The Process HACCP Plan and Prerequisite Control Program Necessary to Develop Food Safety Management Systems in Foodservice Establishments

Abstract

Checking temperatures using paper checklist as the primary means to prevent foodborne illnesses and disease outbreaks does not prevent all known foodborne illness risk. In fact, there are more foodborne illnesses caused by employees working sick than those caused by uncooked or improperly held foods. This does not mean that ensuring foods are cooked, cooled, and held at the right temperatures is not preventive, but that it is not comprehensive to control all the hazards, and thus all the food safety risk in a foodservice establishment. The process approach to HACCP (called Process HACCP) recommended by the FDA is used to identify the hazards that occur during the food preparation processes of a complete menu and during actions made in the Prerequisite Control Program (e.g., employee personal hygiene, source of food ingredients, effective cleaning and sanitation SOPs, etc.). This is required in order to determine the most effective controls (CCPs and PCPs) for each of these hazards to prevent foodborne illnesses and outbreaks. The Food Safety Management Systems (FSMS) are then developed based on this Process HACCP plan and the Prerequisite Control Program and then used by a Certified Food Protection Manager (CFPM) to monitor the controls during food preparation and other restaurant processes in the Prerequisite Control Program (described in detail in Chap. 4). The actual management of the hazards in foodservice operations via the monitoring, corrective actions, verifications, documentation, and validation functions of the FSMS can enable the foodservice business to establish Active Managerial Control of the risk factors that lead to most foodborne illnesses, injury (i.e., physical contaminants), and disease outbreaks.