HACCP Principles and Food Safety Hazards Overview

HACCP

A systematic approach to minimize food safety hazards, which involves identification of potential food safety hazards, assessing the risk of particular hazards, establishing practices to control hazards, and monitoring the effectiveness of controls.

E. coli O157:H7

A type of HACCP hazard considered biological.

1995

The year the FDA published its final rule that all seafood in interstate commerce in the US must be processed under HACCP controls.

Rod-shaped (Bacilli)

The shape of these bacteria.

First principle of HACCP

Conduct a hazard analysis.

Epidemic

A disease that affects many persons at the same time, spreading from person to person in a locality where the disease is not permanently prevalent.

Comminution

Increases redox potential.

Vibrio

The only genus of organism measured in which foodborne illness cases increased since 1999, according to a 2010 FoodNet report.

Critical Limit

The 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.

Heat resistance of bacteria

Determined by stage of growth, past exposure, and population size.

Critical limit

A criterion that must be met for each preventative measure associated with a critical control point in HACCP.

Large plant size

Defined as having 500 employees or greater, according to the Pathogen Reduction and HACCP Systems Final Rule.

Sixth principle of HACCP

Establish record keeping procedures.

1985

The year the National Advisory Committee for Microbiological Criteria for Food was formed.

Leading cause of foodborne illnesses

Norovirus.

Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)

Descriptions of routine tasks in a food processing operation.

Types of hazards in HACCP

Physical, Biological, Chemical.

Critical Control Point

A point or step in a process where control can be applied to prevent, eliminate, or reduce a hazard.

Record retention at slaughter operation

Records must be kept for 1 year.

Corrective Action

Defined as the procedures to be followed when a deviation occurs.

Rodents

Considered a biological HACCP hazard.

FSIS

The USDA agency that inspects red meat products at slaughter.

Spores

Dormant, tough non-reproductive structures whose primary function is survival, produced by certain bacteria.

Death Phase

The phase of microbial growth.

HACCP plan reassessment frequency

Must be reassessed annually or whenever any changes occur that could affect the hazard analysis or alter the HACCP plan.

Jewelry

Considered a physical HACCP hazard.

HACCP acronym

Stands for Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points or Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points, NOT Hazard Analysis of Critical Control Points.

Record request time frame

A company has 24 hours to obtain records upon a request from FSIS.

Ongoing verification activities

Includes calibration of process-monitoring instruments, direct observation of monitoring activities and corrective actions, review of records generated and maintained.

Hazard Analysis

Should identify all food safety risks that are reasonably likely to occur unless an establishment imposes control.

N-60 Sampling

The most commonly used sampling protocol for E. coli O157:H7, in which 60 pieces of the external surface are taken.

Corrective action

A predetermined step taken when food doesn't meet its critical limit.

End objective of HACCP

Make a safe product and be able to prove it.

Sanitation Standard Operating Procedures (SSOPs)

USDA-mandated, written descriptions of cleaning and operating procedures intended to assure sanitary facilities and processes.

Lipases

Secreted by microorganisms that hydrolyze triglycerides and phospholipids into glycerol and free fatty acids.

SSOPs

Plants are required to maintain written descriptions describing pre-operational cleaning and sanitizing procedures.

HACCP records

May be stored off site after 6 months (as long as records can be retrieved and provided within 24hrs).

Very small plant

Defined as having 10 employees or less.

Small plant

Defined as having greater than 10 and less than 500 employees.

Pillsbury

The company that first utilized HACCP to ensure food safety in response to requirements imposed by NASA for 'space foods'.

Yeast

A spoilage microorganism that may produce a smell of alcohol and commonly spoils sweet, acidic foods with low water activities.

Lactic acid bacteria

Inhibit other species by lowering the pH.

Trichinella spiralis

An organism present in the muscle of infected animals as an encysted nematode larva.

Microorganisms commonly found on meat or poultry

Bacteria, Virus, Mold, Yeast.

Microbial contamination of meat

Nearly all occurs at the surface of the carcass.

Anaerobic (Anaerobes)

Bacteria that require an environment lacking in oxygen.

Microaerophilic

Type of bacteria that are in tube 4.

Yeasts

Unicellular organisms that are larger than bacteria and produce buds during division.

Records for refrigerated products

Must be kept for 1 year.

Final Rule on Pathogen Reduction and HACCP

Tests for Generic E. coli and Salmonella must be conducted.

Molds

Multicellular microorganisms characterized by their mycelial morphology and fuzzy appearance.

Mycotoxins

Produced from molds.

Third principle of HACCP

Establish critical limits.

Bacteriophages

Viruses that specifically attack bacteria.

Anaerobic (Anaerobes), Obligate anaerobes

Type of bacteria that are in tube 2.

Bacteria

A living, single celled organism that may have the ability to form spores under unfavorable conditions.

Probiotic

Term for beneficial microorganisms.

Spoilage

The majority of bacteria populating a carcass surface.

Bactericidal agents

Substances that destroy microorganisms.

Shelf Life

Length of time before meat products become unpalatable, unsafe for human consumption, or unattractive in the display case.

Pathogens

General name given to bacteria that cause diseases.

Intoxication (Food Poisoning)

An illness caused by ingestion of toxins.

Acidophilic

Bacteria that thrive at pH of 5.2 or lower.

Flagella

Structures that bacteria such as E. coli use for movement.

Stationary phase

Phase where nutrients are depleted and by-products accumulated so that cell death rate eventually exceeds replication rate.

Contaminant or Adulterant

Any substance or agent present in food in an amount that renders the food unacceptable or potentially harmful to consumers.

Lipases

Enzymes that break down fats during the spoilage process.

Suitability of meat for human consumption

Term used to describe the suitability of meat for human consumption.

Protein

After carbohydrates are exhausted in a meat, spoilage bacteria utilize protein for an energy source.

Bacteriostats

Substances that inhibit microbial activity.

Sterilization

The process of killing all bacteria, spores and viruses in a meat product.

Multi-drug resistant

Bacteria that has shown resistance to two or more antibiotics.

Food-borne infection

An illness resulting from the consumption of food contaminated with microorganisms capable of colonizing the host's gastrointestinal tract.

Mortality

The relative frequency of deaths in a specific population, in other words, death rate.

Aerotolerant

Bacteria that are anaerobic but can survive oxygen.

Bacteriocin

A protein or peptide produced by some bacteria that inhibits the growth of other bacteria.

Commercial sterility

The condition achieved to render the product free of microorganisms capable of growing in the product at nonrefrigerated conditions.

Food Infection

Ingestion of pathogenic organisms that grow and cause illness in the host.

Pandemic

A disease which is prevalent throughout an entire country, continent, or the whole world.

Establish corrective actions

The fifth principle of HACCP.

Log (exponential) phase

The period during the growth of microorganisms in culture or foods in which the number of microorganisms is increasingly rapid.

Pasteurization

The process of killing or reducing to a safe level all the pathogens in a product.

High risk populations

Pregnant women, Elderly, Immuno-compromised.

Cocci, Bacilli, Spirilla

The three physiological shapes of bacteria.

Factors affecting microbial activity

Temperature, Moisture, Oxygen, pH, Nutrients, Antimicrobials, Oxidation-Reduction Potential.

Generation interval

The time required for one bacterial cell to become two.

FATTOM

Food, Acidity, Time, Temperature, Oxygen, Moisture - necessary conditions required for microbial growth.

Four phases of bacterial growth

Lag, Log, Stationary and Death.

Morbidity

The proportion of sickness or of a specific disease in a geographical locality.

Clostridium botulinum

The organism that produces a neuro-toxin which causes flaccid paralysis.

Lag phase

The phase in microbial growth where bacteria are adjusting to the environment and not actively dividing.

Chemical hazard

A type of HACCP hazard that a pesticide would be considered.

Stationary phase

The phase in bacterial growth where bacterial numbers remain constant.

Facultative Aerobic

Type of bacteria that can grow in both aerobic and anaerobic environments.

Establish monitoring procedures

The fourth principle of HACCP.

Toxicoinfection

A type of foodborne illness that results from the production of a toxin following the ingestion of a food containing a pathogen.

Lag phase

The phase of microbial growth where antimicrobials typically extend.

HACCP implementation

In July 1996, USDA-FSIS made a final ruling that all meat processors must implement HACCP.

Psychrotrophic bacteria

Bacteria that typically grow optimally at 20-30°C (68-86°F).

Danger zone

The temperature range for meat products that promotes bacterial growth.