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What Is It?

The Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) system is a systematic and preventive approach to achieve food safety standards.

Originally developed in the United States to guarantee the safety of astronauts’ food in space, HACCP is now being adopted worldwide as a scientific, straightforward and effective approach to enhance food safety. In Canada , the Food Safety Enhancement Program (FSEP) was developed by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) as the Canadian program to encourage the adoption of HACCP principles. It is important to note, Canadian companies who use the FSEP guidelines will comply with Canadian regulatory requirements which may be overlooked with a generic HACCP program.

A HACCP based approach can be used by all segments of the field-to-fork continuum of food production and distribution, and can be tailored to any individual product or process line. The advantage of using the HACCP system lies in the control it provides at all times over food and ingredients, from receiving raw materials to shipping and selling the final products.

The HACCP approach is based on seven principles aimed at identifying hazards in food production, controlling hazards at critical control points in the process, and verifying that the system is working properly. The key element of the HACCP system is its preventive nature, meaning that potential food safety hazards are controlled throughout the process. The application of HACCP principles in the production and distribution of food is recommended by Codex Alimentarius Commission, the international standard-setting organization for food.