HACCP

What is HACCP?

A systematic approach to the identification, assessment of risk and severity, and control of biological, chemical, and physical hazards associated with a particular food production process or practice

"A designated foodservice employee will record the location or description of holding unit, date, time, air temperature, corrective action, and initials on this log. Foodservice manager will verify that foodservice employees have taken the required temperatures by visually monitoring foodservice employees during the shift and reviewing, initialing, and dating this log each working day. Maintain this log for a minimum of one year"
 

What are the advantages of HACCP?

• Enhanced public health
• Control over the occurrence of potential hazards in the food supply
• Increased consumer confidence in the safety of the food supply
• Better oversight and use of resources by governing parties

HACCP is…

• Plant and product specific
• A systematic approach to food safety
• Adaptive, dynamic, and flexible
• Only as good as those found and identified hazards
• A predictor of what can go wrong

Why HACCP?

• Technological advances in food processing and packaging
• Emerging foodborne pathogens
• Diminishing inspectional resources
• New food distribution and consumption patterns
• Increasing public health safety concerns
• Global marketplace

Benefits of HACCP
 

• Better understanding of the rationale for food safety controls
• Provides a systematic approach
• Proactive strategy
• Continuous problem prevention
• Real-time monitoring
• Cost effective

Typical Scenarios:
 

"During a regulatory inspection we discovered temperature log data from our medication refrigerators and freezers was missing due to equipment and power failures. As a result, we lost thousands of dollars worth of inventory. Our cross-functional leadership team reviewed these issues and began searching for an automated solution for tracking and monitoring our temperature-critical materials, while enabling us to demonstrate continuous regulatory compliance.

In addition to protecting valuable inventory, the system needed to maintain the proper documentation required by the Department of Health and the Joint Commission. We wanted to reduce the time our staff spent monitoring temperatures and filling out paperwork. We also wanted to eliminate the manual process of maintaining the notebooks and files of temperature log documentation required to demonstrate continuous regulatory compliance. In an environment of unannounced surveys and inspections, the ability to automate the process, document our procedures and show our remediation practices is extremely important.

We required a temperature management solution that was cost-effective, easy to deploy across our wide variety of facilities, and wireless so as to avoid costly facilities modifications"
- Pharmacy Manager
 

Importance of Temperature and Food
 

The proper storage of food, at the correct temperatures, is a very important part of preventing both food poisoning and premature food spoilage. No matter what stage of the food chain you specialize in, whether farmer, producer or restaurateur, it is vital that the food you prepare is properly looked after, as the chain is only as strong as its weakest link.
 

The need for HACCP monitoring solutions?
 

The monitoring and recording of food temperatures, both in storage and during preparation, play an important role in helping to protect people against unsafe food and the illness, even death, it can cause. The adoption of Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point or HACCP systems has done much to safeguard the food we consume, by putting systems in place to carefully monitor the temperatures at which food is stored and prepared.

The 7 principles of HACCP

1. Identifying any hazards that must be prevented, eliminated or reduced to acceptable levels
2. Identifying the critical control points at the step or the steps at which control is essential to prevent or eliminate a hazard or to reduce it to acceptable levels.
3. Establishing critical limits at critical control points which separate acceptability from unacceptability for the prevention, elimination or reduction of identified hazards.
4. Establishing and implementing effective monitoring procedures at critical control points
5. Establishing corrective actions when monitoring indicates that a critical control point is not under control
6. Establishing procedures which shall be carried out regularly to verify that the measures outlined above are working effectively
7. Establishing documents and records commensurate with the nature and size of the food business to demonstrate the effective applications of the measures outlined above

Technology driven HACCP compliance solutions

Automatic temperature monitoring not only reduces cost of HACCP monitoring but can also improve and facilitate efficiency.

Energy Waste Reduction - Data can be analyzed to check efficiency of refrigerated food storage areas. Typically, door contact sensors can indicate when a door has been left open by mistake prompting an immediate corrective action. By regular monitoring and ensuring doors are closed, energy consumption can be greatly reduced. The energy consumption is reduced and saves 1.5% for every 1° variance.

Labor Cost Reduction - Automated data collection reduces the amount of manual temperature measurements required and ensures accurate data is recorded, as it is not prone to the ‘human error' factor. Wireless technology also means installation is easy and there is no need for costly cabling and electrical work.

Product Waste Reduction - Alarm notifications such as email and SMS text indicate when there is a threshold breach within a food storage area and action can be taken to prevent costly product spoilage.

Reduced Paper Storage - Reports can be created automatically and specific information can then be printed off as required. This will enable organizations to consume less paper.

Maintenance Cost Reduction– Automated notifications and follow up on
equipment that constantly fails help in avoiding costly needed of repairs such
as loss of Compressors