Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) system and its application in food safety

Abstract

The Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point system (HACCP) is recognized as a systematic and preventive approach to the identification, assessment of the hazards and risks associated with the manufacture, storage and distribution of food rather than through end-product inspection and testing. The system can be implemented at each stage of production from farm to table and also it can be used on ranches, feedlots and at processing plants (10, 11, 32, 33, 34, 35). The HACCP system was first pioneered in 1960s by the Pillsbury Company, the United States Army and the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as joined program to guarantee the food used in the U.S space program to be 100% free of pathogens. In the early 1970s the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) started to train its inspectors in the HACCP concept. In 1987 the International Commission of Microbiological Specification for Foods (ICMSF) has introduced it internationally. Also the European Commission is actively promoting harmonization of HACCP principles according to the 1995 Food Safety Regulations implemented in the Directive on Food Hygiene. The Committee of the Codex Alimentarius has engaged in it for some years (1, 7, 10, 32, 33, 38, 39) and has published the latest concept later