HACCP-Based Procedures and Record Keeping
This domain tests the seven principles of HACCP and the records that prove a food safety management system is working. HACCP is a preventive system, not a folder of forms.
The seven principles
- Identify hazards and conduct a hazard analysis.
- Determine critical control points (CCPs).
- Set critical limits.
- Monitor CCPs.
- Establish corrective actions.
- Verify the system.
- Keep records.
Prerequisite programmes such as cleaning, pest control, personal hygiene, training and supplier approval support HACCP. A CCP is a step where control is essential to prevent, eliminate or reduce a hazard to an acceptable level. Examples include cooking, chilling and hot holding.
Worked example
A kitchen identifies chilled storage as a CCP with a critical limit of 5°C or below. Staff check and record the chiller temperature twice daily. Reasoning: monitoring detects loss of control. If the reading is 9°C, the corrective action is to move food to a working chiller, assess how long the food was above 5°C, and discard high-risk food if time and temperature are unsafe. Record the deviation and the action taken. The manager verifies records weekly and reviews the system annually or after change.
Records to keep
Temperature logs, cleaning schedules, pest-control reports, training records, supplier and traceability records, calibration records, corrective-action logs and customer complaint records. Records must be accurate, dated, signed and kept for an appropriate period.
Traps
- HACCP does not mean “fill in the temperature sheet after service”.
- Too many CCPs dilute control; focus on truly critical steps.
- A corrective action that is not recorded may as well not have happened.