EHAI Primary Food Safety key terms

A systematic, preventive system that identifies biological, chemical, and physical hazards in food production and sets controls at the points where those hazards can be prevented, eliminated, or reduced to safe levels.

The HACCP step in which a team lists every step in the process and identifies which biological, chemical, or physical hazards are reasonably likely to occur, plus the evidence used to decide.

A specific step where a control measure is essential and can be applied to prevent, eliminate, or reduce a significant hazard to an acceptable level. Each CCP must have measurable limits and monitoring.

The measurable value that separates acceptable from unacceptable at a CCP, such as a minimum cooking temperature, a maximum holding time, or a maximum pH. It must be based on scientific support or regulatory standard.

Scheduled observation or measurement at a CCP to confirm the process stays within its critical limits. Results must be recorded and reviewed by someone with authority to act on deviations.

The documented steps taken when monitoring shows a critical limit was missed: bring the process back under control, decide what to do with affected product, and record the cause and disposition.

Activities other than monitoring that confirm the HACCP plan is working as written, such as record reviews, calibration checks, product testing, and direct observation of practices on the floor.

Collecting scientific or technical evidence, before a control is relied on, that the chosen control measure can actually achieve the intended effect under the plant's real operating conditions.

The foundational hygiene and sanitation conditions that support food safety, such as pest control, supplier approval, cleaning, training, and maintenance. HACCP is built on top of these programs.

Any action or activity used to prevent a significant hazard, eliminate it, or reduce it to an acceptable level. A control measure may be applied at a CCP or through a prerequisite program.

A failure to meet a critical limit or a required procedure. A deviation triggers corrective action, product evaluation, and a record of what happened and how it was resolved.

A living organism or its toxin that can cause illness through food, including bacteria such as Salmonella and Listeria, viruses such as norovirus, parasites, and molds that produce toxins.

A harmful chemical that may enter food, such as cleaning residues, pesticides, allergens, unapproved additives, heavy metals, or toxins produced by microbes. It also includes naturally occurring toxins.

A hard or sharp object that can injure a person or cause illness, such as glass, metal fragments, bone, stones, or plastic. Controls include screens, magnets, filters, and inspection.

A microorganism that causes disease, such as Salmonella, Listeria monocytogenes, E. coli O157:H7, or norovirus. Pathogens are the main target of cooking, cooling, and sanitation controls.

A microbe that makes food unsafe to eat by changing its appearance, smell, or texture rather than by causing infection. Spoilage is a quality problem and does not always signal a pathogen.

The active, growing form of a bacterium, as opposed to its dormant spore. Vegetative cells are usually easier to kill with heat and sanitizers than spores are.

A bacterium that forms a heat-resistant dormant structure when conditions are harsh, such as Bacillus or Clostridium species. Spores survive many cooking steps and can germinate later in warm, moist, low-oxygen food.

An anaerobic spore former that grows in low-acid, low-oxygen, moist foods and produces a potent neurotoxin. Control relies on heat, refrigeration, acidification, drying, or added salt.

The range, roughly 5 to 57 degrees Celsius (41 to 135 degrees Fahrenheit), in which bacteria multiply fastest. Food should pass through this range quickly during cooking, cooling, and holding.

The pattern of bacterial population change over time: lag, log, stationary, and death phases. Understanding the phases explains why rapid cooling and prompt holding prevent explosive growth.

A measure of the free water available for microbial growth, on a scale from 0 to 1. Most bacteria need aw above about 0.90; reducing aw by drying or adding solutes slows or stops growth.

A measure of acidity or alkalinity from 0 to 14. Most bacteria grow best near neutral pH, and acidification below about 4.6 can block growth of Clostridium botulinum in many foods.

The time at a given temperature needed to reduce a specific microbial population by 90 percent. D-values are used to design and verify cooking and sterilization processes.

The transfer of a food allergen into a food that should not contain it, through shared equipment, hands, utensils, or airborne dust. It is a chemical hazard requiring separation and cleaning controls.

The basic operating rules for facilities, equipment, personnel, and records that keep food clean and safe, such as handwashing, protective clothing, and maintenance of buildings and equipment.

A written procedure describing how, when, and by whom a specific area or piece of equipment is cleaned and sanitized, including the chemicals, concentrations, and verification checks used.

The measured strength of a sanitizing solution, often in parts per million, that must be maintained to kill microorganisms without leaving harmful residues. Test strips or meters verify it.

A method of cleaning and sanitizing closed equipment, such as pipes and tanks, by circulating cleaning and rinse solutions through it without dismantling. Flow, time, temperature, and concentration are controlled.

Practices that prevent people from contaminating food, including handwashing, clean uniforms, hair and beard restraints, no jewelry, reporting illness, and excluding workers with certain symptoms.

Any object in food that does not belong there, whether harmful or not. It is a physical hazard and a quality defect, controlled by supplier specifications, equipment maintenance, and detection devices.

A device that rejects product containing metal contamination. It must be challenged at a set frequency with test pieces for ferrous, non-ferrous, and stainless steel, and its rejects must be verified.

The process of evaluating and monitoring suppliers for their ability to meet food safety and specification requirements, often through audits, certificates, and letters of guarantee, before and during supply.

The ability to follow a food or ingredient forward and backward through the supply chain, linking raw materials to finished lots. It supports recalls and is tested with mock trace exercises.

A code that identifies a batch of product by date, line, or shift so it can be traced and recalled if needed. Records must link lot codes to raw materials and distribution.

Removing unsafe food from the market and notifying customers. A recall plan assigns responsibilities, defines communication, and requires effectiveness checks to confirm product was recovered.

Managing how long food spends at a given temperature to limit microbial growth, such as rapid cooling, hot holding above 57 degrees Celsius, and cold holding at or below 5 degrees Celsius.

Lowering cooked food quickly through the danger zone, for example from 57 to 21 degrees Celsius within two hours and then to 5 degrees Celsius within four more, to limit bacterial growth.

Managing printed labels so the correct product name, ingredients, allergens, and lot code reach the right package. It prevents mislabeling, which can cause undeclared allergen hazards.