LESSON 4
Hazard Analysis
and
Critical control points
Lesson 4
Hazard Analysis and critical
control points
The decade was the mid 50’s. It was the time when the race for space age
dominate started. The major players in the COLD WAR particularly the USA
and USSR was the racing who would be the first to conquer space. In America,
manned space ships pose a problem of food spoilage for the astronauts,
making them sick during space mission and many of these missions were
either aborted or failed. NASA came up with the solution for the food problem.
Thus, it was at this time that HACCP was born.
In the 70’s is the US Food and Drug Administration has adopted HACCP from the
astronauts and applied it to its seafood and juices. The new program known as
HACCP focuses on preventing hazards that could cause food-borne illnesses by
applying science based control, from raw material to finished product.
HACCP is a systematic preventive approach to food safety that addresses physical,
chemical and biological hazards as a means of prevention rather than the
traditional finished product inspection. HACCP is used in the industry to identify
potential finished product inspection. HACCP is used in the industry to identify
potential food safety hazards, so that the key actions, known as Critical Control
Points (CCP’s) can be taken to reduce or eliminate the risk of the hazards being
realized. The system is used at all stages of food production and preparation
processes.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
define what is HACCP;
Identity the seven principles of HACCP and;
learn the proper storage guidelines
4.1 SEVEN PRINCIPLES OF HACCP
PRINCIPLE 1: CONDUCT A HAZARD ANALYSIS
Plants and factories determine the food safety hazards
and identify the preventive measures the plant can
apply to control these hazards. A food safety hazard is
any biological, chemical or physical property that can
cause a food to be unsafe for human consumption.
Biological Hazard- In an instance when food is not
produced in a clean and sterile environment ( free
from dangerous micro-organism), it can easily be
contaminated by biological hazards such as viruses,
bacteria, parasites and fungi. It is at this stage that
the person conducting hazard analysis may look for
the steps in producing the food where it may
become contaminated by these dangerous micro-
organisms.
Chemical Hazards
Chemical added intentionally or unintentionally to a manufactured
food item that may cause serious threat to the health and life of the
person consuming it may be considered as a chemical hazard. It is at
this stage that the danger of the chemical contaminated to food may
occur. Thus, at this stage, make sure that the employees are well
trained to keep all dangerous cleaning and sanitizing chemicals out
of the kitchen and the other production area. It is also at this stage
that they have make sure that any food additives or food
preservatives that are chemical based are properly measured in
order not to jeopardize the health of the person consuming such food
items.
Physical hazards at this stage refers to foreign food items
that are added accidentally to the food that may caused
serious damage to the customer are the following:
•broken glass mixed with iced drinks
• jewelry mixed in the items
• cracked or chipped glass wares that cause mouth injury
• fragments of tin can mix while opening canned foods
items
• needles, toothpicks, hair pins in food item
Thus, at this stage, the establishment had to train
properly their employees to avoid physical
contamination. Certain standards and measure
have to be imposed and taken seriously in order to
avoid serious injuries to the customers.
The most important consideration at this stage is to
estimate the risk that may be involve in the
preparation up to serving of the food.
PRINCIPLE 2: IDENTITY CRITICAL
CONTROL POINTS
A Critical Control Point ( CCP) is the
point, step, or procedure in the food at
which control can be applied and as a
result, a food safety hazard can be
prevented, eliminated or reduced to an
acceptable level.
The following are some examples of The following are some examples
critical control points: of critical control points:
receiving, cleaning, storing and • receiving, cleaning, storing and
preparing food items preparing food items
cooking, reheating, and hot holding • cooking, reheating, and hot
chilling, chilled storage, and chilled holding
display
• chilling, chilled storage, and
receiving frozen items, freezing,
chilled display
thawing, preparing, cooking, and then
• receiving frozen items, freezing,
serving
thawing, preparing, cooking, and
There are many forms of CCP in the
food service establishment, however, then serving
the most commonly used is the
cooking, cooling, reheating, hot/cold
holding.
Hygiene Practice of Employees
• washing hands after using the toilet
• wearing a clean chef uniform at work
• not reporting to work if having a cough or cold
• using handkerchief to catch a sneeze or cough
when working to avoid microorganisms
contaminating food items.
Controlling Cross-Contamination
•Using color coded chopping boards at work, among the
commonly accepted practice in the industry are the following;
• Red chopping boards- used only for chopping and slicing raw
meat
• Yellow chopping boards-used only for chopping and slicing
raw chicken and poultry products.
• Green chopping board- used only for chopping and slicing raw
vegetables and fruits.
• Blue chopping boards used only for chopping and slicing raw
fish and shellfish.
• Brown chopping boards- used only for chopping and
slicing cooked meats, fish, chicken, poultry
• White chopping boards- used only for chopping and
slicing breads and other pastry items
• Separating raw products in the chiller or freezer from
cooked food items
• Storing cooked products on top of the freezer or chiller
rather than putting them below raw products, tendency
will be that the dripping from raw products will
contaminate the cooked food items below the refrigerator.
Accepted hygiene practices when
dealing with kitchen equipment
• Properly and constantly disposing of garbage
inside the kitchen.
• Properly cleaning and sanitizing pots, pans and
other tools and equipment inside the kitchen.
• Using stainless steel equipment and work surface
should be effectively and efficiently clean.
In order to identify the critical control point of any food
service industry, the menu of the food item should be
properly studied in order to identify a critical point of
producing the menu from purchasing to serving. In order to be
easily understood an easy example will be given below;
Suppose that you owned or managed of a food service
establish that serves fried chicken as one of the many food
items in the menu. Before you could serve the fried chicken to
the table of the guest for consumption the following critical
points should be taken into consideration.
Purchasing of the chicken
• It should be purchased from a reputable
supplier to ensure that the chicken was
healthy and butchered according to the
proper hygienic standards.
• It should be fresh and did not show signs
of decomposition and spoilage
Receiving the chicken
• Check the temperature of the frozen chicken by
inserting a thermometer in between two frozen
packages (it should register between negative 5 to
negative 15 degrees Celsius ideally).
• If the chicken comes in frozen it should not show
signs of freezer burns.
• If the chicken comes in frozen it should not show
signs of tear or breaks in the packaging.
• The frozen chicken inside the package
should not show signs of earlier thawing as
shown in the gathered ice crystals with
blood inside the packaging.
•The chicken should be clean and free
unwanted dirt and other impurities.
Storage of the chicken
• the chicken store under the right temperature, if
chilled it should be stored to 5 degrees Celsius and
below but not beyond negative 3 degrees Celsius
• the chicken should stored under the right storing
temperature, if frozen, it should be stored between
negative 18 degrees Celsius and negative 20 degrees
Celsius.
Preparation of the chicken
• The frozen chicken should be thawed at the chiller
and not at the room temperature
• The chicken should be prepared in batches and
stored back in the chiller before actual cooking.
• The chicken should be cooked to the proper
doneness and correct temperature depending on the
method of cooking used.
Displaying and holding the chicken
• The chicken should be displayed in a very hygienic
environment.
• Proper heating in the chaffing dish should be strictly
followed.
• The chicken should not be stored beyond 4 hours in
the temperature danger zone.
• The display area should be free from dust and other
particles that may contaminate.
Serving the chicken
• The chicken should be served immediately to the
customer in a clean plate.
• The service staff should follow proper personal hygiene
when serving ( clean uniform, washed hands, no coughing
or sneezing when carrying food etc.)
• The service staff should follow proper hygienic practice
when serving the chicken (cutleries, plates and glass wares
on the table should be cleared and sanitized.
Cooling the chicken
The cooling process occurs when there are left over
fried chicken in an open buffet. This would happen
with the intent of the establishment that the left over
chicken would again be served on the following day
or within the week if not recooked to form a new dish
within the time span stated above. In doing this
safely the following considerations should be taken
into account.
• Make sure that the chicken had been totally
cooled off, it would be ideal to put the chicken in
a tray to ensure that it had been quickly and
uniformly cooled.
• Make sure that the chicken you put in the
chiller are in a shallow container, and if possible
they have been blast freeze or blast chilled to
avoid the contamination of micro organism in
the temperature danger zone.
Storing cooled chicken
• The chicken should be stored in a
right temperature, if chilled the chiller
temperature should be no more the
5°C and if frozen, the freezer
temperature should be -15°C or cooler.
Reheating the chicken
• The chicken should be reheated quickly,
the heating temperature should reach no
less than 100°C for no less than 15 minute.
This should be constantly stirred in case if
the chicken has gravy in order to ensure that
the heat is evenly distributed on the food
item being heated.
PRINCIPLE 3: Establish a criticAl limit
for each critical control point
Add a heading critical limit is the maximum or
minimum value to which a physical biological or
chemical hazard must be controlled at a critical
control point to prevent, eliminate or reduce to an
acceptable level.
There are 4 common factors in the food service that needs
critical limit. These are the following;
1.Time – This refers to the length of time when the food is
prepared, cooked and served to guest inside the temperature
danger zone. The critical limit is that it should not go beyond 4
hours at the temperature danger zone from receiving, storing,
thawing, preparation, cooking and serving ( if needed cooling
and storing).
2.Water Activity – Food items with a water activity of less than
.80 discourages the growth of bacteria that most cause food
borne illness.
3. Temperature -A cooked food should be displayed with a
temperature of 60 °C or higher. This can be achieved by
putting in a hot holding area where the temperature is
controlled and constantly being monitored or at the
chaffing dish where there is constant heating below it.
Should the food be in a chiller it should be more than 5 °C or
colder.
4.pH – This is the measure of alkalinity or acidity in a liquid.
The pH of pure water is 7. Number lower than 7 high
acidity of the liquid the more it should be about 4.5 or
below.
PRINCIPLE 4: Establish critical control
point monitoring requirements.
Monitoring activities are necessary to ensure
that the process is under control at each critical
point. Time, water activity, pH and temperature
are the critical control points that are constantly
being monitored.
For instance, the freezer or chiller temperature
should be constantly monitored and the
temperature recorded as well as the time the
monitoring had occurred. In doing this, any
temperature fluctuation can be monitored and
corrected. In an instance that the temperature
fluctuates, certain factors may cause among them
might be.
• Sudden mechanical or electronic defect encountered
by the chiller or freezer, in this case the food inside
should be quickly transferred to another or chiller in
order to avoid food spoilage and food borne illness.
• Food items being placed inside the chiller or freezer had
not totally cooled off yet, thus its extra heat is heating up
chiller or freezer threatening the other food items inside.
• Thick deposit of ice inside the freezer can also be a
cause of temperature fluctuation, the thicker the ice, the
more the temperature becomes uneven.
Lastly, worker responsible for checking
critical control points should be
properly tooled with thermometers or
probe, pH meters and others needed in
order for them to be able to do their job
efficiently and accurately.
PRINCIPLE 5: Establish corrective action
These are actions to be taken when monitoring
indicates a deviation from an established critical limit.
The final rule requires a plant’s HACCP plan to identify
the corrective actions to be taken if a critical limit is
not met. Corrective actions are intended to ensure
that no product injuries to health or otherwise
adulterated as a result of the deviation enters public
consumption.
In an instance, that critical limits are not met,
serious problems may be experienced. In order
to avoid this, the following should be observed.
• Determine what went wrong – In an event that
certain critical limits are not met, try to
determine immediately what went wrong. Try to
check the problem in order that you can be able
to immediately take corrective action
immediately.
• Take corrective action – In an event that something went
wrong and you were able to determine the problem, try to
make corrective action as much as possible. In the above
example, try to take out all the food items in that chiller
and immediately transfer them to another chiller. Make
sure that you inform the supervisor and all employees
that the chiller is not working properly and should be fixed
immediately
• Fix the problem.
PRINCIPLE 6: Establish procedures to verify that the
system is working properly
Be certain that you would be able the verify that HACCP is properly
working in your establishment. Make sure that the critical limits that
you had established in your system will be able to prevent, eliminate
or reduce the hazard to very acceptable standards. Since HACCP is a
system wide activity, you have to make sure that the system is
properly working in your favor. It should be noted that the title
changes can affect many activities in your system. Key persons and
experts in your organization should verify the system properly for at
least twice a year.
PRINCIPLE
PRINCIPLE7:7:Establish
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In order to come up with an effective HACCP plan in
your establishment, make sure that is well
documented in a written form. The document school
provide as much as possible enough information
about the hazards associated with certain food items
or group of foods that you are offering should be
recorded with proper date and time.
HACCP Storage Guidelines are as follows:
DRY STORAGE
• Never store pesticide or cleaning chemicals near food item
• Keep all storage areas clean and dry
• Deliveries should be cleaned and stored immediately
• Never allow suppliers to carry the deliveries inside, this may result in changing good
deliveries with bad ones.
• Always remember to keep hazardous food away from the temperature danger zone
always.
• Do not store foods near a wall as molds may grow on the wall and contaminate the food
item.
• Always lock the storage area to keep insects, rodents and other animals contaminate the
food item.
•Wrapped food items in tightly, clean and moisture proof materials
• Use racks in storing near the floor to avoid the food directly touching the floor.
• Never store food where there are water or liquid
dripping.
• Use the First In, First Out method ( FIFO )
• As a general rule, never store any food item in direct
sunlight.
• The storeroom should be well ventilated.
•Food should be stored in their original packaging as
much as possible.
• Ideal temperature for dry store is between 10°C to
21°C.
FREEZER
• The temperature of the freezer should be about -18°C or colder.
• Monitor and record freezer temperature frequently within the day
• Clean the freezer at least once a week
• Immediately close freezer door to avoid heat coming inside the freezer
• Make sure that the foods being stored in the freezer had been properly cooled
• Never put foods that it still hot inside the freezer
• Never over stack freezer. An overloaded freezer would not freeze the food
properly at a given time.
• Do not mix food items inside the freezer. Store similar food items together.
• Immediately place frozen food inside the freezer upon inspection during
delivery
• To prevent freezer burn, wrapped meat products in cling wrap plastics.
CHILLER
• Chiller temperature should be 5°C or colder but not colder than
0°C as this may be entering the freezing zone.
• Chilled food should be stored immediately inside the chiller
upon inspection during delivery.
• Never leave chiller door open for a long period of time
• Store food at the same kind together, never mixed them to
avoid cross-contamination.
• No standing water should be inside the chiller, constantly check
the drain pipes if they are not clogged.
•Do not store unclean vegetables inside the chiller.
