Importance of applying HACCP system prerequisites The Coordinator of the Agri-Food Area of Bureau Veritas University Center, which includes the Official University Master's Degree in Food Safety Management , Belén Macías, talks to us in this post about the prerequisites of the HACCP system.
As is well known, the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points ( HACCP ) system is the most widely used and internationally recognized food safety tool.
Thus, at European level, the horizontal regulations on hygiene and food safety, through Regulation 852/2004 on the hygiene of foodstuffs, contemplates, in its article 5, the obligation for food bank data business operators to create, apply and maintain a self-control system based on the principles of HACCP .
Even so, it is essential to consider, and it would be a serious mistake to omit, that for the implementation of the HACCP system to be effective, the company must have established hygienic practices, environmental and operational conditions, which cover the entire production process .
These hygiene practices are essential for food safety, and are complementary and essential for the effective implementation of HACCP. Known as hygiene plans , prerequisite programs or prerequisites , they are all analogous concepts. The WHO has defined them since 1998 as "those practices and conditions necessary prior to and during the implementation of a HACCP plan and which are essential for food safety."
Some of the aspects considered in these prerequisites are:
Cleaning and disinfection.
Pest control: disinfestation and deratization.
Water supply.
Good manufacturing and handling practices.
Maintenance of premises, facilities and equipment.
Training of workers.
Traceability.
Storage of cleaning products and materials.
Waste storage and disposal.
Etc.
These programs can be individualized in specific plans or be included in existing ones. In any case, the company must decide which prerequisites are important for the development of its activities , from a food safety perspective, and which require planning.
These programs, in fact, are described in such international documents as the General Principles of Food Hygiene of the Codex Alimentarius Commission , in addition to Regulation 852/2004/EC already cited.
We can therefore conclude that the HACCP system is the basis on which the production of safe food is based, but without a doubt, considering that without adequately defined prerequisite programmes, this system would not be sustainable . Without forgetting that the prerequisites are active elements, susceptible to modifications and improvements, and therefore, the results of their evaluation and degree of compliance must be reflected through the appropriate documentation and records, as well as the HACCP plan itself.
However, a very common mistake is made when preparing HACCP plans, and that is to treat the prerequisites as Critical Control Points ( CCP ). As a consequence, the number of real CCPs in the process increases, increasing the monitoring systems and, as a result, the work, when many of these stages could be controlled through prerequisite programs, thus wasting the primary benefit of their application: reducing the number of CCPs to be identified and being able, therefore, to exercise control with the necessary rigor over the stages that are really critical for food safety in a process.
It should not be forgotten that the prerequisites are focused on controlling those general hazards that affect food production , while HACCP is established as a system for preventing the specific hazards of a product in a process.