What feeds HACCP?
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EmailLooking for guidance when writing support programs for your facility’s HACCP plan? Then we have a link for you!
Many facilities today have a Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) plan. Every facility or establishment that has a working HACCP plan should have someone on-site who has gone through certified HACCP training, and most do. In fact there are many, many courses available to take and many qualified firms that conduct the instruction to become HACCP Certified. Each course follows the standard and regimented format of the seven principles of HACCP.
Many Michigan State University Extension educators and specialists have served as team members with companies and work on HACCP plans that can be implemented effectively. Through that exercise of being a team member many have found that time and again, one place that facilities struggle is with pre-requisite or support programs that assist them in justifying decisions in the hazard analysis. More often than not, facilities are doing the right thing, but don’t have a procedure written down in an official document that explains what tasks are required to accomplish a program properly.
When teams are looking for guidance on writing HACCP plans, there are numerous sample programs available on the internet – including the USDA’s guidance plans for each category of product, such as Ready-to-Eat Not Shelf Stable or Raw Ground. This can be a helpful tool to a facility conducting a hazard analysis. People can view potential hazards identified in similar processes. What is difficult to find is guidance on how to write specific support or pre-requisite programs, those things that feed your HACCP plan.
As part of a grant awarded by the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD), the MSU Product Center, with assistance from Culler Consulting, LLC composed a white paper titled Food Safety Systems. This paper is meant to be a guide to anyone who is trying to write support programs for their facility. The paper addresses 25 areas commonly covered throughout the food industry via pre-requisite programs, which include topics such as a customer complaint program and scale verification.
The MSU Product Center, in partnership with Michigan State University Extension, provides business counseling for product development, packaging and marketing strategies that will help Michigan entrepreneurs commercialize high-value, consumer–responsive food, value-added agriculture, and natural resource products. For more information, visit the MSU Product Center website or call 517-432-8750.
