Controlling the Microbiological Quality of Foods: HACCP

• Good manufacturing practices (GMPs)

  Regulations that provide basic rules for food plant sanitation
• Organizations that produce GMPs

  • FDA
  • Codex Alimentarius Commission
  • Trade associations
  • Professional bodies
• Sanitation Standard Operation Procedures (SSOPs)


  Written procedures guided by GMPs detailing a specific sequence of events necessary to perform a task to ensure sanitary conditions
• When assessing the sanitary condition of equipment and utensils prior to operation, you should look at the most difficult to clean areas that are most likely to be missed when the establishment implements the procedures in its SSOP
• Other areas that are not direct food contact surfaces can also be a source of product contamination and should be inspected, such as condensation, peeling paint, and scaling rust from overhead fixtures
• Cleaning & Disinfection


  Designed to control microorganisms in a food processing plant to protect the health of the consumer; Prevents contamination of a product & must be practiced every day

  
• Disinfectants most commonly used in food processing

  • Chlorine & chlorine compounds
  • Iodophors (iodine solution)
  • Quaternary ammonium compounds (QUATs)
  • Hydrogen peroxide & peracetic acid for disinfection of packing material
• In modern plants, equipment cleaning is automated - Cleaning In-Place (CIP)
• Microbial assessments can be done by swabbing surfaces and using culture methods to detect microbial growth, or using ATP bioluminescence
• Personal Hygiene


  Practices that give food handlers a better understanding of the basic principles of hygiene, why it is necessary & how to achieve it in practice
• Personal hygiene practices


  • Washing hands before starting work and after certain activities
  • Keeping fingernails short & clean
  • Keeping hair clean & covered
  • Wearing clean protective clothing
  • Covering any cuts, spots or boils with a waterproof dressing
  • Not smoking, chewing gum, tasting food; not pitting, sneezing or coughing over food; not wearing jewelry when handling food; not wearing protective clothing outside the production areas

  
• Training should be provided to food handlers to give them a better understanding of the basic principles of hygiene, why it is necessary and how to achieve it in practice
• HACCP


  A documented system that should lead to the production of Microbiologically Safe Foods by analyzing hazards associated with raw materials, creating control to prevent hazards, and creating measures for monitoring these controls

  
• HACCP is not a zero-risk system, it is designed to minimize the risk of hazards
• Before HACCP can be applied, Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs), a high standard of Personal Hygiene (GHP), Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), an effective Cleaning Schedule (SSOPs), an effective Pest Control programme, and good equipment & building infrastructure should be in place

  
• Implementation of HACCP


  1. Assemble the HACCP team

  2. Describe the product

  3. Identify the intended use

  4. Construct a flow diagram

  5. On-site confirmation of the flow diagram
• Seven (7) Principles of HACCP

  • Conduct hazard analysis
  • Identify critical control points (CCPs) in the process
  • Establish critical limits for each CCP
  • Monitoring procedures
  • Establish corrective actions
  • Establish verification procedures
  • Establish record-keeping and documentation procedures

  
• Hazard Analysis


  A list of hazards that are likely to cause injury or illness if not controlled is developed, starting with raw materials and following through each step of the food production flow diagram
• Types of hazards


  • Biological (bacteria, fungi & their toxins, viruses, protozoa, parasitic worms)
  • Physical (glass, wood, plastic, stone)
  • Chemical (food additives, cleaning compounds, toxic metal, insecticides/pesticides/herbicides residues, antibiotics & hormone residues)
• Critical Control Points (CCPs)


  Any point in a specific food system where loss of control leads to an unacceptable health risk (food safety)
• Critical Control Points (CCPs)


  • Any point in a specific food system where loss of control leads to an unacceptable health risk (food safety)
  • Any point or procedure in a food system where control can be exercised and a hazard can be minimized or prevented
• Examples of Critical Control Points

  • Introduction of pathogens or drug residues can be prevented by control at the receiving step
  • Pathogen growth in the finished product can be prevented by control at the formulation or ingredient-addition step
  • Pathogen growth can be controlled by refrigerated storage or chilling
  • Pathogens can be killed during thermal processing (cooking; t/T)
  • Parasites can be killed by freezing
  • A chemical hazard can be prevented by control at the formulation or ingredient-addition step
  • Metal fragments can be detected by a metal detector and eliminated by removing the contaminated product from the processing line
• Critical Control Points


  • The number of CCPs for any process should be kept to a minimum to facilitate monitoring & documentation
  • A CCP can be used to control more than one hazard
  • More than one CCP may be needed to control a hazard

  
• CCP Decision Tree


  1. Q1: Does a control measure(s) exist at this step or subsequent steps in the process flow for the identified hazard?

  2. Q2: Does this step eliminate or reduce the likely occurrence of a significant hazard to an acceptable level?

  3. Q3: Could contamination with an identified hazard or hazards occur in excess of acceptable levels, or could these increase to unacceptable levels?

  4. Q4: Will a subsequent step eliminate the identified hazard(s) or reduce the likely occurrence to an acceptable level?

  
• Critical Limits


  It is a maximum &/or minimum value to which a biological, chemical or physical parameter must be controlled at a CCP to prevent, eliminate, or reduce a biological, chemical or physical hazard to an acceptable level
• Examples of Critical Limits

  • Receiving: Perishables at or below 4.4°C; Frozen -18.0°C
  • Sanitation: Sanitizer concentration e.g. 200 ppm (QUAT)
  • Cook chicken to 73.9°C for at least 15 seconds
  • Holding hot food above 60°C
• Cooking CCP


  1. Oven temperature: equivalent to 68°C for 15 sec to assure the safety of the patties

  2. Patty composition: e.g. all beef
• Monitoring Procedures


  • The results of monitoring are documented & provide a record for future use in verification
  • Should be: continuous & allow advance warning of a problem before violation of a critical limits occurs, & rapid (rarely microbial analysis)
  • Could be done automatically (by computer) or manually
• Typical Monitoring Methods


  • Physical measurements (time and temperature, weights)
  • Chemical measurements (pH, salt/ sugar content, water activity, sanitizer concentration)
  • Visual observations & Audits
  • Sensory evaluations (off-odours, off-colours, feeling the texture)
• Corrective Actions


  Should address how the Company will fix or correct the cause of deviation to ensure that the process is brought under control and that critical limits are achieved, indicates what is to be done with a product in which deviation from the critical limit occurred
• Verification Procedures


  • Should be done to ensure that the HACCP plan is functioning satisfactorily & in compliance, if required, with government regulations
  • Information needed to validate the HACCP plan often includes expert advice & scientific studies and in-plant observations, measurements, and evaluations
  • The frequency is determined by the operation being verified
• Record-keeping


  • Is the heart of a HACCP plan
  • All records generated in association with the HACCP plan must be on file at the food establishment
• Record-keeping should include


  • The names of team members
  • A product description & intended use
  • Flow diagram with CCPs indicated
  • Types of hazards
  • Critical limits
  • Description of monitoring, corrective actions & types of records
• HACCP Application


  • To the product (e.g. ice cream production) in Manufacturing: a small number of products made, each ingredient can be followed through the entire process
  • To the process and not the product (e.g. reception of raw materials, storage) in Catering: a large number of products made (e.g. on a menu), very difficult to follow each ingredient through the entire process
• ISO 22000


  • A food safety management system which has been established by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO)
  • ISO 22000 references the Codex Alimentarius General Principles of Food Hygiene, CXC 1-1969
  • It specifies the requirements for food businesses to improve their Food Safety standards through: Interactive communication, System management, Prerequisite programmes, HACCP principles

  
• HACCP is a food safety system based on Prevention

  
• Before a HACCP programme can be introduced or developed, basic building blocks must be in place: Implementation of good manufacturing practices (GMPs) & Sanitation programme (SSOPs)