HACCP stands for Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points.
Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP) is an internationally recognized method of identifying and managing food safety-related risks that, when implemented as part of an active food safety program, can give your customers, the general public, and regulatory agencies peace of mind that your food safety program is well-managed.
From raw material production, procurement, and handling, to manufacture, distribution, and consumption of the completed product, HACCP is a management approach that addresses food safety through the analysis and control of biological, chemical, and physical risks.
Many of the world’s leading manufacturers and vendors now use the system as the foundation for their food safety management systems and GFSI audit compliance.
A food safety program, on the other hand, does not end with HACCP. Prerequisite programs such as pest management, traceability and recall, cleanliness, and sanitation must create for effectiveness
Additionally, through the development of ingredient requirements and a vendor assurance system, the issue of ensuring that suppliers and distributors have a food safety program must be addressed.
How Does HACCP Software Help Food & Beverage Companies?
As you might expect, keeping track of such a large volume of records for HACCP, as well as other programs, can be overwhelming for facilities. As a result, many businesses use automated HACCP software to organize and manage their compliance obligations in one place.
Because there is minimal visibility into everyday operations, the analytical aspect of the system is sometimes the most difficult part of operating HACCP properly. This problem is solved by using HACCP software.
HACCP software is intended to reduce food safety hazards and maintain ongoing compliance with a variety of food safety and quality management systems. This technology can help you manage food safety processes such as HACCP more effectively, as well as improve supplier, regulatory, and GFSI compliance.
The software gives you continuous, real-time insights into your program’s activity, allowing you to better manage your food safety measures. Mobile forms, automated equipment data extraction, and internet portals are all used to collect data.
All of your records are thus saved in one consolidated system and are easily accessible. You may track progress across different facilities using dashboards and reports, ensuring that activities like corrective and preventative action are completed (CAPAs).
You can also check for changes or form submissions, as well as review documentation, to ensure that everything is running well.
The Benefits of HACCP in Food Safety Management
Whether you’re forced to do so by law or just want to secure the safety of your product, the time and effort you put into your HACCP plan will pay off in the end. The HACCP system can be used throughout the food chain, from production to consumption, to identify and control any hazards that represent a risk.
However, establishing a successful HACCP plan requires full commitment from management and your HACCP team, which must comprise at least one HACCP-trained individual.
HACCP-based procedures provide organizations with a cost-effective approach for food safety control, from ingredients to production, storage, and distribution to final consumer sale and service. HACCP-based procedures’ preventive approach not only enhances food safety management but also supports other quality management systems.
The following are five reasons why the food safety system benefits other industries:
Product Loss is Reduced
HACCP is built on the foundation of prerequisite programs like Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). Written procedures that precisely identify and clarify critical job responsibilities are known as Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). SOP pre-operations and cleaning checklists assist ensure that all steps of the manufacturing process are completed correctly, resulting in fewer errors.
Product Quality Improvement
The corporation can better guarantee consumers that its products are safe by identifying and addressing potential hazards such as microbiological, chemical, and physical pollutants. You may keep a clean record by reducing dangers, which will help the company’s public image.
Improved Inventory Management
The essential precursor program checklists layout monitoring methods, outlining how to execute the job correctly and eliminating guesswork. To ensure HACCP compliance, the authorized employee must document and assess the prerequisite programs regularly. Personnel can monitor and correct purchasing parameters during the evaluation process.
In Terms of Product Preparation, Consistency is Important
Critical control points, where control can be implemented to avert a hazard, are recognized as part of the HACCP system. Each important control point’s critical, measurable limits of acceptability, as well as monitoring protocols, are then defined. These procedures ensure product uniformity. If the standards are not met and a deviation occurs, the product will be repaired or discarded.
Profits Increase
The expenses of adopting and maintaining a HACCP system vary based on the facility’s compliance needs. However, the investment will pay off since, by implementing all seven HACCP principles, safe and high-quality products will be produced, earning the trust of customers who will continue to buy the product.
In conclusion, taking steps to assure the safety of the food being produced has a beneficial ripple effect. It all starts with the adoption of preparatory programs, which pave the way for HACCP principles to be used.
Is HACCP software any different from Food Safety Management software?
Here are a few key differences between HACCP plans and FSPs:
Analyze the Risk
HACCP plans require manufacturers to identify biological, chemical, and physical dangers. Manufacturers of FSPs must additionally take into account radiological risks and commercially motivated adulteration.
Preventive Measures
While HACCP plans only specify CCPs for processes, FSPs require process CCPs as well as controls at points other than the key ones.
Records
In HACCP plans, records must be kept for process controls, but in FSPs, records should be kept for all preventative controls, not just processes.
Parameters & CCPs
While critical limits are required for CCPs in HACCP plans, stated parameters may not be required for preventive controls that are not related to processes with FSPs.
Monitoring
Monitoring is not required for HACCP plans, but it is required for FSPs. FSPs, in particular, require monitoring after recognizing any hazard that necessitates preventive action.
Remedial Actions
The HACCP plan calls for corrective steps whenever there is a deviation from a CCP’s CL. In some circumstances, rapid resolutions using FSPs may be more practical and efficient than formal remedial actions.
Verification
Unlike HACCP plans, which involve verification activities. FSPs allows for more flexibility in how verification activities are carried out depending on the nature of the preventative control.
Validation
Validation of the full plan is required for HACCP systems for juice, meat, and poultry. Whereas validation activities such as collecting proof that individual controls adequately minimize the hazards are required for FSPs.
Plans for Recall
While HACCP does not require a recall plan, FSPs do. For each product with a hazard that requires preventative control, you need a recall plan.
Although the distinctions between food safety and HACCP plans may appear minor, they do exist, and it is critical to recognize and plan for them. Understanding the differences between the two programs can guarantee that your organization meets all legal requirements.
Conclusion
Every food management company’s dream, whether small or large, is to have an effective and fool-proof food safety management system. To establish an effective food management system, many food-management organizations engage a large number of people.
However, paying a large number of people to check food safety only adds to the company’s operating costs. This is especially true for small enterprises, as their profit margins are often lower than those of huge corporations.
Every food and beverage firm needs good food safety compliance software that has been certified by several regulatory bodies. Such as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), to mention a few.
Folio3 provides food safety compliance software that helps food and beverage industries increase productivity, profitability, and compliance. By capturing, managing, and analyzing real-time operations data on a customizable, user-friendly software platform.
Book your consultation right away and make sure your company and its food is safe!
