Qualità e Salute | Amica Chips

QUALITY AND SAFETY / HACCP

HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) is a quality assurance system that all operators in the food manufacturing sector must implement in order to evaluate and assess hazards and risks and establish control measures to prevent the occurrence of hygiene and health related problems. The HACCP system was founded to meet the need to guarantee all levels of food safety. Prior to the adoption of HACCP system, “end of the pipe” testing was carried out downstream of the production process, with safety analyse carried out only on finished products ready for sale to consumers. The HACCP system provides a systematic preventive approach that monitors every production phase to identify potential food safety hazards and risks, hence no longer focusing on finished products alone. In other words, this control is designed to monitor the entire food manufacturing and distribution chain process.

The aim is to identify the process phases that may represent a critical point (for instance, the distribution of mascarpone must use a cold chain, so the vehicle that carries it must guarantee certain constantly low temperatures, and be able to avoid even a temporary failure). The system was first designed in the sixties in the United States with the intent to ensure that the food provided to the NASA astronauts had no adverse health effects which could put the space missions at risk. HACCP was introduced in Europe in 1993 with the EEC directive 43/93 (ratified in Italy by Legislative Decree no. 155/97), which requires the application of the HACCP protocol to all food industry operators. This legislation was replaced by EC Reg 852/2004 which came into force as of 01.01.2006. In addition to what is stated in Legislative Decree 193/07 L.D. 155/97 was abrogated and specific sanctions became applicable for any failure to meet the EC Reg 852/04 Standards]. In 2006 the implementation of the HACCP system also became applicable to companies along the chain that deal with feed for animals destined for human consumption (production of raw materials, mixtures, additives, sales, administering). The key points of the HACCP system (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points - hazard analysis and management of critical points), whose application in food industries aims to ensure that no type of food is unsafe for human consumption, are divided into seven different principles which, prior to their implementation, must be preceded by five preliminary steps. This implies putting into practice twelve key steps in clearly specified order.

The list below highlights the basic principles of HACCP system development:

1. Forming the HACCP team
2. Description of the product
3. Identification of the intended use
4. Construction of the Flowchart
5. Field confirmation of the flowchart
The HACCP system is based on seven principles applied to:

1. Identify hazards and conduct a risk analysis
2. Identify Critical Control Points (CCP)
3. Establish Critical Limits
4. Establish monitoring requirements
5. Establish corrective actions
6. Establish record keeping procedures
7. Establish document management procedures

Principle 1

To identify potential hazards associated with the production of food in all relative phases, from the crop or livestock phase through to processing, production, and consumption. Assess the likelihood of the risk occurring, the gravity of possible damage and identification of all preventive measures to control the same. The food safety hazards can be classified as: physical, chemical and biological..

Principle 2

Use of the "Decision Tree" to identify the phases that can be controlled, or even better "managed" in order to eliminate risks or minimize the likelihood of their occurrence (critical control points). Each phase represents a point in production and/or food handling, including primary production, reception and processing, storage, transport, trade and consumer use.

Principle 3

Establish critical limits which must be observed to ensure that each CCP is under control. In practice, the critical limit is the value that separates acceptability from unacceptability. Critical limits are set using those foreseen by law, if enforced, or by GMP (Good Manufacturing Practices), where they may be the result of adopting hygienic manufacturing practices.

Principle 4

Establish a monitoring system to ensure the process in under control at each CCP implementing tests, or with scheduled observations. The monitoring system will therefore consist of recording, at specific times, a parameter that must stay within an established critical limit.

Principle 5

Establish the action to be taken when monitoring indicates a deviation from an established CCP. The corrective actions, better known as "treatments," require both actions to correct non-conformities and revision of the system to eliminate the possibility that the deviation from the set parameters can happen again.