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HACCP
Do you know the term HACCP?
If you don’t know HACCP, you may have seen the symbol (shown on the right) displayed on packages of milk or ham. This indicates that the product was manufactured at a plant where hygiene management is performed using the HACCP system, which has been approved by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.
What is HACCP?
This is a food hygiene management system which was developed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in the 1960s to ensure food safety during space flight. It is an acronym of “Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points”.
Conventional hygiene management methods tried to ensure safety using acceptance sampling of the final product. On the other hand, HACCP is a system that ensures the safety of the final product by continuously monitoring critical stages of the manufacturing process.
In HACCP,
- Firstly, in the manufacturing and cooking process of food, the possible types of microorganisms, chemical substances, and foreign matter which may impair the safety of food are identified.
- Among the identified hazards, extremely critical control points (CCP) that are extremely critical to prevent the occurrence of food poisoning are determined.
- Next, a standard to be followed for each control point (temperature, heating time, etc.) is established.
- Moreover, methods to verify whether the standard is adhered to (is monitoring performed?), and measures which should be taken when there are deviations from the specified standard are determined.
- The operations for each process are documented as Standard Operating Procedures so that anyone can operate in a same manner without making mistakes.
- Results of monitoring are recorded and stored, so that safe manufacturing according to HACCP can be objectively verified.
The HACCP concept, which prevents hazards such as food poisoning by continuously performing such rigorous hygiene management, has been recently adopted by various food factories and restaurants. Moreover, this concept can be incorporated into the prevention of food poisoning in the home.