HACCP - A Food Safety System

The program, known as Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point or HACCP, focuses on identifying and preventing hazards that could cause food-borne illnesses rather than relying on spot-checks of manufacturing processes and random sampling of finished food products to ensure safety. Traditionally, regulators have depended on spot-checks of manufacturing conditions and random sampling of final products to ensure safe food.

HACCP offers a number of advantages over the older system. Most importantly, HACCP:
• Focuses on identifying and preventing hazards from contaminated food;
• Is based on sound science;
• Permits more efficient and effective government oversight, primarily because the record keeping allows investigators to see how well a firm is complying with food safety laws over a period of time, rather than how well it is doing on any given day;
• places responsibility for ensuring food safety appropriately on the food manufacturer or distributor; and
• Helps food companies compete more effectively in the world market.