A Critical Control Point (CCP) is a specific step in the food production journey where control can be applied to prevent, eliminate, or reduce a food safety hazard to an acceptable level. Failure to control a hazard at this stage could result in an unsafe product for the consumer. These points are not arbitrary but are identified through a systematic analysis of the entire production flow, from receiving raw materials to the final packaging.
A step is designated as a CCP if it is the last, or only, opportunity to control a specific hazard. Other steps, while important for quality, are not considered CCPs if they do not control a specific safety risk.
The Role of CCPs in a HACCP Plan
Critical Control Points are not a standalone concept; they form the operational core of a broader food safety management system known as Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP). HACCP is a systematic and preventive approach to food safety that addresses hazards before they can cause harm, shifting the focus from inspecting finished products to preventing problems during the production process itself. This system is recognized globally and is a requirement for many food businesses by regulatory bodies like the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The HACCP framework is built upon seven principles, and the identification of CCPs is a primary one. After conducting a thorough hazard analysis to understand potential risks, the next step is to pinpoint the exact steps in the process where these hazards can be controlled—these are the CCPs. The entire HACCP plan revolves around identifying these points and then establishing procedures to monitor and control them effectively. The development of a HACCP system allows businesses and government agencies to allocate resources efficiently, ensuring that the highest-risk steps receive the most attention.
Identifying Potential Food Safety Hazards
Before any control point can be established, a business must first identify the potential dangers it aims to manage. Food safety hazards are broadly classified into three distinct categories that CCPs are designed to control.
Biological Hazards
This category includes harmful microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses, parasites, and fungi. Biological hazards are a primary focus of food safety because they are a common cause of foodborne illness. Examples include Salmonella in raw poultry or eggs, E. coli in undercooked ground beef, and Listeria monocytogenes in ready-to-eat deli meats. These pathogens can cause illness if they are present in sufficient numbers.
Chemical Hazards
Chemical hazards can be introduced at various points in the food supply chain and include substances that can cause illness or injury. This group encompasses agricultural chemicals like pesticides and herbicides that may remain on produce. It also includes industrial chemicals such as cleaning solutions or sanitizers that could accidentally contaminate food. Natural toxins, like mycotoxins produced by mold on grains or aflatoxins in peanuts, are also a chemical hazard.
Physical Hazards
Physical hazards are foreign objects in food that can cause injury to the consumer, such as choking, cuts, or broken teeth. These materials can enter the food product at any stage of production or distribution. Common examples include fragments of glass, pieces of metal from processing equipment, plastic from packaging materials, or natural objects like bone fragments in a boneless cut of meat.
How to Determine a Critical Control Point
Determining a CCP is a methodical process that requires a deep understanding of the entire food production flow. It begins with creating a detailed process flow diagram that maps every single step, from raw ingredients arriving to final shipping. This visual map allows safety teams to analyze each stage for potential hazards.
Once the process is mapped and hazards are identified for each step, a tool known as a CCP decision tree is often used. This is a sequence of questions designed to systematically evaluate whether a specific step is a Critical Control Point, guiding the team to an informed and consistent determination.
A decision tree asks if a control measure exists for the hazard at that step. It then probes whether that step is specifically designed to eliminate the hazard or reduce it to a safe level. Finally, it asks if a subsequent step will eliminate or reduce the hazard. If no later step will control the hazard, then the current step becomes a CCP to prevent a safety risk from reaching the consumer.
Common Examples of Critical Control Points
The specific CCPs within a food production facility depend entirely on the product and the process, but several common examples illustrate the concept. These are points where a failure to maintain control could directly lead to a health risk.
- Cooking meat, poultry, and fish to a specified minimum internal temperature. This step is for eliminating biological hazards like Salmonella and E. coli. For example, cooking ground beef to an internal temperature of 160°F is a CCP.
- Rapidly cooling cooked foods. After cooking, foods that will be stored and served later must be cooled quickly to pass through the temperature “danger zone” (40°F – 140°F) where bacteria can multiply rapidly, making the cooling process a CCP.
- Using metal detection in a processing plant. A metal detector is placed on the production line, after the product is in its final form but before it is sealed. This step is designed to control a physical hazard by identifying and rejecting any product contaminated with metal fragments.
- Formulating certain products, such as acidified foods like pickles or sauces, to include pH control. The pH level must be at or below a specific value (e.g., 4.6) to prevent the growth of dangerous bacteria like Clostridium botulinum, making the pH test of each batch a CCP.
Establishing Critical Limits and Monitoring Procedures
Once a CCP has been identified, the next step is to establish precise and measurable boundaries by setting a “critical limit.” This is the maximum or minimum value to which a hazard must be controlled at a CCP to ensure food safety. A critical limit must be based on scientific data or regulatory standards. For example, the critical limit for cooking chicken might be “an internal temperature of 165°F for at least 15 seconds.”
These limits must be clear and specific. For a refrigerated storage CCP, the critical limit might be “hold at or below 41°F.” For a metal detection CCP, the limit could be defined by the size of the metal fragment the machine must be able to detect.
With critical limits in place, a facility must then establish monitoring procedures. Monitoring is the scheduled observation or measurement of a CCP relative to its critical limits. These procedures define who will perform the monitoring, what will be measured, when it will be done, and how the measurement will be taken. For instance, the procedure for a cooking CCP might state that a line cook must measure the internal temperature of every batch of chicken using a calibrated digital thermometer.
Effective monitoring provides real-time data on the performance of a CCP, allowing the facility to track the operation and identify any trends that could lead to a loss of control. If monitoring shows that a critical limit has been breached, it triggers the need for immediate corrective actions.
Implementing Corrective Actions
Corrective actions are the procedures that are followed when monitoring indicates a deviation from an established critical limit. These actions must be developed in advance as part of the HACCP plan, ensuring a swift and effective response to prevent potentially unsafe food from reaching consumers. Corrective actions are designed to achieve two primary goals: to regain control over the process and to determine the proper disposition of the affected product.
Regaining control might involve immediate adjustments, such as recalibrating an oven that is not reaching the required temperature or stopping a production line to fix a malfunctioning metal detector. The action should correct the immediate problem and prevent it from recurring.
The second part of the corrective action addresses the product that was produced while the CCP was out of control. The team must determine what to do with this product. Options might include reprocessing the food, diverting it to a use where the hazard is not a concern, or, if the risk cannot be mitigated, destroying the product.
Every corrective action taken must be documented. This record includes details of the deviation, the steps taken to correct the process, and the final disposition of the affected product. This documentation is for verifying the effectiveness of the HACCP plan and is often reviewed during regulatory inspections.