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Seven Steps of
Implementation
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Follow These Seven Steps of HACCP Implementation
1. Analyze and Identify Potential
Hazards: A hazard is any biological (e.g. bacterium), chemical (e.g. toxin),
or physical contaminant (e.g. broken glass), that could cause illness or injury
if not properly controlled. After a thorough review is conducted and the
potential hazards are identified, a list of control measures should be
generated. Control measures are actions or activities that will prevent,
eliminate or reduce the hazard.
2. Identify Critical Control Points (CCP): A CCP is defined as a point,
procedure or step at which a food safety hazard could either be eliminated,
prevented or reduced. CCPs should be carefully developed and documented.
3. Establish Preventive Measures with Critical
Limits: Critical limits are
maximum and/or minimum values that will prevent, eliminate or reduce a
biological, chemical or physical hazard. A CCP will have at least one, and
possibly several, control measures to achieve the aforementioned goal.
4. Monitor the Critical Control Points: Monitoring is a planned sequence of
observations or measurements to determine whether a CCP is under control.
Another important component of this step is the recording of the measurements to
establish a written record for later use in verification.
5. Define Corrective Action(s): Prior to enforcing a HACCP plan, corrective
actions should be established for each CCP. Corrective actions should determine
and correct the cause of deviation and establish whether a food product should
be discarded.
6. Establish Verification Procedures: Verification activities determine the
efficacy of the HACCP plan and ensure the system is operating correctly. Using
the verification procedures, an establishment should conduct frequent review of
the HACCP plan and its components.
7. Establish Record-Keeping and Documentation: Maintaining procedures for the
records of the HACCP plan is necessary to ensure that critical limits are
working and being monitored. Documentation should be kept for the entire food
process.
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