HACCP is a way of managing food safety hazards. Food safety management procedures should be based on HACCP principles.
HACCP involves:
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looking closely at what you do in your business, what could go wrong and what risks there are to food safety
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identifying any critical control points the areas a business needs to focus on to ensure those risks are removed or reduced to safe levels
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deciding what action you need to take if something goes wrong
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making sure that your procedures are being followed and are working
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keeping records to show your procedures are working
It is important to have food safety management procedures that are appropriate for your business.
A hazard is something that is dangerous. A food hazard is something that could make food unsafe or unfit to eat. It’s important you can identify those stages in your business when hazards could be present so they can be removed or reduced to safe levels.
There are three main types of food safety hazards:
- microbiological - involving harmful bacteria
- chemical - involving chemical contamination
- physical - involving objects getting into food
