1. The Risk Assessment in the Food Industry
HACCP
The Risk Assessment in the Food Industry

2. Aims and Objectives To understand why we need HACCP
How it is applied in the food industry
To know about the different stages required in a HACCP system
To understand how it can be applied during your GCSE course

3. What is Risk Assessment?
Risk assessment means making an assessment of any risk to a food product during its production.
In short it is:
Thinking about what could happen
Planning how to prevent it from happening

4. Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points
Risk Assessment in the food industry is know as Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points
Analyses what could go wrong
Sets up procedures and controls to avoid problems
‘end product testing’ can be time consuming

5. What is HACCP? A method of food safety management
An important risk assessment method
A procedure whereby the whole food company makes a commitment to quality production.
Hazard- anything that can cause harm to the consumer
Critical control point- a stage where a food safety hazard can be prevented, eliminated or reduced to an acceptable level
Control- setting standards for a system and maintaining them

6. Why do we need HACCP? Hazards may be:
Microbiological- Salmonella, Listeria
Physical- glass from bottles, metal, wood
Chemical- pesticides, cleaning chemicals
Hazards can occur at any stage in the food production chain from field to factory or shop to table

7. How is HACCP Applied in the Food Industry?
A team of people is needed to organise the HACCP system as they need to :
Understand food processing
Be trained in food safety
Have knowledge of microbiology
Such a team will have included in it a range of people:
Quality assurance staff
An engineer
A microbiologist
Production staff

8. Stages of HACCP There are 7 stages to a HACCP system: Hazard analysis
Critical control points
Critical limits
Monitoring
Corrective action
Record keeping
Verifying

9. Hazard Analysis
Step 1
Draw up a flow chart of the food production process from raw materials to consumer use
Identify any potential hazards
Describe ways and options for control of those hazards

10. Example of a Flow Chart

11. Critical Control Points (CCP’s)
Step 2
Identify the critical control points using a decision tree
At the CCP’s hazards must be prevented by setting up preventative measures e.g.
Control of temperatures to prevent bacterial growth
Control of end-cooking temperatures
Control of weights to give consistent quantities
Contamination controls

12. Critical Limits
Step 3
To control each CCP target levels need to be set e.g. Temperature range for cook-chill cabinet is 0 C- 5 C
These targets or tolerance levels are called critical limits

13. Monitoring Step 4 Monitoring must be set up at each CCP and involves:
Measuring or observing stages of the production process
Making sure the critical limits at each CP are met e.g.
Digital temperature displays on refrigerator cabinets
Metal detectors on production lines
Pest control units
Regular checks by staff

14. Corrective Action Step 5
If a problem occurs and critical limits are exceeded then corrective action needs to be taken e.g.
Repairing a refrigerator
Replacing machinery parts
Sieving an ingredient to detect any physical contamination

15. Record Keeping
Step 6
Full details of the raw materials, components, the processing and the final product are required e.g.
The HACCP plan
Staff training
Temperature logs
Cleaning schedules
Maintenance records
Delivery schedules
Suppliers

16. Verification
Stage 7
Set up a system, tests or procedures to check if the HACCP plan is working effectively
Review or modify the plan according to the findings

17. Applying HACCP in the Food Industry
At first HACCP may seem very complex but it is just a series of steps to eliminate health risks.
Some points to remember:
HACCP can be used in any food industry
Training is essential for all staff
If too many hazards are identified the production process may need to be changed