Food Safety Program based on HACCP Principles
HACCP stands for Hazard Analysis of Critical Control Points
The HACCP plan forms the basis of the Campbelltown Catholic Club HACCP Food Safety Plan and is a proactive method in Food Safety using Seven Principles.
Seven Principles of HACCP are:
- Look at the process from the beginning to the end and identify the potential biological, physical and chemical hazards.
- Identify points in the operation where hazards are able to be controlled (Critical Control Points) so as to reduce the hazard to an acceptable level.
- Put in place critical limits (e.g. temperature range) for the Critical Control Points.
- Monitor the Critical Control Points to make sure they are effective in minimising hazards.
- Put in place corrective actions to be taken when the monitoring procedures show that the critical limits have not been met.
- Keep written records of the HACCP Program.
- Regularly review the HACCP Program and check that the system is working effectively through internal and/or external audits.
The seven principles are derived from the latest edition of the Codex Alimentarius of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (CAC/GL18-1995) which is the basis for Australian and New Zealand Food Hygiene Legislation.
A. Identifying Food Hazards
A hazard is anything within food, which may cause harm to our customers. This, therefore, may include bacteria, viruses or foreign bodies which might make a person ill or cause physical injury such as a broken tooth or cut lip.
In order to establish what the hazards are it is often helpful to ask the question – ‘What could happen at this stage which may affect the food and cause harm to the customer?’
Hazards may be divided into 3 categories:
- Microbiological hazards such as bacteria, viruses, moulds, that contaminate, multiply, or are naturally present in foods.
- Physical hazards (‘foreign bodies’) such as glass, wood, pieces of metal, plastic, jewellery, etc.
- Chemical hazards such as cleaning chemicals, pesticides, metals.
Microbiological hazards are probably the most significant in our business. Bacteria and viruses are naturally present in our environment and, because they are microscopic, cannot be detected by the food handler. It is therefore necessary that we understand where these harmful organisms may come from and how we can control their presence and growth to minimise the risk of food poisoning.
B. Identifying Controls
Control measures involve carrying out a procedure, which will either reduce or eliminate the risk that is posed by a particular hazard.
The control point is the critical measure, which is essential to reduce or eliminate the risk. This will commonly be temperature or time controls to deal with the microbiological hazard, eg. poultry should be cooked to a core temperature of 70 to 72oC for a minimum of 2 minutes (or 75oC for one minute) to destroy Salmonella bacteria.
C. Monitoring
The following pages are a series of Hazard Analysis Charts which identify all the processes that are carried out in the kitchen. On these sheets are listed monitoring methods, how they are to be recorded and what to do if things go wrong.
D. Review
The Campbelltown Catholic Club HACCP Food Safety Program must be reviewed at least once a year to ensure that the controls we have in place are still working and appropriate for our company’s operations.
E. Training
All staff working in the food industry are required to demonstrate that they have the skills and knowledge commensurate with the activities that they perform. This means our staff will undergo regular food hygiene training and be assessed to ensure they have good knowledge of food safety practices.
