HACCP stands for Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point. It is not a document you buy and it is not a certificate. It is a way of managing food safety hazards by working out where in your own process something could go wrong, deciding which of those points actually control the hazard, and then monitoring those points and recording that you did. Every food business in Great Britain has to run a food safety management system based on it.
What the acronym means
Hazard Analysis is the first half: listing what could make food unsafe in your process, biological, chemical, physical and allergenic. Critical Control Point is the second: the steps where control can actually be applied and is essential to prevent or reduce a hazard to a safe level. Cooking is the classic one, chilling is another, and most kitchens have fewer than they expect.
Why it is a system and not a form
The reason the law says based on HACCP principles rather than fill in this form is that no template knows your kitchen. Two takeaways with the same menu can have different critical points because one buys pre cooked and the other cooks from raw. A downloaded plan that does not describe your process is evidence of nothing.
What a small business actually needs
For most small caterers and retailers the FSA's Safer food, better business pack is the food safety management system, and completing it honestly satisfies the requirement. Larger and manufacturing businesses build a full HACCP study, usually with a consultant, and a certification standard on top of it if their customers require one.
How an inspector reads it
An environmental health officer is looking for a system that matches what you actually do, records that show it was followed, and a person who can explain it. The third of those catches more businesses than the first two, because a plan nobody in the kitchen can describe is a plan nobody is running.
Questions people ask about haccp
Is HACCP a legal requirement in the UK?
A documented food safety management system based on HACCP principles is required of food businesses under assimilated Regulation 852/2004. HACCP certification is not required; the system is.
What does HACCP stand for?
Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point. The plural, critical control points, is how it is usually spoken about because most processes have more than one.
Do I need a consultant to write a HACCP plan?
A small caterer generally does not: the FSA pack is designed to be completed by the business. Manufacturing, complex processes and customer audits are where a consultant earns their fee.