The European Union regulations establish that all food industries must implement a system that guarantees the maximum safety of the food they produce, therefore they must follow good hygiene practices (GHP) and have a Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point Plan (HACCP).
The HACCP system consists of developing and implementing procedures to control all hazards that may affect foodstuffs at each stage of their production, distribution and sale. It has a preventive approach and must also include corrective actions to be applied when necessary.
What are the fundamental elements of a Food Safety Management System?
(1) Good hygienic practices GHP: are the conditions and measures necessary to ensure the suitability and safety of food during its production.
- Training of food handlers
- Conditions and maintenance of facilities and equipment.
- Cleaning and disinfection of facilities and equipment
- Pest control (disinsectisation and rat extermination)
- Water control
- Traceability of products
- Waste management.
- Good handling and hygiene practices
- Control of supplies and suppliers
(2) Traceability: we must put in place procedures that allow us to know the history, location and trajectory of a product, batch or raw material throughout the supply chain and allow for its retrieval in the event of a food alert.
(3) HACCP system that identifies and evaluates hazards (physical, chemical and biological) that may occur in food, establishing preventive and corrective measures for their control.
What are the basic principles of HACCP?
- Identify the hazards at each phase or stage
- Determine the critical control points for those hazards.
- Establish critical limits, above which we consider the point to be out of control.
- Establish a monitoring system.
- Establish corrective actions.
- Establish procedures for verifying that the system is working.
- Establish a documentation and record keeping system.
Finally, any food safety system requires documentation of all processes:
- Descriptive documentation: GHP plans documenting activities, controls and their effectiveness, description of products and their intended uses and the development of the 7 HACCP principles.
- Records demonstrating its application and effectiveness: monitoring, corrective actions, verifications, etc.
Through our website, registered clients can access the SANIPLAN platform and easily and intuitively draw up customised, 100% customisable hygiene plans that comply with current regulations.
SANIPLAN allows us to elaborate cleaning and disinfection protocols adapted to the requirements of different sectors, from a gymnasium or hospital to a food industry, which helps us to train staff better and faster, minimise occupational risks and ensure compliance with current regulations.
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