HACCP: meaning, the seven principles and what the law requires

The seven HACCP principles, in the order of Article 5

Article 5(2) of Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 lists the seven principles every HACCP procedure must follow. They chain: each only makes sense after the one before.

1. 1

   Analyse the hazards

   Identify any hazard that must be prevented, eliminated or reduced to an acceptable level: microbiological, chemical, physical, allergen. Step by step, from delivery to service.

2. 2

   Identify the critical control points (CCPs)

   The steps at which control is essential to prevent or eliminate a hazard. In catering, cold storage and cooking are two classic ones.

3. 3

   Establish critical limits

   For each CCP, the value that separates acceptable from unacceptable: a maximum storage temperature, a core temperature, a time.

4. 4

   Monitor

   Effective monitoring procedures at each CCP: who measures, what, when, with which instrument. It is the line on the log sheet, or the sensor reading.

5. 5

   Establish corrective actions

   What is done when monitoring shows a CCP is no longer under control: refuse a delivery, discard, re-cook, repair, and write it down.

6. 6

   Verify

   Regular procedures to confirm that all of the above is working: review the records, calibrate the thermometers, run analyses where the activity warrants it.

7. 7

   Document and keep records

   Documents and records commensurate with the nature and size of the business. It is what an inspector reads: the plan, and the proof that it is applied.

The twelve Codex steps: five before the first principle

The Codex Alimentarius describes implementation in twelve steps. The last seven are the principles above; the first five prepare the ground, and it is there that small businesses most often go wrong, trying to write the plan before describing what they actually do:

1. Assemble the HACCP team, even if it is one person in a small business
2. Describe the products
3. Identify the intended use and the consumers concerned
4. Construct the flow diagram
5. Confirm it on site, in the kitchen

Where the method is written down: the food safety management system

HACCP is the method; the document that holds it is the food safety management system. It has three blocks: prerequisite hygiene programmes (premises, staff, cleaning, pest control), the HACCP plan itself, and traceability. The regulation asks for it to be proportionate to the size and nature of the business: a restaurant's plan fits in a few pages, a factory's in a binder. An inspector asks for that document first and compares your records with what it announces.

The food safety plan template gives the structure; the temperature log sheet is principle 4 on paper, and the traceability register is principle 7.

The foodborne outbreak: what the method exists to prevent

A foodborne outbreak is two or more cases of a similar illness, usually gastrointestinal, that can be traced to the same food. Under Directive 2003/99/EC, EU Member States must investigate such outbreaks and report them; your national rules say who is notified and by whom. The investigation goes back to the suspect meal and reads your records. It is the day principle 7 is worth what it cost.

HACCP and training: what is actually required

Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 (Annex II, Chapter XII) requires food handlers to be supervised, instructed or trained in food hygiene, and those responsible for the HACCP procedure to be trained in applying it. Beyond that there is no regulatory "HACCP certificate": compliance is not bought, it is kept. Check your national rules for any specific course requirement; in the UK the Food Standards Agency does not require a formal qualification, only training appropriate to the job.