Home > General Principles of Food Hygiene

Definitions:

Food hygiene – all conditions and measures necessary to ensure the safety and suitability of food at all stages of the food chain

HACCP – a system which identifies, evaluates and controls hazards which are significant for food safety

Prerequisites:

1. Design and facilities
2. Control of operations (HACCP is one part of II.)
3. Maintenance and sanitation
4. Personal hygiene
5. Transportation
6. Product information and consumer awareness
7. Training

Focus on “3 Ps” – Premises, Product & Personnel

Premises

• Location, construction, layout and facilities of premises
• Equipment suitability – cleaning and maintenance
• Measures for the prevention of cross contamination
• Utility providers (water, power, temperature control, other)
• Waste management
• Cleaning and sanitation
• Pest control
• Transport hygiene

Product

• Supplier control and management of purchased materials
• Traceability
• Labelling
• Allergens

Personnel

• Personal hygiene
• Training

HACCP system:

A system which identifies, evaluates, and controls hazards which are significant for food safety.

• focus control at Critical Control Points (CCPs) (prevention instead of end-product)
• can be applied throughout the food chain
• guided by scientific evidence of risk to human health
• applied to each specific operation separately
• responsibility of each individual businesses
• Flexibility, sector-specific HACCP guides

Preparatory stages to HACCP:

• Management commitment
• Assemble a team
• Scope of the study
• Description of the product and intended use
• Description of the process flow
• Process flow verification

Hazard Analysis:

Definition:

Hazard – a biological, chemical or physical agent in, or condition of, food with the potential to cause an adverse health effect

Identify which hazards are of such a nature that their elimination or reduction to acceptable levels is essential to the production of a safe food.

• likelihood of occurrence and severity of adverse health effect
• cause/origin
• (re)contamination
• survival or multiplication
• production or persistence in foods

Establish Critical Limits:

Limits that separate what is acceptable from not acceptable based on:

• Criteria: ie. temperature, time, moisture level, pH, aw, salt concentration, acidity, organoleptic properties (Taste, Odour, Colour, Texture)
• References: regulatory standards and guidelines.
• Sources: scientific literature, experimental studies, consultation with experts, experience.

Establish Corrective Actions:

Planned in advance, so that they can be taken without hesitation when monitoring indicates a deviation from the critical limit

• person responsible for implementation of CA
• action required to correct (CCP under control)
• corrections to the products produced etc.

Establish Verification Procedures:

Verify that the hazard analysis and the controls are effective!

• Review of the HACCP system and records
• Review of deviations and product dispositions (CA taken)
• Confirmation – CCP monitoring implemented (correctness of records, calibration etc.)
• Sampling

Example 1: milk pasteurization

• VALIDATION: before production activities: Experimental proof that the process used will heat milk at 72°C for 15 seconds and will destroy Coxiella burnetti. Calibrated probes, microbiological tests and predictive microbiology can be used.
• MONITORING: during production activities: System (time – temperature – pressure – volume throughput) which will enable the companies to see that the critical limit (72°C for 15 seconds) is attained during process.
• VERIFICATION: fixed frequency per year: Microbiological tests on the final product, check of temperature of the pasteurizer with calibrated probes.

Establish Documentation & Record Keeping:

Documentation and record keeping should be appropriate to the nature and size of the operation and sufficient to assist the business to verify that the HACCP-based procedures are in place and being maintained.

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