HACCP

Have you ever wondered how companies are able to ensure the food they produce is safe? In an effort to ensure food products are safe, a company may undergo inspection by government agencies or have to follow set protocols. This can still lead to problems as the procedures can vary from region to region or country to country. Instead, Canada and many other countries have begun utilizing an international standard for the management of the various hazards food can encounter. The program is called HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points).

The Pillsbury Company in association with the US Army and NASA developed the HACCP principles in the 1960's. The goal was to develop strict guidelines for the food manufactured for the space program. This scientifically based standard of managing food hazards proved so successful it was refined and introduced into many of the food manufacturing facilities around the world as HACCP.

In Canada HACCP is being introduced into all levels of food production. Food processing plants must ensure the quality of the products they receive and the final products they ship. This means almost everyone associated with the growing, distribution or handling of a food will eventually need a HACCP program. For example: the feed you give your chickens will eventually have to come from a feed mill with a HACCP program.

HACCP programs are good for companies because it opens new markets to them within their own country and markets abroad. As more and more purchasers require this level of management of foodstuffs, the companies that are HACCP ready will benefit. HACCP also means there is a reduced chance of recall of product or health warnings. Traditional methods such as random checks on manufacturing practices and testing of randomly selected final products has proven HACCP tries to be a preventative measure rather than a reactive measure like the past system. The company has implemented various steps to minimize these kinds of problems.

The Canadian HACCP plan is based on seven basic principles as outlined by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. They are: 1. identification of hazards that may be present from harvest through ultimate consumption and preventative measures for controlling them;

2. determination of critical control points (CCP) required to control the identified hazards;

3. establishment of critical limits that must be met at each critical control point;

4. appropriate monitoring procedures for CCP;

5. establishment of deviation procedures at critical control points;

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