We help you navigate and develop within the complexities of tasks
related to food safety (HACCP).

HACCP is an acronym created from the initial letters of the words in the English term: Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points

It is mandatory for businesses involved in food production and distribution to implement and maintain a HACCP system to ensure compliance with food safety regulations.

The HACCP system is a preventive food safety risk assessment and management system based on good manufacturing and hygiene practices, which can be applied on its own or as part of a comprehensive quality assurance system.

What areas does the HACCP system monitor and regulate?

• procurement (quality and condition of raw and auxiliary materials, additives, water, and feed),
• work equipment, work area (cleaning, environmental management),
• workforce (handwashing, restrooms, personal hygiene, health status of staff, work and protective clothing),
• operations (technology, cooling, heat treatment, processing, cleaning and disinfection),
• product protection, traceability (proper labelling, pest control, prevention of post-contamination, packaging, storage, distribution).

What is the core concept of the HACCP system?

In addition to identifying hazards and assessing risks, it involves determining and monitoring critical control points, as well as documenting the related results, where the prevention of hazards can be most effectively achieved.

According to the essence of the HACCP concept, monitoring is primarily achieved by checking easily and quickly measurable characteristics (duration, temperature, pH, water activity, etc.).

The seven principles of HACCP

1. Identifying hazards and determining the risks associated with them based on their severity and the likelihood or frequency of occurrence.
2. Determining the critical control points (CCPs) where the identified hazards can be prevented, eliminated, or reduced to an acceptable level.
3. Determining the critical limits and tolerances that distinguish the acceptable from the unacceptable, and that allow for deciding whether a specific critical control point is under monitoring to ensure the prevention of hazards.
4. Selecting and applying appropriate methods for monitoring critical control points.
   
5. Determining the corrective actions and activities to be applied
   when a critical control point is ‘out of compliance’.
6. Checking and verifying that the system is functioning properly.
7. Documentation (records and logs confirming the operation of the HACCP system).
   

Why is HACCP training important?

In the HACCP system, training, educating, and motivating the ‘human factors’, i.e. the employees involved in the food chain, play a crucial role.

The logical sequence for implementing the HACCP system

1 Establishing a HACCP working group

2 Product descriptions

3 Determining the intended use of the product

4 Creating flowcharts

5 On-site confirmation of the flowcharts

6 Hazard analysis and determination of control measures

7  Determining CCPs

8 Determination of critical limits for each CCP

9 Establishing a monitoring system for each CCP

10 Determination of corrective actions for deviations that may occur

11 Determination of verification procedures

12 Creating documentation

Prices for implementing the HACCP system

Every restaurant and kitchen is different; we only create HACCP manuals that are tailored for the specific business.

A Brief History of HACCP

It was during the space exploration programmes of the 1960s that the world’s leading researchers first recognized the importance of food safety. This food safety regulation system was jointly developed by NASA and the military in the United States to ensure that astronauts could embark on space missions having safe and contamination-free food.
However, only decades later did it become an internationally accepted method for ensuring food safety and filtering out potential hazards and risks. It was introduced for canned food products as early as 1973, but it only began to gain wider acceptance in the food industry in the 1980s.
As more and more foodborne illnesses were reported worldwide, consumers increasingly demanded safe food products. In 1993, the World Health Organization (WHO) issued Codex Alimentarius (Food Code), the guidelines of which extended HACCP to include chemical, physical, and biological hazards related to food safety. Since December 1995, the application of certain HACCP principles has been mandatory in the countries of the European Union.
By now, food safety regulations for agricultural production as well as food processing and distribution are governed by legal requirements in Hungary as well.
Since Hungary joined the European Union nearly 20 years ago, the situation and reputation of Hungarian food producers and manufacturers have changed significantly, requiring them to continuously adapt and develop in order to maintain and enhance their market position.