maintains product
safety.
• Risk category: One of six categories prioritizing risk based on food hazards.
• Validation: That element of verification focused on collecting and evaluating scientific and technical information to determine whether the HACCP plan, when properly implemented, will
effectively control the hazards.
• Verification: Methods, procedures, and tests used to determine whether the HACCP system is in
compliance with the HACCP plan.
HACCP Principles
Although interpreted variously, the ICMSF and NACMCF view HACCP as a natural and systematic
approach to food safety and as consisting of the following seven principles:
1. Assess the hazards and risks associated with the growing, harvesting, raw materials, ingredients,
processing, manufacturing, distribution, marketing, preparation, and consumption of the food in
question.
2. Determine the CCP(s) required to control the identified hazards.
3. Establish the critical limits that must be met at each identified CCP.
4. Establish procedures to monitor the CCP(s).
5. Establish corrective actions to be taken when there is a deviation identified by monitoring a given
CCP.
6. Establish procedures for verification that the HACCP system is working correctly.
7. Establish effective record-keeping systems that document the HACCP plan.
Each of these principles is discussed in more detail below.