HACCP certification requirements

What are the HACCP certification requirements?

To receive your HACCP food safety certification, it is vital that you fill certain criteria and meet specific requirements. Although the requirements will be the same, they will vary depending on your type of food business. For example, if you are trying to get seafood HACCP verification, you may need to meet specific requirements that differ slightly from someone opening a food truck. Before applying for your HACCP accreditation, it is advisable that you fully understand the requirements based on the seven principles of HACCP.

• Conduct hazard analysis
  Create a list of all hazards (biological, chemical, or physical) that are likely to cause injury or sickness if not monitored and controlled.
  
  
• Determine critical control points (CCPs)
  CCPs are the stages throughout your working process when a control measure is applied to prevent, eliminate, or reduce hazards to an acceptable level.
  
  
• Establish critical limits
  These are the maximum and minimum values of different elements determining what is safe for your food (pH values, temperature, chemical levels.
  
  
• Establish monitoring procedures
  Creating a strict monitoring schedule to make sure that your team has all of their food safety tasks done so that you have all of your requirements met in the future. You should list all monitoring checks in your HACCP plan.

• • Establishing corrective action
    The steps to be followed any time you have reached a critical limit.

• Verification of your HACCP
  Verification is separate from monitoring your HACCP plan. For example, establishing reviews at different stages of your operational process to ensure your HACCP plan is being followed.

• • Documentation
    Documentation is instrumental in achieving your HACCP accreditation and making sure your company is food safe verified. Therefore, you should keep a detailed review of your food safety practices, ensuring you have followed your HACCP plan.
    
    

Who is required to have HACCP certification?

Any food business should have a HACCP management plan implemented. Although you are not legally bound to have HACCP certification, it can be extremely beneficial to your business. Displaying excellence in food hygiene and food safety builds trust amongst your customers, giving them confidence in your practices and improving your brand image. HACCP food safety can be sought by any food business involved in the production, transport, storage, handling, distribution, or cooking and selling of food. This includes food production companies, catering companies, hotels, bars, cafes, food trucks, restaurants, etc.

Is it difficult to get HACCP certified?

It can be a daunting task and seem difficult to get your business HACCP certified, but with the right tools at your disposal, the job can become much more manageable. There are many roadblocks on your way to gaining HACCP accreditation. The cost of training, HACCP planning, and the audit itself can be off-putting. As well as the price, you need to have the expertise in order to create and implement a HACCP plan successfully. It is important that you remember the benefits of having your business food safe certified, giving your customers confidence and trust in your company.

Using a system like FoodDocs, you can create a plan customized to your own business in as little as one hour, saving you time and money on costly consultation calls with food safety experts. Not only that, but you can manage your team training, all of your tasks and make sure you receive notifications when tasks are overdue. This enables you to keep to your plan and have all of your documentation for when you decide to get audited for HACCP certification.

The length of time the audit will take varies, primarily based on the size of your operation and how well prepared you are. Using FoodDocs to have all of your documentation prepared and catered to your business requirements will make it a lot easier for your business to receive HACCP certification.