What are Critical Control Points 360training.com

What are Critical Control Points 360training.com What are Critical Control Points? Critical control points (CCP) seem like a complicated food safety topic. However, if you can understand how critical control points fit into your HACCP program and how to identify them, you can use them to eliminate and reduce the risk of foodborne illnesses at your restaurant. Before we dive into critical control points, let’s back up just a second to talk about HACCP. What is HACCP? HACCP stands for Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point, which is defined by the FDA as a systematic approach to the identification, evaluation, and control of food safety hazards. There are seven principles of a HACCP program: Conduct a hazard analysis Determine the critical control points (CCPs). Establish critical limits. Establish monitoring procedures. Establish corrective actions. Establish verification procedures. Establish record-keeping and documentation procedures. And a HACCP plan is the written document based upon the principles of HACCP that delineates the procedures to be followed. As you can see, critical control points are a part of your HACCP program, which is designed to keep your customers safe from foodborne illnesses. You can learn more in our HACCP training course. So now that you have a little bit better understanding of where critical control points come from, let’s dive in further. What are Critical Control Points? According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), a critical control point is, “a step at which control can be applied and is essential to prevent or eliminate a food safety hazard or reduce it to an acceptable level.” What that means is that critical control points are places you identify where you can change the outcome of the situation to make sure no one gets sick. So, how do you identify CCPs? How to Identify Critical Control Points While there isn’t a mandated way to identify CCPs, many people use a decision tree. You can find a ton of examples online, but the basic steps are generally all the same. Here is a good example of what a decision tree looks like. 4 Questions to Uncover Critical Control Points Overall, there are 4 main questions from the decision tree that you need to ask and answer to identify CCPs. 1. Do preventative measures exist? The first question of the CCP decision tree is to figure out if any preventative measures already exist for a hazard that you’ve identified. 2. Are hazards eliminated or reduced? The second question is to help you determine if that preventative measure works to eliminate or reduce the hazard. 3. What is the level of risk? The third question should help you understand how likely it is that the hazard or risk will happen in real-world situations. 4. Will another step eliminate/reduce the hazard? The final step is to decide if a step later in the process can control the hazard. While going through the decision tree, you should write down your answers and the reasons why you answered the way you did. This will become part of your HACCP plan and help youâ€"or anyone else reading the planâ€"understand why and how you identified each CCP. Examples of Common Critical Control Points When it comes to your restaurants CCPs, many are fairly obvious, as pointed out by the University of Rhode Island: Cooking Cooling Re-heating Holding More detailed examples of common CCPs according to the International HACCP Alliance include: Chilling when appropriate. Cooking that must occur for a specific time and temperature in order to destroy microbiological pathogens. Product formulation controls, such as the addition of culture or adjustment of pH or water Certain processing procedures, such as filling and sealing cans. Learn More About Critical Control Points with HACCP Training As you can see, identifying and documenting critical control points is an essential step for creating your HACCP plan. And if you are a Food Service Manager, it’s critical that you have a HACCP plan in place for food safety at your restaurant. To learn more about critical control points, check out our HACCP training course.