1. What does it mean? What is it used for? S. Greubel

2.  H – Hazard  A – Analysis and  C – Critical  C – Control  P - Points S. Greubel

3.  A structured approach to assessing potential hazards in a food operation and deciding which are critical to consumer safety.  These critical control points are then monitored and specified remedial action taken if any deviate from safe limits. S. Greubel

4.  The original concept was proposed in 1973 as a joint effort by the Pillsbury company, NASA and the US Army Natick Laboratories.  They designed this monitoring system so that a nil defects programme could be applied to the production of food.  It has since been used to establish effective food safety control systems in most sectors of the food industry. S. Greubel

5.  The EC Directive on the Hygiene of Foodstuffs requires food business operators to use the principles of HACCP to ensure food safety.  Code of Practice No.9 issued under section 40 of the Food Safety Act, 1990 recommends HACCP as a basis for the inspection of food premises. S. Greubel

6.  Hazard – Unacceptable contamination, unacceptable microbial growth, unacceptable survival of Microorganisms of concern to food safety, or persistence of toxins.  Risk – Probability that a condition or conditions will lead to a hazard. S. Greubel

7.  Remedial action can be taken during processing/production, i.e. before serious problems occur;  Control parameters are relatively easy to monitor, for example time, temperature, texture and appearance;  Cheaper than microbiological or chemical analysis because it is part of the process; S. Greubel

8.  The operation is controlled on the premises;  Potential hazards can be identified and removed;  All staff can be involved with product safety;  Reduced product loss;  Useful in demonstrating due diligence;  Focuses resources on the critical parts of the process. S. Greubel

9.  In order to establish a preventative control system for a particular product, the first step is to undertake a detailed analysis of the ingredients, process and processing environment, identifying and assessing hazards. S. Greubel

10.  These are the stages where one of the following could occur;  A) Contamination with toxins or pathogenic micro-organisms;  B) Proliferation of pathogens;  C) Survival of pathogens  The hazard analysis must be specific to the food, process and premises involved but should take into consideration other processes or materials in the same area or using the same equipment which could affect the process under investigation. S. Greubel

11.  A comprehensive hazard analysis for any food product should include a consideration of likely events in distribution, storage and retailing and, also, what the consumer is likely to do with the product.  The risks associated with ingredients can be defined in the following 3 terms;  1) the ingredient can usually be assumed to be a potential source of contamination by toxins or pathogenic micro-organisms. S. Greubel

12.  2) the ingredient has not undergone a controlled processing treatment which destroys pathogens.  3) the PH, water activity and nutritional content of the ingredient make it favourable to the multiplication of pathogens.  It is advisable to consider all non sterile products for consumption by infants, the elderly or the infirm as being a special high risk category. S. Greubel

13.  Once the detailed hazard analysis has been completed it may be possible to eliminate some of these hazards by making changes to the ingredients, process or processing environment.  This is easier to do if the hazard analysis of proposals is undertaken during the planning stages of a new product.  Actions such as the creation of physical barriers to prevent cross contamination are useful because alternative attempts to control the hazard will probably be more time consuming and expensive in the long run. S. Greubel