HACCP food safety requirements look set to become universal. Procedures and control systems in the food and associated industries will need to allow for this. Maurice McDowell discusses what HACCP involves.
On top of such necessary certification to ISO 9000 the food production and processing industry is being required to certify to a new standard called HACCP (short for Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point). HACCP is in fact a spin-off from the US space programme as it was critical to make food safe for astronauts. HACCP is a food safety management system that enables food processing and catering industries to introduce and maintain a cost-effective, ongoing and safety programme. HACCP requires the systematic assessment of the main steps involved in a food manufacturing operation and the identification of those steps that are critical to the safety of the final product. HACCP is seen as being complementary to quality management systems such as ISO 9000.
The programme for astronauts was developed more than 30 years ago and its introduction to the food industry was driven by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the USA. The FDA established HACCP as a requirement for the seafood industry during 1995 and it has developed from there into becoming applicable to virtually the entire food and beverage industry. As an example the US Department of agriculture implemented HACCP for the meat and poultry processing plants in 1999 and the FDA introduced it for the juice industry during 2001. HACCP has been endorsed by many leading establishments and the most important of these is the Codex Alimentarius Commission (an international food standard-setting organisation).
In terms of the EU they have adopted legislation regarding hygiene of foodstuffs, which is based on HACCP. While initially the legislation does not legally impose the same procedure on producers in non-EU countries it does imply in practice that the importer, who is legally responsible for the products he puts on the market, may require it from his non-EU supplier. In any event a new regulation has now been passed that will impose the same hygiene requirements on food imported into the EU region. This regulation is to come into force on 1 January 2006 (at the earliest) in order to allow enough time for implementation. Not all foodstuffs are currently covered by the legislation but it can be expected that the regulations will be expanded with time. Currently, specific requirements are laid down for meat and meat products, bivalve molluscs, fishery products, milk and dairy products, eggs and egg products, frog's legs and snails, animal fats and greases, gelatine and collagen.
HACCP is a system that focuses on hygiene procedures in food production processes throughout the production and transport chain (eg, covering transport of refrigerated goods). The aim is to improve the guarantee for food safety through process monitoring, rather than by checking of the end product. While the legislation will be relevant for producers, transporters and importers, it is not yet applicable to the primary producers (farmers) although it is recommended that the latter be encouraged to implement the system.
Just what does compliance with HACCP require? There are seven principles involved for companies in the food business:
1. They must systematically examine all food handling operations in order to identify potential hazards that could be reasonably expected to occur. Potential hazards could include biological, such as a microbe, chemical, such as a toxin, or physical such as pieces of glass or metal fragments.
2. Identify the critical control points which are the points in food production (from its raw state through processing and shipping to final consumption by the consumer) at which the identified potential hazards can be controlled or eliminated. In the processing stage this could involve cooking, cooling, packaging and metal detection.
3. Establish preventative measures with critical limits for each control point. During cooking this could include the minimum temperature and time required so as to ensure the elimination of harmful microbes.
4. Establish the procedures to monitor the critical control points including how and by whom the parameter will be monitored.
5. Establish corrective actions to be taken when monitoring shows that a critical limit has been exceeded. This could include disposal of the full food batch.
6. Establish procedures to ensure that the system is working effectively. This would probably mean ensuring that measuring equipment is regularly calibrated by an accredited ISO 17025 laboratory.
7. Create effective record keeping in order to document the entire HACCP system. It is expected that these records would be kept by the company for at least the shelf life of the product concerned.
The main implications of HACCP are that a company becomes pro-active in identifying food safety risks rather than solely relying on end-product testing, which of course still remains important. A major benefit is that the system is based on sound science and focuses on preventing hazards from contaminated food. It also places responsibility for ensuring food safety on the manufacturer or distributor. Whilst becoming necessary for food-related exports, and reducing barriers to international trade, the HACCP control system also benefits the food processor as there will be reduced product loss. Using final testing as the sole method of ensuring safety of the product is expensive when batches fail as all the value addition has already been incurred. For government purposes it allows better insight to see how well a firm is complying with safety laws. Rather than seeing what the firm does on a single day the mandatory records show how it has performed over time.
There are many companies (including CSIR) that can guide food producers through the requirements of HACCP for their particular process. Certification is required by an accredited body and many international bodies operate within South Africa. SANAS itself has accredited both the SABS and the Perishable Products Export Control Board (PPECB) as HACCP management system certification bodies.
As an example of the assistance provided by these consulting companies CSIR will:
* Benchmark the current quality system against the HACCP requirements.
* Train the HACCP team in the basics of Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) and HACCP.
* Plan the implementation of the HACCP programme and provide implementation support.
* Train the floor workers in the basics of HACCP and hygiene.
* Perform a verification audit and ensure that the facility is ready for an external audit by an accredited third party.
Certification to HACCP has already been attained by many South African companies including glass and other packaging companies and even wineries as the latter have realised that it may soon become a prerequisite for selling wine in the export market. As the implementation of the system can take several months, all companies involved in food processing, packaging and transportation should be proactive and implement the system now. Note that HACCP does not replace ISO 9000 certification, and the two are complementary. As with the ISO standard, companies with HACCP certification will be re-audited on a regular basis to ensure that their systems are still compliant.
Dr Maurice McDowell has many years' experience as a technical journalist, editor, business manager and research scientist. His third party analyses of world-class companies and processes, as well as his insight into industry and technology trends are well respected.
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