Thursday, October 8, 2015

What Is HACCP Food Safety?


Do you know what an HACCP food safety guideline is all about? The letters stand for Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points and it is used in locations such as hospitals, schools, restaurants, and the food industry in general to keep the food being served as safe as possible.

While there are many standards, and often it differs depending on your location, when it comes to HACCP, your required food safety management system is increased or reaches a new level. It is enforced the world over but more primarily by the United States of America through its Food and Drug Administration (FDA), its Department of Agriculture, and also by the space agency NASA. The latter makes use of HACCP to make sure that their astronauts are given only highly nutritious and safe foods to help in maintaining their good physical condition. So if it is good for the astronauts then it must also be good for the rest of the population.

There are seven main principles being followed with an HACCP food safety standard. The main idea behind these principles is to avoid any chances of food contamination as much as possible. It is therefore stressed that prevention is more important than post detection because with the latter the problem has already happened.

The analysis for potential hazards. Any potential hazards are identified including the steps needed to control them. There are many types of hazards, it can be physical like a speck of dust or a piece of broken glass or it can be chemical such as a toxin.

Determine the critical points during the food production and service. This includes from the shipping of the raw materials to the whole cooking process and up to the point where the food is being served to the consumer. Again any potential hazard is identified during these steps.

Identify the standards to ensure that the food is handled ideally. A good example for this is in setting the perfect cooking temperature for red meats to make sure bacteria and other microorganisms are killed during the cooking process.

Establish the steps necessary to ensure the critical limits of food preparation are being met. This may include the advisable length of time to cook any food, again to make sure that it is safe to be eaten.

Determine what actions should be taken should the critical limits are not maintained or followed. A good example for this is the disposal of the food item instead of trying to save it from being ruined.

It is also important to establish a system that will determine that the whole inspection process is working perfectly. This can be as simple as determining that the cooking unit is working fine.

Come up with an effective record keeping system to properly monitor the whole HACCP standard. Everything should be documented there from all the hazards that are identified to the recommendations necessary for the proper working of the kitchen or of the food processing system.

So there you go. These are the essential principles behind an HACCP food safety guideline which anyone who is responsible for food preparation in any business setting should follow. Get the best consultants in your area to help you in creating the monitoring system that you need.

Find Out How To Comply With The BRC Food Safety Standards. Visit http://www.iconsultingsolutions.com.au For More Info.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Hayley_Martin/621325

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6451186

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