Have you ever heard or seen the phrase “penny-wise, pound-foolish”?  It refers to English currency and means it is wise to spend a small amount now (penny) to prevent having to foolishly spend much more later (pound).  In helping you develop and implement a HACCP plan, we think in both time and money, the price of a HACCP Portal account is a bargain. If you don’t believe this, ask a HACCP consultant to give you an estimate of their cost and time for the same task. More importantly, can you afford not to buy a HACCP Portal account considering the costs a foodborne illness would have to your business? Think of it, decreased customers, decreased sales, decreased reputation, and decreased staff morale. On the flip side, increased negative media exposure, increased legal fees, increased insurance premiums, increased scrutiny from regulatory agencies, and increased staff retraining costs. On balance we think you will agree the purchase of a HACCP Portal account is extremely “penny-wise.”

Yes. The HACCP plan is written for the location not a specific person.

No. A HACCP plan is an addition to a food establishment’s existing prerequisite food safety programs and procedures.

Prerequisite programs are policies and procedures which describe the food establishment’s existing hygiene and sanitation practices. These programs are often referred to as SSOPs (Sanitation Standard Operating Procedures), SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures), or GMPs (Good Manufacturing Practices). These programs generally describe procedures for receiving and storing food, food contact equipment and surface cleaning and sanitation, pest control, and employee hygiene and training. 

HACCP Principle #1:  Conduct a Hazard Analysis, defined as identifying hazards that warrant control, their likelihood of occurrence and severity.

HACCP Principle #2:  Determine Critical Control Points (CCPs), defined as steps at which control can be applied to prevent or eliminate a food safety hazard or reduce it to an acceptable level.

HACCP Principle #3:  Establish Critical Limits (CLs), defined as a maximum and/or minimum value to which a biological, chemical, or physical parameter must be controlled at a CCP to prevent, eliminate, or reduce to an acceptable level the occurrence of a food safety hazard.

HACCP Principle #4:  Establish Monitoring Procedures, defined as establishing a planned sequence of observations or measurements to assess whether a CCP is under control and to produce an accurate record for use in future verification procedures.

HACCP Principle #5:  Establish Corrective Actions, defined as corrective actions to take when something goes wrong.

HACCP Principle #6:  Establish Verification Procedures defined as activities that determine the validity of the HACCP plan and that the system is working according to the plan.

HACCP Principle #7:  Establish Record-keeping and Documentation Procedures defined as creating documentation that the critical limits at each CCP were met and corrected if not.

The HACCP team is made up of those persons who will gather the necessary information for your HACCP plan. These persons should be familiar with the food establishment’s products, processes, and existing food safety programs.

Yes. In small facilities typically only one person is available and qualified to be on the HACCP team. This is perfectly acceptable.

Yes. The HACCP plan must describe a training program that ensures that ROP is restricted to only those employees who understand the concepts required for safe ROP operation, including the safe use of all ROP equipment, the procedures that prohibit bare hand contact of food, prohibit cross-contamination, and the cleaning and sanitation of food-contact surfaces.

Any learning event is considered training. This would include both formal and informal training. For example, just demonstrating a process to an employee is training. A mixture of formal and informal training is recommended.  For HACCP purposes, all employees training, both formal and informal, must be documented. If the training is not documented, then it did not happen.

Yes and no.  If you are very good at reading and understanding new concepts, you probably could read and learn HACCP on your own. However, if you are not scientifically inclined or are limited in the time you can devote to self- learning, you will likely need assistance, such as the HACCP Portal.

Any employee that is responsible for entries or review of a record must have both knowledge and understanding of those records. Any employee responsible for the reduced oxygen packaging operation must understand all of the concepts required for a safe operation.

Any employee that will be subject to a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) must know and understand the SOP.

HACCP documents the safety measures employed by an operation to prevent foodborne illness. Supervisors should have the necessary understanding of HACCP to read and understand the documents. Regular employees do not have to have that level of understanding. However, they must understand CCPs and SOPs, including any required monitoring, corrective actions, and recordkeeping.

Unfortunately, HACCP cannot always be standardized across multiple units despite identical processes. Therefore, HACCP is specific to each facility or location and each should have a paper or accessible digital copy of all documentation. Section 8-201.14 of the Food Code specifies that EACH establishment must have a HACCP plan containing the information designated in that section.

No. A HACCP plan must be implemented and verified to be effective. Implementation means that the CCPs, SOPs, and other preventative measures are in daily use. Verification means that supervisors have reviewed the effectiveness of the HACCP plan, including all recordkeeping and other documentation.

Yes. If an operator cannot ensure that a HACCP plan will be fully implemented and verified, then it does not work and will not be approved.