What is HACCP? Food Safety System Explained

HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) is a system for food safety. Instead of relying on testing finished products, a food business analyses where in its process hazards can occur, biological, chemical or physical, and controls those points systematically. In the EU, food businesses are legally required to work with procedures based on the HACCP principles.

The Seven HACCP Principles

1. Hazard analysis: identify what can go wrong at each step, such as bacterial growth, contamination or foreign objects.
2. Critical control points (CCPs): determine the steps where control is essential, such as cooking, cooling or metal detection.
3. Critical limits: set the values that must be met, such as a minimum core temperature.
4. Monitoring: measure and record whether each CCP stays within its limits.
5. Corrective actions: decide in advance what happens when a limit is exceeded.
6. Verification: check regularly that the system works.
7. Documentation: keep records that prove the system is applied.

HACCP in Practice

For a production kitchen or food manufacturer, HACCP means daily registrations: temperatures of fridges, freezers and cooked products, cleaning checks, receipt of goods, allergen controls. Smaller businesses often follow a sector hygiene code that translates HACCP into practical rules. Inspectors check both the process and the records.

Digital HACCP

Paper lists get lost or are filled in afterwards. Digital HACCP registration uses tablets, phones and connected temperature sensors to record checks at the moment they happen, alerts when a value is out of range, enforces the corrective action, and produces audit-ready reports. Combined with batch tracking, it also shows exactly which products are affected when something goes wrong. See quality control software.

Frequently Asked Questions