HACCP Certification

1. Forming a HACCP Team

To develop a HACCP plan is to assemble a HACCP team consisting of expertise relevant to the product and process. The team must be multi-disciplinary and need to have individuals from specific areas such as engineering, production, sanitation, quality assurance, and food microbiology. HACCP plans are developed totally by sources available outside that may be inaccurate, incomplete, and lacking in support at the local level.

2. Describe the Product

The product description section will provide a full description of each product or family of products within the scope of the plan. Product descriptions consist of details that impact the food safety of the product, including (as applicable):

The formulation used for the recipe.
The material used for packing and other information such as the atmosphere present while processing the product.
Change in storage condition of the product (e.g., temperature, light, humidity).
the shelf life and distribution conditions.

3. Identify the usage of the product

The usage is based on the usual consumption of the products by the final consumer. Defining intended use helps to brief on hazard analysis later. This step includes both your company’s intended purpose based on product design and effects of other potential applications. The more you know about your consumer usage, the better you can improve the process.

4. Construct the Flow Diagram

The process flow diagram describes all process steps clearly. Flow diagram helps to visually represent the hazard analysis references to the team and considers potential hazards to the consumer. The flow diagram includes every process step that occurs on-site, from the very beginning such as receiving and preparing ingredients, storing packing materials, etc. to the very end such as shipping, warehousing, etc.

5. On-Site Verification of the Flow Diagram

On-site verification helps ensure its accuracy. The purpose of this is to primarily ensure a thorough hazard analysis. Verification of the On-site flow diagram will provide proof that the HACCP Team has verified the analysis. Experts mark the first version of the diagram with hand-written stick notes on it, indicating changes made, initiated, and dated by the participants.

6. Conduct a Hazard Analysis

The analysis team collects and examines all the Hazard point data in accordance with the product’s safety, including process performance, product defects, customer complaints, results of internal and third-party audits, and various other information.
The hazard analysis part of the plan typically takes the most time to review and update.

A Hazard analysis format varies with the expert team, but needs to include these common elements:

List of all processes, steps, and ingredients during the formulation.
Identification of potential hazard areas.
Analysis of each hazard, considering both severity and likelihood.
Identification of ‘significant’ and repeated hazards.
Control plan for each hazard identified.

7. Determine Critical Control Points (CCP’s)

Based on the hazard analysis report, identify all significant hazards and CCPs. Critical Control Points are essential steps designed to control a specific hazard, that the product will be safe for consumption.

8. Establish Critical Limits for CCP

A critical limit is a criterion that works on “go/no go” or “acceptable/unacceptable”. For critical processes such as metal detection, testing with certified metal test pieces to ensure proper function. For other types of CCPs, the variables and values have to be defined with lower and upper limits, as applicable. The complex parameters such as temperature, humidity, product viscosity, or chemical concentration.

Documents used to establish the critical limits related to the process must be available to support the limits. These documents used for limits should be from regulatory standards and guidelines, these are subjected to internal or third-party validation, experimental results, literature surveys, and expert guidance.

9. Establish a Monitoring System

The expert team defines a monitoring method for each CCP. Monitoring is a process to ensure the process has met the critical limit, so the product is safe. The monitoring system contains the following:

What needs to monitored?
How often it should be monitored?
Who is responsible and training required for monitoring?
Instruments needed for monitoring?
How to record the monitored data?

10. Establish Corrective Actions

CCP is required to have a predefined document for corrective actions for controlled deviations that may occur. The corrective actions plan contains the following elements: the responsible for CCP action, disposition for each non-complying product, and documentation of the event.

11. Establish Verification Procedures

Verification procedures designed to confirm that the plan is:
1) being followed as per described process.
2) effect and effectiveness of intended use.
3) adequate and accurate maintenance of documents.

Prepare a checklist on how to conduct routine verification activities like the sign-off of the CCP monitoring records, frequent validation. For more go through article “The 6th Principle of HACCP: Verification”.

12. Establish Documentation and Record-keeping

The final step includes documentation processes and the company’s record maintaining system. The following are considered :

How will you document the system?
What should be included for documentation?
Who is responsible?
How long records need to be maintained?
Where the documents are saved?
Whom to provide them access to what documents and how are documents controlled?

A documentation plan helps ensure better execution.
Developing and documenting a plan needs training on the methodology and technical experience elements are essential aspects of effective HACCP Plan implementation.