HACCP and its Seven Principles 

Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point, or HACCP, is a management system that focuses on analyzing and reducing biological, chemical, and physical risks throughout the production, handling, and distribution of raw materials as well as during the manufacture, distribution, and consumption of finished goods. HACCP aims to foresee and minimize potential threats to food safety.

The HACCP Seven Principles

• Principle 1: Conduct a Hazard Analysis: Listing the steps in the process and identifying the places where major dangers are likely to arise are two ways to put this theory into practice. The HACCP team will concentrate on risks that the HACCP plan can prevent, eliminate, or control.

• Principle 2: Determine Critical Control Points (CCPs): A critical control point (CCP) is a point, step, or method when control can be applied to prevent, eliminate, or reduce a risk to acceptable levels for food safety. A CCP decision tree will be used by the HACCP team to aid in locating the process' essential control points.

• Principle 3: Establish Critical Limits: A biological, chemical, or physical parameter's critical limit (CL) is the highest and/or lowest value that must be managed at a CCP in order to prevent, eliminate, or minimize the occurrence of a food safety hazard to an acceptable level.

• Principle 4: Establish Monitoring Procedures: At each critical control point, the HACCP team will outline monitoring protocols for the measurement of the critical limit.

• Principle 5: Establish Corrective Actions: Corrective actions are the steps taken when a departure from a critical limit happens. The HACCP team will determine the activities that must be taken to repair the process as well as the steps that will be taken to prevent potentially hazardous food from entering the food chain.

• Principle 6: Establish Verification Procedures: Other than monitoring, these actions evaluate whether the HACCP plan is valid and whether the system is performing in accordance with the plan.

• Principle 7: Establish Record-keeping and Documentation Procedures: Recording data that may be used to demonstrate that the food was made properly is a crucial part of the HACCP plan.

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