The Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) system and Preventive Controls Program are a systematic and preventive approach to achieve food safety standards.
Originally developed in the United States to guarantee the safety
of astronauts’ food in space, HACCP is now being adopted
worldwide as a scientific, straightforward and effective approach
to enhance food safety. In Canada, the Food Safety Enhancement
Program (FSEP) was developed by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency
(CFIA) as the Canadian program to encourage the adoption of HACCP
principles. It is important to note, Canadian companies who use the
FSEP guidelines will comply with Canadian regulatory requirements
which may be overlooked with a generic HACCP program.
A HACCP based approach can be used by all segments of the field-to-fork continuum of food production and distribution, and can be tailored to any individual product or process line. The advantage of using the HACCP system lies in the control it provides at all times over food and ingredients, from receiving raw materials to shipping and selling the final products.
The HACCP approach is based on seven principles aimed at identifying hazards in food production, controlling hazards at critical control points in the process, and verifying that the system is working properly. The key element of the HACCP system is its preventive nature, meaning that potential food safety hazards are controlled throughout the process. The application of HACCP principles in the production and distribution of food is recommended by Codex Alimentarius Commission, the international standard-setting organization for food.
A HACCP based approach can be used by all segments of the field-to-fork continuum of food production and distribution, and can be tailored to any individual product or process line. The advantage of using the HACCP system lies in the control it provides at all times over food and ingredients, from receiving raw materials to shipping and selling the final products.
The HACCP approach is based on seven principles aimed at identifying hazards in food production, controlling hazards at critical control points in the process, and verifying that the system is working properly. The key element of the HACCP system is its preventive nature, meaning that potential food safety hazards are controlled throughout the process. The application of HACCP principles in the production and distribution of food is recommended by Codex Alimentarius Commission, the international standard-setting organization for food.
FSEP and Preventive Control Plans
Globally, customers are starting to require their suppliers to demonstrate that food safety oversight systems and approaches are effective. Preventive control plans are recognized internationally as the best way to mitigate and demonstrate that food safety risks and hazards are controlled or eliminated.
As a condition of a Canadian licence, anyone who imports, exports or prepares food commodities destined for interprovincial trade or export is required to develop, document, implement, and maintain a preventive control* plan suitable to their operations. The requirement for the preventive control plan and its content will be set out in regulations.
Globally, customers are starting to require their suppliers to demonstrate that food safety oversight systems and approaches are effective. Preventive control plans are recognized internationally as the best way to mitigate and demonstrate that food safety risks and hazards are controlled or eliminated.
As a condition of a Canadian licence, anyone who imports, exports or prepares food commodities destined for interprovincial trade or export is required to develop, document, implement, and maintain a preventive control* plan suitable to their operations. The requirement for the preventive control plan and its content will be set out in regulations.
HACCP and Preventive
Controls Program
Hazard Analysis and Risk-Based Preventive Controls
Under the changes mandated by the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), each owner, operator or agent in charge of a facility (those required to register with FDA under Section 415 of the FD&C Act), with certain exceptions, would be required to comply with the hazard analysis and risk-based preventive controls. The preventive controls are science- and risk-based in that the rule would require controls only where necessary to prevent hazards to public health and exempt certain facilities from requirements or modify requirements for certain low-risk activities. Second, they are flexible in that firms could develop preventive controls that fit their products and operations, as long as they are adequate to significantly minimize or prevent all food safety hazards that are reasonably likely to occur.
Hazard Analysis and Risk-Based Preventive Controls
Under the changes mandated by the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), each owner, operator or agent in charge of a facility (those required to register with FDA under Section 415 of the FD&C Act), with certain exceptions, would be required to comply with the hazard analysis and risk-based preventive controls. The preventive controls are science- and risk-based in that the rule would require controls only where necessary to prevent hazards to public health and exempt certain facilities from requirements or modify requirements for certain low-risk activities. Second, they are flexible in that firms could develop preventive controls that fit their products and operations, as long as they are adequate to significantly minimize or prevent all food safety hazards that are reasonably likely to occur.
The seven
basic principles of HACCP are:
- Identify the hazards and list preventive measures to control them.
- Determine the critical control points.
- Establish limits at each critical control point.
- Establish procedures to monitor the critical control points.
- Establish corrective action to be taken in case of a deviation.
- Establish procedures to verify that the systems are working correctly.
- Establish effective record keeping.
Do You Need
It?
Growing challenges to food supply have prompted governmental agencies to consider enforcing HACCP-based food safety systems across the field-to-fork continuum of food production and distribution. HACCP encourages shared responsibility for food safety. Regardless of impending regulatory issues, and because of FSEP / HACCP’s many business benefits, the Canadian food industry has been implementing recognized food safety programs on a voluntary basis since the early 1990s.
Growing challenges to food supply have prompted governmental agencies to consider enforcing HACCP-based food safety systems across the field-to-fork continuum of food production and distribution. HACCP encourages shared responsibility for food safety. Regardless of impending regulatory issues, and because of FSEP / HACCP’s many business benefits, the Canadian food industry has been implementing recognized food safety programs on a voluntary basis since the early 1990s.
Certificates of
Compliance
Certificates of Compliance are issued to companies who have implemented a rigorous HACCP based program for food safety. The Certificates are issued after the company has been inspected by a Kasar auditor and has passed a HACCP compliance audit. The audit is generally carried out over a one or two day period. The audit is based on a sampling of documentation from the company’s records as well as a visual inspection of a sampling of the company’s premises and equipment; the audit does not review all documentation, premises or equipment.
Certificates of Compliance are issued to companies who have implemented a rigorous HACCP based program for food safety. The Certificates are issued after the company has been inspected by a Kasar auditor and has passed a HACCP compliance audit. The audit is generally carried out over a one or two day period. The audit is based on a sampling of documentation from the company’s records as well as a visual inspection of a sampling of the company’s premises and equipment; the audit does not review all documentation, premises or equipment.
