Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) concept. This has improved
on traditional practices by introducing a more systematic, rule-based
approach for applying our knowledge of food microbiology to the
control of microbiological quality. The same system can also be adopted
with physical and chemical factors affecting food safety or acceptability,
but here we will confine ourselves to microbiological hazards. It should
also be remembered that HACCP is primarily a preventative approach to
quality assurance and as such it is not just a tool to control quality
during processing but can be used to design quality into new products
during their development.
HACCP was originally developed as part of the United States space
programme by the Pillsbury Company, the National Aeronautics and
Space Administration (NASA) and the US Army Natick Laboratories
who used it to apply the same zero defects philosophy to food for
astronauts as to other items of their equipment. It is based on an
engineering system known as the Failure Modes Analysis Scheme which
examines a product and all its components asking the question ‘What
can go wrong?’.
In 1973 it was adopted by the US Food and Drug Administration for
the inspection of low-acid canned food. It has since been more and more
widely applied to all aspects of food production, food processing and
food service, and to all scales of operation from large industrial concerns,
through to cottage industries and even domestic food preparation.
The meaning of the termshazardandrisk in the HACCP system
differs from their common everyday usage as synonyms. In HACCP, a
hazardis a source of danger; defined as a biological, chemical or physical
property with the potential to cause an adverse health effect. Individual
hazards can be assessed in terms of their severity and risk. Clearly
botulism is a far more severe hazard than sayStaphylococcus aureusfood
poisoning.Riskis an estimate of the likely occurrence of a hazard so,
althoughC. botulinumis a more severe hazard, epidemiological evidence
shows that the risk it poses is generally very low.
Before HACCP can be applied, it is essential that good manufac-
turing and hygienic practices are already in place. Factors such as
hygienically designed plant and premises, effective cleaning regimes,
employee hygiene, pest control,etc. provide the necessary foundation
on which a successful HACCP system can be built. When HACCP
regulations were introduced in the United States to cover fish and fishery
products (1995) and meat and poultry (1996), this requirement for
prerequisites based on good manufacturing practice was built into the
regulations in the form of prescribed Sanitation Standard Operating
Procedures (SSOPs).
HACCP itself has evolved since its first formulation and has been the
subject of considerable international discussion and debate. In recent
426 Controlling the Microbiological Quality of Foods