HACCP in Micro/Small Companies
Must be guaranteed a high level of protection of the human life and health
All the food industry operators are responsable for ensuring that all the food given to final consumers are safe. For that they must create, apply and maintain food safety procedures based on Hazard Analysis and Critical Point (HACCP) (cf. article 5 from the Regulation n.º 852/2004 of April 29), having as reference the Codex Alimentarius
Is there any flexibility?
Implementation requirements of HACCP must have the enough flexibility to be apllied in all the circumstances, including micro and small companies .The flexibility of the application of the HACCP system will apply to the food operators that after identifying the hazard associated to each step of the process and attempt to identify all the critical points, consider not possible to determine these points. However with the implementation of the preventive measures (good hygiene practices) its possible to assure food safety .
Ease of application of the HACCP principles
One can think that the application of the HACCP principles is very complicated, but need not be.The most important thing is to guarantee, regardless of the methodology applied, that the safety procedures are tailored to each establishment considering the activity developed.
According to the principles of the Codex Alimentarius, the implementation of HACCP principles is made following the production flow of food, identifying all hazards in each step, determination of critical control points (CCP) to eliminate/reduce the risk and the implemented procedures for the monitoring (critical limits, surveillance, corrective measures) demonstrated by records and documents.
It was not necessary the use of technical terminology, although the process is rigorous the operators themselves construct their own food safety procedures, through responses to operational issues as: Steps/ Points to Check/ Why? / How / When to/ What to do in case of failure? How to avoid that happening again?,These procedures are based on Cross-contamination, Cleaning, Chilling, Cooking supporting the evidence for effective enforcement through the preparation of records, suitable for the nature and company size.
Considering that the operators must know well the food they produce and provide, this methodology permits to the small and micro companies to simplify its procedures (for example, creation of factsheets of the process/product), with good knowledge of the food safety rules (Training and instruction of the whole team - it is important for the handlers and management) to hold responsible for the food handlers and the food operators.
1 http://www.food.gov.uk/business-industry/caterers/sfbb/sfbbcaterers/
| The 4 C´s may help to prevent some problems connect with food safety - In the folowing table you can find some methodology application examples showing the control areas identify in each point a to control | |||||
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Step 1 Control /Points to control |
Why? (Principles 1 and 2 from the HACCP system) |
How/When? (Preventing measures, Principles 3 and 4 from HACCP system) |
What to do in case of failure? (Principle 5 of HACCP system) |
How to prevent new failure ? ((Principle 5 of HACCP system) |
Records (Principle 7) |
| Reception of raw material (RRM) | If chilled foods are a lot of time at room temperature they present clues of defrost, they may develop dangerous bacterial growth. It could appear on the packages foreign bodies (stones, soil). |
Control labelling – durability dates, compulsory indications, special storage conditions, among others. See the freshness of food. Control food temperature – recording and checking periodically check the transport temperature – Foods that require cold are stored immediately – Maintaining the Cold Chain Cheking the condition of packages- condition of transport package and checking product packagie |
Immediately reject the raw material where there are anomalies in reception. Change supplier if there is a significant number of anomalies Discard foods that contain anomalies in temperatures If a chemical pests, broken glass or other substances come into contact with food, discard immediately
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Training to the employees about this process step Conduct a periodic evaluation of suppliers |
Temperature recording in RRM |
| Storage at refrigeration |
Some foods need to be kept cold because there is a danger of bacterial growth
Ex: indicating food store in the cold ... º C, desserts |
Check if the food is placed in the cold and protected -Cross contamination Keep the equipment controlled cooling - record temperature Maintaining the Cold Chain See cleanliness of equipment cool - Sanitization Do this procedure at least 2 times per day |
If cool equipment fails its necessary to transfer food for other equipment See how long the food has been exposed to uncontrolled temperature – immediately cook the food at high temperatures or reject the food |
Review the procedure storage
Maintenance of refrigeration equipment |
Temperature recording of the cold equipment |
| Cooking |
Bacteria from raw food can contaminate the cooked food Some dangerous bacteria can survive Continuous use of the same frying oil leads to the development of chemicals harmful to health |
Separate cooked food from raw food – Cross Contamination Ensure good cooking - see if there is presence of blood and juices to indicate that the product is still raw, let broths and soups simmer until "bubbling" – Cooking Check the temperature and see the degree of oxidation of frying oil (oil test) see if the oil changed color (dark color, foam is changed) and smells(if it smells intense that´s because its changed – Reject it) - Cooking Make the implementation of these procedures in the course of duties |
If the cooked food comes into contact with raw foods its necessary to reheate at elevated temperatures or rejectc if is not possible rewarming
Check the position of the thermostat-temperature below 180 º C |
Rearrange the work plan Training to the employees about this process step Create verification system |
Recording of reheating food Recording of the temperature of the frying oil |
| Distribution |
The cooked food that are not served immediately need to be kept in hot or cold - some dangerous bacteria can grow
Bacteria from the environment can contaminate food ready to distribute |
Placing food serving hot glasshouse / water bath pre-heated to a temperature of about 90 ° C (confirm with the indication of each device) in order to ensure that food are temperature above 65 ° C - Cross Contamination Place the food to serve cold (temperatures between 0-5 ° C) in refrigeration equipment - Maintenance of Cold Chain Handling of food with proper utensils - not directly manipulate the food with hands - Cross Contamination / Hygiene See the cleanliness of cold equipment and hot water bath /glasshouse Sanitization Check the temperature of the cooling equipment at least 2 times per day when using the hot water bath/glasshouse |
Tuning the hot water bath / glasshouse when the temperature is below 90 º C Cover the hot water bath Discard foods that have been at room temperature for more than 30 minutes |
Maintenance of refrigeration equipment Training to the employees about this process step |
Temperature Recording of the cool equipamen_to and glasshouse/hot water baths |
