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Chapter 7 The Role of HACCP in Sanitation...........................................................
The Hazard Analysis Critical Control
Point (HACCP) program is a preventive
approach to consistent safe food production.
This program is based on two important
concepts of safe food production-prevention
and documentation. The major thrusts of
HACCP are to determine how and where
food safety hazards may exist and how to
prevent their occurrence. The important doc-
umentation concept is essential to verify that
potential hazards have been controlled.
HACCP has been recommended and/or
required for use throughout the food indus-
try and is the basis for federal food inspec-
tion in the United States. From 1996 to 2000,
U.S. meat plants collectively spent approxi-
mately $380 million annually and made $570
million in long-term investments to comply
with the HACCP rule with an estimated
increase of approximately .33 cents per
pound product manufactured (Anon., 2004).
This proactive, prevention-oriented pro-
gram is based on science. HACCP focuses on
the prevention or control of food safety haz-
ards that fall in the three main categories of
biological, chemical, and physical hazards.
The program focuses on safety and not qual-
ity and should be considered separate from
or a supplement to quality assurance. The
objective of HACCP is to ensure that effec-
tive sanitation, hygiene and other opera-
tional considerations be conducted to pro-
duce safe products and to provide proof that
safety practices have been followed.What is HACCP?
The HACCP concept was developed in the
1950s through the National Aeronautics and
Space Administration (NASA) and Natick
Laboratories for use in aerospace manufac-
turing under the name “Failure Mode Effect
Analysis.” This rational approach to process
control for food products was developed
jointly by the Pillsbury Company, NASA,
and the U.S. Army Natick Laboratories in
1971 as an attempt to apply a zero-defects
program to the food processing industry.
HACCP was incorporated to guarantee that
food used in the U.S. space program would
be 100% free of bacterial pathogens. Clark
(1991) described HACCP as a simple but
very specific method to identify hazards and
for implementing the appropriate control to
prevent potential hazards. Because it is
designed to prevent and not detect food haz-
ards, HACCP was identified by the U.S.
Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food
Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) as a
tool to prevent food safety hazards during
meat and poultry production. The HACCP