520 Chapter 30
other food chain interveners, and govern-
ments to improve methods for identifying
and preventing hazards and to minimize the
risk of illness.Preparing Development and
Implementation of an HACCP Plan
The development and implementation of an
HACCP system in a meat - processing estab-
lishment or other food plant is a major task
and depends on the commitment and motiva-
tion of the upper administration; workforce
acceptance and understanding of the impor-
tance of each individual activity to assure
safety is also fundamental. Development and
implementation of a HACCP system sup-
ported only by middle management or tech-
nical personnel is an impossible mission.
A team leader should be designated
who has organizational and communication
skills, familiarity with plant processes, and
absolute authority to track the program in the
company. The team leader ’ s work starts by
organizing a team of workers who have been
previously selected and trained in hazard
food analysis and HACCP principles. The
team should include operational staff who
know all the particularities of the practical
tasks; a theoretical team must be avoided.
HACCP team personnel should have compe-
tence in different areas, such as quality, com-
modities purchasing, production, engineering,
distribution, microbiology, toxicology, and
auditing. Most of the meat industries, large
or small units, need help to construct and
implement the plan because all the above -
mentioned competences are diffi cult to put
together and might not be available. Expert
advice should be obtained from outside
sources, such as trade and industry associa-
tions, independent experts, regulatory author-
ities, and assisted HACCP training, with the
workforce guided by sector - specifi c opera-
tive manuals. However, consultants could
be used to provide advice rather than writegreater fundamental agreement about food
safety standards.
Hazard analysis and critical control points
are considered worldwide to be essential to
an effective and rational proactive methodol-
ogy, which must be integrated into every step
of the food chain, from primary production
to fi nal consumption, in order to assure food
safety. “ Food safety from farm to fork ” is an
expression frequently used and stated in the
White Paper (COM 2000 ), reinforcing the
integration of all participants and interactive
communication between them. This commu-
nication represents an essential key for the
clarifi cation and the accomplishment of
safety objectives through suppliers and direct
consumers.
Before being enforced by law and praised
by global free trade, HACCP was, and is,
recognized by food operators as the most
reliable system to assure food safety (Scott
et al. 2009 ). The terms of reference for food
safety include biological, chemical, and
physical agents that may be present in a food
and are hazards likely to cause illness or
injury to consumers if not put under control
(Mortimore and Wallace 1997 ).
The risk (probability for a hazard to occur)
of food - borne illness associated with meat
products is very high (CDC 2008 ; EFSA
2009 ). Meat products head the list of food
most frequently associated with safety
hazards and human illness. This risk could be
reduced to the maximum extent possible only
by ensuring that appropriate and feasible pre-
ventive and corrective measures are taken at
each stage of the production process where
safety hazards occur, for which a possible
strategy is the implementation of HACCP
systems in every establishment. This strategy
has become mandatory in several countries
(the fi nal rule HACCP, FSIS/USDA 1996 ;
EC 2004/852 ; EC 2004/853 ). However, there
is no single technological or regulatory solu-
tion to the problem of food - borne illness.
Continuous efforts are required by industry,