How to comply with HACCP and ISO 22000?
When preparing food and drinks, working hygienically is a prerequisite for guaranteeing food safety for consumers. Companies that are active in the food sector are therefore obliged by law to comply with established hygiene regulations and to work in accordance with HACCP guidelines. HACCP is a food safety system that prevents the safety of food from being compromised. In order to comply with this, food companies are obliged to draw up an HACCP food safety plan. A food safety plan is drawn up in accordance with the European Hygiene Regulation and is based on the 7 basic principles of HACCP.
HACCP stands for Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point System.
H: Hazard = A hazard that may be present in a product and can subsequently pose a threat to the health of the consumer. Think of bacteria, fungi, viruses, parasites, chemicals and physical hazards such as glass, metal etc.
A: Analysis = Analysing possible hazards. An assessment must be made of the risks consisting of the combination of the risk of danger and the seriousness of the consequences for public health.
CCP: Critical Control Points = Points in the process that need to be kept under control in order to prevent or reduce a hazard to an acceptable level.
This means that food companies should look for critical points that affects the safety of food and drink products that are handled by the company. This includes, among other things:
When a company produces, processes or distributes food, it is obliged to draw up a process- or business-related HACCP plan, which will be assessed by a relevent law authority. Drawing up an HACCP plan, however, is not something that can be regulated at the drop of a hat. Drawing up such procedures requires specific knowledge and time. This can be a major challenge for smaller companies, such as bakers, butchers, the hospitality industry and care institutions. For this reason, so-called hygiene codes have been created (in some countries).
A hygiene code is a general and practical handbook drawn up by trade and sector organizations for a specific sector. It's not allowed to work with a hygiene code in all European countries. In the Netherlands, the hygiene code is for example well known. The manual contains specific HACCP guidelines for that sector and may be used as a replacement for an HACCP plan. The hygiene code is therefore officially recognized and allows smaller businesses to easily comply with the legislation. Every three to five years, the government evaluates the hygiene code and revises it where necessary.
Always check if your country works with industry-related hygiene codes! When this is the case the next step is to make sure that your company is falling within the definitions of a certain industry that has a hygiene code.
If a company can work according to a hygiene code, then there are a number of advantages:
Specific hygiene codes have been drawn up for various sectors, such als poultry slaughterhouses and cutting plants, butchers' shops, AGF retailers, fish retailers, bread shops and confectioners' shops. However, when a company has to deal with process steps that are not described in any hygiene code, it is obliged to set up its own food safety system in the form of an HACCP plan.
Demonstrable food safety means that a company can demonstrate in practice that products are handled in a responsible and safe manner. It can be demonstrated that all relevant basic conditions and process requirements from the Hygiene Code are met in practice
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