A hazard analysis critical control point approach (HACCP) to ensure the microbiological safety of sous vide processed meat/pasta product

This study proposes to adopt the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) approach and its seven principles to assist integrated flood management and transboundary cooperation in river basins, extending over more municipalities, regions, or states. Although HACCP was initially employed in the food production and processing industry to identify hazards and reduce risks throughout the production process, its principles have already been successfully applied to other sectors, such as water supply and wastewater treatment. The paper focuses (a) on the adaptation of the HACCP approach for integrated flood management, for example, for assessing the impact of planned upstream measures on downstream areas, and (b) on step 3 of the proposed Flood‐HACCP approach establishing critical limits for CCPs. For the demonstration purposes, the confluence of the Slovenian part of Drava River and its tributaries, Meža and Mislinja, is selected. Results indicate that keeping the Meža River discharge within the range of ±5% from its initial value would cause only minor local changes of flood situation within the selected case study area. On the other hand, variations to the Mislinja River discharge could change the flood situation to a greater extent and in a more diffuse way.

Children under-5 years of age are particularly vulnerable to severe acute malnutrition (SAM), and the risk factors associated with relapse to SAM are poorly understood. Possible causes are asymptomatic or symptomatic infection with enteric pathogens, with contaminated food as a critical transmission route. This cross-sectional study comprised a household survey with samples of child food (n = 382) and structured observations of food preparation (n = 197) among children aged 6-59 months that were discharged from treatment in community management of acute malnutrition (CMAM) programmes in South Sudan. We quantified Escherichia coli and total coliforms (TCs), measured in colony forming units per g of food (CFU/g), as indicators of microbial contamination of child food. A modified hazard analysis critical control point (HACCP) approach was utilised to determine critical control points (CCPs) followed by multivariate logistic regression analysis to understand the risk factors associated with contamination. Over 40% (n = 164) of samples were contaminated with E. coli (43% >0 E. coli CFU/g, 95%CI 38%-48%), and 90% (n = 343) had >10 TCs (CFU/g) (>10 TC CFU/g, 95%CI 87%-93%). Risk factors associated (p < 0.05) with child food contamination included if the child fed themselves (9.05 RR, 95% CI [3.18, 31.16]) and exposure to animals (2.63 RR, 95% CI [1.33, 5.34]). This study highlights the risk factors and potential control strategies that can support interventions that reduce food contamination exposure in young children and help further protect those that are highly vulnerable to recurrent exposure to enteric pathogens.

A hazards analysis critical control point (HACCP) approach to the management of fertility in dairy herds was developed. Critical factors determining successful reproductive performance, defined as achieving 80% pregnancy rates in cows by 6 weeks after mating start or by 100 days after calving are discussed. Problems with a failure to submit sufficient cows for breeding soon after mating has commenced are identified. This problem can be a matter of policy in not breeding cows sufficiently soon after calving or can be determined by poor heifer or cow nutrition leading to anoestrus. Attention to detail in management of artificial insemination is important to achieving satisfactory results. Recent understandings of female fertility suggest that effective nutrition of the female herd will improve fertility through effective transition diet management and through careful formulation of lactating diets to provide optimal amounts of energy and protein to ensure excellent milk production while maintaining body weight. These factors were identified as having substantial effects on fertility of cows and display of oestrus. Good husbandry is required to reduce the effects of dominance behaviour of cows leading to excessive body tissue mobilisation in submissive cows. Time related activities are outlined to assist farm managers in achieving better fertility.

Another Decision-Tree Approach for Identification of Critical Control Points

Diarrhoeal diseases remain a main cause of preventable death, particularly among children under five years of age in developing countries. In addition, many studies related to infant diarrhoea causation have demonstrated that the level of contamination is higher in weaning foods than in drinking water. Furthermore, many studies addressed food microbiological contamination and its role in diarrhoea causation. But few of them resulted in an intervention. Although the Hazard Analysis, Critical Control Point (HACCP) approach has been developed and widely applied to food promotion in industrialised countries, and adapted to small and/or less Developed Businesses, few studies have examined its relevance to domestic preparation of food. However, these latter predicted that the implementation of the approach could lead to an improvement of household bacteriological food safety, but none of them completed the approach to find out how effective it is. Therefore, this study aimed to take that work one step further, and carried out a small-scale intervention developed on the basis of the HACCP approach. This latter has been extended to health district level in order to find out its impact on microbial reduction in weaning food. Experiment: The HACCP approach has been applied step by step, to two selected weaning foods prepared by 15 volunteer mothers in peri urban Mali. After setting Critical Control Point (CCP), actions were taken to control, reduce or eliminate microbial growth at these points. 432 food samples were collected and analysed in local Laboratory for FC count to assess the effectiveness of the approach. Lessons learnt were translated into messages delivered in a pilot study. Pilot study: Sample of 60 volunteer mothers selected randomly was split into two groups of 30, the first undergoing messages directed to actions implementation, and the second standing as a control. Bacteriological samples were taken and analysed and physical parameters were measured,· as in the experiment, in 60 households before the intervention and data collected set as baseline. After three weeks training, alongside with observations, foods samples were taken in both intervention and control households for Fe count in local Laboratory. Flow diag~ams of foods, Moni and Fish Soup indicated that they were exposed to contamination at all steps of their preparation and handling. The hazard analysis confirmed FC contamtnation of all suspected steps except cooking. Four CCPs were identified for each food (cooking, reheating, child service with cooled food after cooking, and child service with cooled food after reheating). The experiment showed that traditional cooking was very effective in FC elimination; reheating was as effective as cooking when adopted, because no difference existed between two operations' temperatures (P<0.0001). Behavioural corrective actions were effective in controlling FC contamination at remaining CCPs (child service after cooking and child service after reheating). In conclusion, the HACCP experiment improved significantly the bacterial safety of the two type of weaning foods studied. Thus its behavioural corrective actions were translated into educational messages for the following phase aiming to confirm the effectiveness of the HACCP approach in improving foods safety at household level. The pilot study data showed the effectiveness of cooking in FC elimination at CCPs considered. A comparison of seasonal variation of FC contamination levels at CCPs showed that these levels were higher at Moni cooking CCP in December (cold season) (P<0.0004) and in August (rainy season) (P<0.0002), compared to June (dry season). They were also higher at Fish Soup storage CCP in December compared to August (P< 0.0098). There was significant difference in FC contamination levels between cooking and storage CCPs, the latter was higher than the former, for both Moni and Fish Soup (P< 0.0001). A comparison of FC contamination levels before and after intervention showed that the intervention was very effective in FC contamination reduction at the two remaining CCPs (service after cooking and service after reheating), (P<0.0001). Indeed, at the end of the intervention, contamination levels were less than 10FC/g in more than 83% of cooled food samples (prior to child service) after cooking and about 96% of cooled food samples (prior to child service) after reheating. An assessment of the intervention mothers' ability to perform actions three months later resulted in a better effect, 83 % to 100% of food samples' FC contam.ination levels met the standard. The present research findings showed that not only was the HACCP approach effective in improving home food safety but also, it was relevant for food hygiene and safety promotion in low income community. Two research questions were highlighted: firstly, could food safety improvement achieved through the HACCP approach result in diarrhoea morbidity and mortality reduction among young children? And secondly, is the approach scalable and cost effective?

Hazard analysis by critical control points (HACCP) is a systematic approach to the identification, assessment and control of hazards. Effective HACCP requires the consideration of all hazards, i.e., chemical, microbiological and physical. However, to-date most 'in-place' HACCP procedures have tended to focus on the control of microbiological and physical food hazards. In general, the chemical component of HACCP procedures is either ignored or limited to applied chemicals, e.g., food additives and pesticides. In this paper we discuss the application of HACCP to a broader range of chemical hazards, using organic chemical contaminants as examples, and the problems that are likely to arise in the food manufacturing sector. Chemical HACCP procedures are likely to result in many of the advantages previously identified for microbiological HACCP procedures: more effective, efficient and economical than conventional end-point-testing methods. However, the high costs of analytical monitoring of chemical contaminants and a limited understanding of formulation and process optimisation as means of controlling chemical contamination of foods are likely to prevent chemical HACCP becoming as effective as microbiological HACCP.

In managing risks associated with the human consumption of honey, all sectors of the production chain must be considered, including the primary production phase. Although the introduction of the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) system has not been made compulsory for purposes of quality and safety control in farming operations, European legislation makes many references to the key role of primary production in food safety management and the HACCP system has been indicated as the preferred tool to ensure that consumers are provided with safe foods. This article describes a systematic HACCP-based approach to identifying, preventing and controlling food safety hazards occurring in primary apicultural production. This approach serves as a useful tool for beekeepers, food business operators, veterinary advisors, and for Food and Veterinary Official Control Bodies in their planning and conducting of audits and for establishing priorities for the evaluation of training programmes in the apicultural sector.

Getting strategic about environment and health

In its practical sense, Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) simplifies public health protection by identifying the critical control points and providing meaningful ways to monitor them. New York state began implementing an HACCP food service program in 1985. Their experience has shown that sanitarians quickly learn the concept, and they just as quickly learn how to identify critical control points and monitoring procedures in a minimal amount of time. The HACCP approach assesses the flow of food through the establishment and, following needed changes, provides a mechanism to frequently monitor food processing industry operations. Foodborne disease outbreak investigations should include hazard analysis critical control point evaluations to identify factors that contribute to outbreaks, rather than inspections for sanitary code violations. A critical control point is an operation or a step of an operation at or by which preventive or control measures can be exercised that will eliminate, prevent, or minimize a hazard that has occurred prior.

Processing complementary foods to reduce mycotoxins in a medium scale Tanzanian mill: A hazard analysis critical control point (HACCP) approach

Suole MSME is a catfish floss producer committed to enhancing product quality through the implementation of the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) system. Implementation is carried out by development and verification of the production process flow diagram, hazard identification, determination of Critical Control Points (CCPs), and establishment of critical limits. This community service activity aimed to provide knowledge and assistance in HACCP implementation to enhance food safety, product quality, and competitiveness. The activity was conducted from October to December 2024 at UMKM Suole, and included interviews, field observations, and HACCP assistance and analysis. The results show that the catfish floss production process involves several critical stages that require monitoring, such as raw material reception, meat separation, frying, and packaging. Hazard identification and determination of Critical Control Points (CCPs) have been carried out to prevent biological, chemical, and physical contamination. The importance of developing Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), maintaining sanitation, and controlling processing time and temperature was emphasized. Improving the understanding of HACCP among MSME actors is a key factor in effective hazard control and achieving food safety.Keywords: catfish floss; food safety; HACCP; hazard Abstrak: UMKM Suole merupakan salah satu produsen abon lele yang berupaya meningkatkan kualitas produk melalui penerapan Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP). Penerapan dilakukan dengan penyusunan dan verifikasi diagram alir proses produksi abon lele, identifikasi bahaya, serta penetapan CCP dan batas kritis. Kegiatan pengabdian ini bertujuan memberikan wawasan dan pendampingan penerapan HACCP guna meningkatkan keamanan pangan, mutu, dan daya saing produk. Kegiatan dilaksanakan pada Oktober hingga Desember 2024 di UMKM Suole, meliputi wawancara, observasi lapangan, serta pendampingan dan analisis HACCP. Hasil kegiatan menunjukkan bahwa proses produksi abon lele mencakup beberapa tahap penting yang memerlukan pengawasan, seperti penerimaan bahan baku, pemisahan daging, penggorengan, dan pengemasan. Telah dilakukan identifikasi bahaya dan penetapan titik kendali kritis (CCP) untuk mencegah kontaminasi biologis, kimia, dan fisik. Selain itu, ditekankan pentingnya penyusunan SOP, sanitasi, serta pengendalian suhu dan waktu proses. Peningkatan pemahaman pelaku UMKM terhadap HACCP menjadi faktor kunci dalam pengendalian bahaya dan pencapaian keamanan pangan produk.Kata kunci: abon lele; bahaya; HACCP; keamanan pangan

Aquaculture production in Nigeria grew steadily between 1999 and 2015, but has been on the decline in recent years. Its development in Nigeria is constrained by such as: water-quality/quantity, high cost of feed, diseases, among other factors. Although fish, can be enhanced to meet globally acceptable standard and the quality of water during production, can largely affect the health and cost of getting the product to the market. Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) is a management system in which food safety is addressed via the analyses and control of possible hazards, all through the production process. This paper aims to look briefly at the origin and application of HACCP in aquaculture, the principles and procedures for developing a HACCP plan and to discuss the application of HACCP principles in the water supply for aquaculture. HACCP as a safety measure, was developed in the 1960s, in the United States, and was used to ensure the highest level of food safety that astronauts required during their exploration of the moon. It has met huge success and has been standardized by the Codex-Alimentarius (the global food-standard setting body). The production control system follows a two-step process: 1) setting-up a HACCP team and 2) applying the seven principles of HACCP to developing, verifying and implementing a flow diagram for operation. The principles of HACCP includes: conducting a hazard analysis, identifying critical control points (CCPs) in the process,HACCP includes: conducting a hazard analysis, identifying critical control points (CCPs) in the process, establishing critical limits, monitoring each critical limits, establishing corrective actions, establishing verification procedures, and establishing record keeping procedures. Developing a HACCP plan follows a logical sequence in its application to the specified operation, which is specific to the production location and specie in culture. Possible hazards in aquaculture could be biological, chemical or physical. The water sources for aquaculture may be ground water such as wells and springs or surface water such as rivers, lakes or streams, and must “ideally” be uncontaminated from excessive nutrients, chemicals, or heavy metals and sufficiently available. When applying the principles of HACCP to the water-supply phase: (i)Potential hazards such as contaminants and their preventive measures are analyzed and identified for water supply, which can be controlled at point or non point sources. (ii)With the use of a decision tree (consisting of a series of questions), each phase is determined to be a critical control point or not. (iii) Critical limits must be established, that do not exceed the regulatory tolerance. (iv) A monitoringsystem, consisting of regular checking of the water source for the content levels of contaminant is established (v) If the water supply has levels of contaminants greater than the regulatory tolerance, then the farmer must draw up a corrective action plan. (vi) This stage requires setting up routine verification activities to ensure critical limits meet regulatory tolerance, water supply still comes from the same source and that analyses are properly documented and recorded. (vii) Records related to water supply, such as: analyses and observed changes, among others, must be signed and retained by appropriate personnel/ management. HACCP has the potential to make an excellent contribution to: food safety, enhanced cost efficiency, prevention of work related accidents, and enhanced customer satisfaction, among many other benefits. However, there is a need for major national and international efforts to be focused on the exploitation of this concept, include awareness programs in extension activities and fish farmers should be open to the concept of HACCP, for better output.

Purpose – Hazard analysis critical control point (HACCP) systems facilitate a preventative and systematic approach to control food safety hazards through critical control points (CCPs). Hazards are prevented, eliminated or reduced to acceptable levels. The regulated South African abattoir hygiene management system (HMS) has adopted HACCP principles. Control points (CPs) represent the central feature of control within the HMS. However, there are no guidelines to conduct hazard analysis within the HMS. There is also no guideline to identify CPs. The purpose of this paper is to present a hazard analysis methodology that may be used at South African abattoirs to overcome these shortcomings. Design/methodology/approach – A review of SANS 10330:2007 (HACCP) and the regulated HMS standards was undertaken. A generic HACCP plan was developed for a hypothetical bovine processing abattoir. A proposed hazard analysis methodology was used to analyse generic hazards to determine its significance. Thereafter, CCPs were identified using the CCP decision tree. This was done to enable meaningful comparison between HACCP-based CCPs and HMS-based CPs. The hazard analysis methodology suggested by the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) namely, the two dimensional health risk assessment model used to assess the significance of food safety hazards was used as a benchmark. Findings – The management of CPs in a HMS plan is similar to control contemplated in a HACCP plan. It was found that regulated CPs are not specifically stated as CPs, they need to be identified. Also, not all regulated CPs addressed the significant hazards that were identified using the proposed methodology in this paper. Managing only regulated CPs in the HMS plan may likely offer limited control over hazards. Therefore, hazards analysis is important to identify significant hazards and in turn, CPs that provide more comprehensive control within the HMS in addition to exercising control using only regulated CPs. It was observed that there are no decision criteria available to identify CPs, unlike HACCP. It was proposed that because CPs are defined similar to CCPs, that the CCP decision tree be used to identify CPs. Originality/value – A hazard analysis methodology was proposed to develop the HMS as well as steps towards its development. A decision guideline was also presented to facilitate extracting CPs from regulations. Important definitions lacking in regulations, and relating to the HMS, have also been proposed in this paper. More robust HMSs may be developed by identifying regulated CPs as well as identifying them through hazard analysis.

Regulatory authorities are facing increasing challenges with respect to the newly-recognised public health risks associated with meat products. Meat inspection resources should be allocated according to their maximum ability to reduce food-borne hazards, rather than according to the classical rules of meat inspection. Scientific evaluation of routine post-mortem inspection procedures for each class of livestock, introduction of the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point approach to process control, on-line testing for microbiological hazards and residues, and effective management of production, processing and inspection data are central to this process. The meat inspection system that has evolved in New Zealand reflects a response to non-scientific forces such as market requirements and industrial practices rather than scientific discipline. In the future, the daily routine of meat inspectors will be extended well beyond their current slaughterfloor responsibilities, and veterinarians will require specialist skills. Science should be the basis for international food regulation and policy concepts such as equivalence or mutual acceptance are achievable on this basis.

Quality assurance in food microbiology — a novel approach