The seven principles in plain language

HACCP has seven principles. They come from the Codex Alimentarius, the international food standards programme of two United Nations bodies, FAO and WHO. UK law is based on the same ideas.

Principle 1 is to conduct a hazard analysis. Look at each step and ask what could go wrong. Decide which hazards really matter, and what will control them.

Principle 2 is to find the critical control points. These are the steps where control is essential.

Principle 3 is to set critical limits. A critical limit is the line between safe and unsafe. For example, a procedure may say that cooked food must reach 75°C in the centre for 30 seconds.

Principle 4 is to monitor. This means carrying out planned checks to see that you are inside the limit, such as probing a cooked dish.

Principle 5 is to plan corrective action. Decide in advance what people must do if a check fails, so that nobody has to guess.

Principle 6 is to validate and verify. Validate means getting evidence that the plan can work. Verify means checking that it is working in real life. A manager might review the records, check that a thermometer is accurate, and watch how the work is done.

Principle 7 is to keep documents and records. Documents say what you plan to do. Records show what you actually did.

Here is one example, using a chicken curry in a restaurant. The team looks at each step and finds that raw chicken may carry harmful bacteria (principle 1). Cooking is the step that kills them, so cooking is a CCP (principle 2). The limit is 75°C in the centre for 30 seconds (principle 3). The cook probes each batch (principle 4). If a batch is too cool, the cook keeps cooking and probes it again (principle 5). Each week the manager reads the records and checks the probe (principle 6). All of this is written down and kept (principle 7).

You do not need to learn the exact wording. Managers or a HACCP team usually carry out principles 1, 2 and 3. Your part is mostly principles 4, 5 and 7. You do the checks, you act when something is wrong, and you keep the records honest.