- Biological (e.g. food poisoning)
- Physical (e.g. metal or glass in food)
- Chemical (e.g. cleaning chemicals of any kind in food)
The HACCP system may seem complicated but it identifies a few simple steps to reduce health risks.
Manufacturers must apply HACCP by ensuring all staff and must understand the system.
There are many critical control points like:
- Keeping area’s clean and hygienic especially with meat or dairy products in the area.
- Ensuring Temperatures probes are wiped before and after use.
- The correct temperatures are used.
- Pest control, and many more.
This information is a strict code that all food manufacturers must abide by or they could end up, being shut down, having consumers fall ill, having workers fall ill, and many other possibilities.
There are many critical control points in the food industry, Workers must insure that these points are kept safe for everyone.
- Keeping areas clean and hygienic.
- Wiping temperature probes before and after use.
- Ensuring times are accurate
- Carrying out pest control.
- The correct temperatures are being used
- Using metal detectors at regular intervals
- Using stock in rotation.
There are many more of these points depending on what and where the particular food product is.
Every check is recorded carefully with the date and time, the results and whoever did the check.
In many foods Production Company’s use electronic and computer data collection as they may produce a more accurate reading and add extra information so that the product may be made safer for the consumer.
Hygiene regulations
HACCP should not be confused with Hygiene regulations. The application of hygiene regulations should already be in place so that the HACCP regulations can be moulded to the needs of the Hygiene regulations.
All this information is vital to me, as a food technologist as any food that I manufacture will Be Manufactured under the rules of HACCP and will help me to examine my food in more detail.