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Certification |
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Hygiene
strategies
protect
against
risks
TÜV
Rheinland
Group
offers
certification
of the
hygiene
management
system
HACCP to
both
companies
that
manufacture,
process
and sell
food and
their
suppliers.
This
system,
which is
based on
internationally
recognized
standards,
designates
a
specific
food
monitoring
procedure.
The aim
is to
detect
and
eliminate
errors
which
may
present
a health
risk to
the
consumer
at an
early
stage.
The
prerequisite
is a
hygiene
concept
that
already
functions
and
which
ensures
implementation
of and
adherence
to
fundamental
hygiene
measures,
including
structural
and
technical
facilities.
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Generalities |
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Space-age
technology
designed
to
keep
food
safe
in
outer
space
may
soon
become
standard
here
on
Earth.
The
Food
and
Drug
Administration
has
adopted
a
food
safety
program
developed
nearly
30
years
ago
for
astronauts
and
is
applying
it
to
seafood
and
juice.
The
agency
intends
to
eventually
use
it
for
much
of
the
U.S.
food
supply.
The
program
for
the
astronauts
focuses
on
preventing
hazards
that
could
cause
food-borne
illnesses
by
applying
science-based
controls,
from
raw
material
to
finished
products.
FDA's
new
system
will
do
the
same.
Traditionally,
industry
and
regulators
have
depended
on
spot-checks
of
manufacturing
conditions
and
random
sampling
of
final
products
to
ensure
safe
food.
This
approach,
however,
tends
to
be
reactive,
rather
than
preventive,
and
can
be
less
efficient
than
the
new
system.
Many
of
its
principles
already
are
in
place
in
the
FDA-regulated
low-acid
canned
food
industry.
FDA
also
established
HACCP
for
the
seafood
industry
in a
final
rule
December
18,
1995
and
for
the
juice
industry
in a
final
rule
released
January
19,
2001.
The
final
rule
for
the
juice
industry
will
take
effect
on
January
22,
2002
for
large
and
medium
businesses,
January
21,
2003
for
small
businesses,
and
January
20,
2004
for
very
small
businesses.
In
1998,
the
U.S.
Department
of
Agriculture
has
established
HACCP
for
meat
and
poultry
processing
plants,
as
well.
Most
of
these
establishments
were
required
to
start
using
HACCP
by
January
1999.
Very
small
plants
had
until
Jan.
25,
2000.
(USDA
regulates
meat
and
poultry;
FDA
all
other
foods.)
FDA
now
is
considering
developing
regulations
that
would
establish
HACCP
as
the
food
safety
standard
throughout
other
areas
of
the
food
industry,
including
both
domestic
and
imported
food
products.
To
help
determine
the
degree
to
which
such
regulations
would
be
feasible,
the
agency
is
conducting
pilot
HACCP
programs
with
volunteer
food
companies.
The
programs
have
involved
cheese,
frozen
dough,
breakfast
cereals,
salad
dressing,
bread,
flour
and
other
products.
HACCP
has
been
endorsed
by
the
National
Academy
of
Sciences,
the
Codex
Alimentarius
Commission(an
international
food
standard-setting
organization),
and
the
National
Advisory
Committee
on
Microbiological
Criteria
for
Foods.
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Principles |
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Analyze
hazards
Potential
hazards
associated
with a
food and
measures
to
control
those
hazards
are
identified.
The
hazard
could be
biological,
such as
a
microbe;
chemical,
such as
a toxin;
or
physical,
such as
ground
glass or
metal
fragments.
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Identify critical control points
These are points in a food's production--from its raw state through processing and shipping to consumption by the consumer--at which the potential hazard can be controlled or eliminated. Examples are cooking, cooling, packaging, and metal detection.
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Establish preventive measures with critical limits for each control point
For a cooked food, for example, this might include setting the minimum cooking temperature and time required to ensure the elimination of any harmful microbes.
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Establish
procedures
to
monitor
the
critical
control
points
Such procedures might
include
determining
how and
by whom
cooking
time and
temperature
should
be
monitored. |
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Establish corrective actions to be taken when monitoring shows that a critical limit has not been met
for example, reprocessing or disposing of food if the minimum cooking temperature is not met.
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Establish procedures to verify that the system is working properly
for example, testing time-and-temperature recording devices to verify that a cooking unit is working properly.
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Establish effective record keeping to document the HACCP system
This would include records of hazards and their control methods, the monitoring of safety requirements and action taken to correct potential problems. Each of these principles must be backed by sound scientific knowledge: for example, published microbiological studies on time and temperature factors for controlling food borne pathogens.
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Advantages |
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HACCP
offers
a
number
of
advantages
over
the
current
system.
Most
importantly,
HACCP:
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Focuses on identifying and preventing hazards from contaminating food. |
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Is based on sound science. |
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Permits more efficient and effective government oversight, primarily because the record keeping. |
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Allows investigators to see how well a firm is complying with food safety laws over a period |
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Rather than how well it is doing on any given day. |
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Places responsibility for ensuring food safety appropriately on the food manufacturer or distributor |
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Helps food companies compete more effectively in the world market |
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Reduces barriers to international trade. |
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