HACCP Refresher

Our Refresher HACCP Training in New Zealand satisfies FAO Codex Alimentarius, MPI, FSANZ, FDA, BRCGS, WSE, SQF, FSSC 22000 and GFSI recognized program requirements.

What is Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point – HACCP meaning?

HACCP is a system that allows a food company to deal with important food safety issues yourself.
It requires answers to key questions about the safety of the food that you produce or handle:

• What type of business am I involved in?
• What are the food safety hazards associated with my business? What causes those hazards?
• How can I control or remove those hazards?
• How can I show that I have controlled or removed those hazards?
• What will I do if things go wrong?

At Food Safe, our HACCP Training all three generic food safety hazard groups PLUS more:

• Microbiological Hazards:
  Any bacterium, virus, or protozoan that is capable of causing illness and that grows or may be carried on food. Well-known examples of bacteria are Campylobacter, Listeria, and Salmonella. The most likely food-borne viruses are Hep-A and Noro-type viruses. Giardia is an example of a protozoan that may be food-borne. It is important to have some understanding of the risks associated with different types of microbiological hazards.
• Chemical Hazards:
  Examples include excessive or toxic amounts of heavy metals, chemicals, pesticides, herbicides, insecticides, vitamins, minerals, preservatives, disinfectants, detergents, and cleaning compounds. Some hazards may be naturally present such as in green potatoes or taro and rhubarb leaves.
• Physical Hazards:
  Objects that get into food, or are already present in food, may cause illness, injury or distress to the person eating it. Some examples are glass, metal fragments etc. Other contaminants such as hair or insects must be considered and controlled.

Other hazards included in our training are:

• Allergenic hazards
• Nutritional hazards
• Labeling hazards
• Regulatory hazards
• Radiological hazards

What makes the HACCP system globally accepted?

A HACCP-based food safety management system is the best approach to managing food safety risks across the global food supply chain. It is scientifically peer-reviewed and is accepted by Codex Alimentarius. Most regulators around the world such as MPI, FDA, EFSA, CFDA/NMPA, FSSAI, and certification agencies such as International HACCP Alliance, GFSI, and BRCGS recognize HACCP. HACCP is also recognized as part of customer food safety certification standards such as Woolworths supplier excellence program – WSE.

What are the Seven Principles of HACCP?

Food Safe’s training includes a refresher of the Codex Alimentarius steps and the seven principles of HACCP:

• Principle 1: Identify food safety hazards eg. Microbiological, Physical and Chemical hazards
  • Complete the hazard analysis by listing all the potential hazards associated with each process step.
  • Identify significant (CCP/oPRP) and lower risk hazards (PRP/SOP)
  • Identify food safety control measures
• Principle 2: Determine the Critical Control Point (CCP)/points/quality points eg. Heat treatment
• Principle 3: Establish critical limits that are validated for each CCP/oPRP/PRP/QP eg. 75°C/167°F for at least 30 seconds – Source: MPI
• Principle 4: Establish a Monitoring System 
• Principle 5: Establish Corrective Actions
• Principle 6: Establish Verification Procedures
• Principle 7: Establish Documentation and Record-Keeping
• Review the HACCP Plan

How often is a refresher HACCP training certification required?

Refresher HACCP training courses are recommended annually for high-risk manufacturers such as pharmaceutical, nutritional and infant formula plants.

For other food businesses, HACCP refresher training is recommended once every three years. This helps trainees keep up to date with current good manufacturing practice (cGMP), changes in regulations eg FSMA, overseas market access requirements (OMAR), and supplier requirements such as WSE.