This Milwaukee meat processor proves HACCP documentation requirements need not deter food safety initiatives.
Mandated for meat in 1998 and lambasted as a paper chase by many ever since, HACCP remains clouded by confusion and misperceptions five years after the federal government made Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points the centerpiece of food safety initiatives. "Three quarters of food companies may say they have a HACCP plan, but they really just have a quality plan," confides one HACCP trainer. He likens HACCP to the food-safety leg of a three-sided quality system. The other two legs are prerequisite programs, including GMPs, standard sanitation operating procedures (SSOPs), pest control, recall procedures and traceability; and quality control, including raw-material specifications, equipment, training and analytical tests.