How to Attain HACCP Certification

Food companies have to make sure their food is safe or they will go out of business. HACCP, which stands for Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point, is an internationally recognised food safety system for identifying and controlling microbiological, chemical or physical hazards in food preparation. You can gain HACCP certification through an independent, quality-assessment company such as BSi. Many American food companies and most in Europe are legally required to adhere to HACCP. By using a system such as HACCP, food companies can ensure they keep within the law and maintain a good reputation with the public.

• 1

  Ensure you are operating to standards of good hygiene. These standards are prerequisites for controlling a food operation, are required by bodies such as the FDA, and should be in place before you implement any HACCP principles.

• 2

  Contact an independent assessment and certification company like BSi. They can help you pre-assess your company and can do the formal assessment when you are ready for it.

• 3

  Pre-assess your business against the seven HACCP principles. These are: 1. Identify the hazards 2. Determine the critical control points 3. Establish critical limits 4. Establish a system to monitor control of the critical control points 5. Establish the corrective action 6. Establish procedures for verification and 7. Establish a documentation system.

• 4

  Pre-assess your business against the seven HACCP principles and do a "gap" analysis. Your assessor can help you do this to see what gaps there are between your existing practices and the HACCP principles.

• 5

  Make any changes to fill any gaps the gap analysis discovers.

• 6

  Undergo a formal assessment. Once this has been successfully done, you will receive your certificate.