What are the HACCP Principles?

HACCP "Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points" has been translated into Turkish as "Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points". HACCP is an international system that identifies, evaluates and controls the hazards that are important for food safety with its definition in the dictionary section of the IFS Food standard.

Establishing the HACCP system is a legal requirement all over the world. The HACCP System forms the basis of IFS, BRCGS, FSSC 22000 approved standards based on product safety.

Details of HACCP "WHAT IS HACCP/HACCP EDUCATION?" You can read it in our blog post on the subject.

HACCP system setup has 12 steps and 7 Basic Principles.

HACCP System Step 1

Forming the HACCP Team: The HACCP team, or as it is commonly used, the food safety team will be established from different disciplines, namely different departments, and team members will be trained and experienced in HACCP and have a command of the business processes. This team must have a team leader.

HACCP System Step 2

Defining Products: There should be a complete product description that includes product safety related to the product. Product descriptions should include, but are not limited to, the following information:

Ingredients (e.g. inputs, ingredients, allergens, prescription)

Origin of ingredients

Physical, chemical, microbiological and organoleptic properties affecting food safety

· The legal requirements of the product regarding food safety

Processing and processing (e.g. cooking, cooling)

Packaging system (e.g. modified atmosphere, vacuum)

Storage and distribution conditions (e.g. refrigerated, ambient temperature)

· Prescribed storage conditions

Maximum safe shelf life under anticipated conditions of use

· When describing the product, the reference sources of the obtained information should also be defined.

When describing the products, the reference sources of the obtained information should also be defined. For example; It should also be written in the product description that the legal source used when defining the microbiological criteria is the 'Microbiological Criteria Regulation' for our country. These reference sources can be scientific literature, customer specifications, guide or standard information, institutional knowledge and experience and technological information, apart from legal requirements. The up-to-dateness of the information obtained from these sources should be monitored regularly and product descriptions should be renewed when there are changes.

HACCP System Step 3

Defining the Intended Uses of the Products: It is the determination of the target consumer group of the product, taking into account the sensitive consumer groups. For example, general consumption, such as infants, the elderly, allergen-sensitive consumers. There will be changes in the hazard assessment according to the target consumer group.

HACCP System Step 4

Creating Process Flow Charts: Process flow charts should be created for each product or product group. Process flow charts may include but are not limited to the following;

Facility plan and equipment layout

All process steps from raw material purchase to final product shipment should include the sequence and interaction with each other

Where raw materials, components, processing aids, packaging materials and intermediates enter the flow

· Outsourced processes

·   Rework

·   Recycle

· Low-risk/high-risk/high-attention discrimination

Situations that may cause process delay

· Finished products, intermediate/semi-processed products, by-products and waste.

· Water, ice, steam, air, gas inputs

Identification of critical control points and other control measures

HACCP System Step 5

Verifying Process Flow Charts On-Site: When there is a production of a product or product group, verification should be done at least once a year by the HACCP team in all shifts in the field. It should also be verified when there is a new process or a change in the process step.

The flowchart verification record should include the verification date and time (the time will also inform the shift), the name and batch number of the product produced during verification, and the name and signature of the food safety team members who performed the verification.

HACCP System Step 6

Performing Hazard Analysis for Each Step (Basic Principle 1): Hazard analysis should be performed for all possible and reasonably foreseeable physical, chemical, radiological, allergen and biological hazards.

In the hazard analysis, it is necessary to evaluate the hazards that may come from all process steps in the process flow chart, raw materials (including primary packaging), reprocessed products, and auxiliary facilities such as air, water, ice, steam, gas.

Hazard analysis is done with a risk matrix, taking into account the probability of occurrence of the hazard and the adverse effects on the health of the consumer. Usually 4×4 or 5×5 matrices are used. Specific control measures are taken into account to control each hazard.

HACCP System Step 7

Identifying Critical Control Points (principle 2): Hazard analysis should use a decision tree or other tools that take a logical approach to identifying relevant critical control points. For example, 4×4 or 5×5 matrices can be used, which are created by considering the possibility of the occurrence of the hazard and the negative effects on the health of the consumer, and this methodology should be clearly written.

HACCP System Step 8

Determination of Critical Limits (3rd basic principle): In order to be able to clearly identify when a process goes out of control, appropriate critical limits for each critical control point should be defined and these limits should be validated.

HACCP System Step 9

Critical Control Points Monitoring System (4th basic principle): In order to detect the loss of control at the Critical Control Point, it should be written in which method, by whom, and how often the critical control points are controlled. Personnel responsible for monitoring critical control points must be trained.

HACCP System Step 10

Establishment of Corrective Actions (principle 5): In case of exceeding critical limits, adequate corrective actions should be taken and documented. Corrective actions should be able to identify the root cause of loss of control of critical control points.

HACCP System Step 11

Establishing Verification Procedures (principle 6): Verification procedures should be established to demonstrate that the HACCP plan is operating effectively. HACCP Plan verification should be done at least once a year. Verification activities may include, but are not limited to:

·   Inner control

· Analyzes

· Deviations

·   Complaints

· Product recalls and recalls

HACCP System Step 12

Establishment of Documentation and Recording System (principle 7): There should be necessary and sufficient documentation and records kept to demonstrate that the HACCP plan is effectively implemented and maintained, including controls managed by prerequisite programs.

HACCP is the basis of IFS, BRCGS, FSSC 22000 standards, and in these standards, the HACCP team is required to be a competent and sufficient team in this training. The team will provide this competence and competence through trainings and prove it with a training certificate. In addition, all personnel working at the critical control point are expected to be trained in HACCP. You can give this training in-house or you can hire an external trainer. It is a prerequisite that you should pay attention to the fact that the trainer who will provide training in-house is well-trained.

Prepared by: Sibel Taşhan Yurtseven, Lead Auditor for GFSI Approved Standards