HACCP/HACCP Advantage
Consumers are increasingly concerned about the safety of foods. They demand fresh and in particular tasty products with a long shelf life. These conflicting demands may give rise to safety risks. The HACCP/HACCP Advantage system supports you in producing foods that meet consumer demands without introducing avoidable risks that could jeopardize the safety and reputation of your products. Moreover, the government, customers and export markets increasingly demand food producers to use a HACCP/HACCP Advantage system.
ILC Micro-Chem Food Science & Technology supports food producers in HACCP/HACCP Advantage implementation and is experienced in risk reduction for both existing and novel food products and process conditions. ILC Micro-Chem can either perform studies or provide consultancy on the preparation of wide a variety of products including meat and meats, fish products, egg products, dairy products, vegetables and fruits, beverages, salads and sauces, bread, pastry and sweets. The laboratory makes available all knowledge required to design and implement HACCP/HACCP Advantage systems, to establish and predict the products shelf-life and to assess hazards throughout the production line including packaging.
ILC Micro-Chem has established a reputation for providing food safety solutions to a variety of companies, large and small, by building client relationships that extend beyond merely conducting food audits. ILC auditing teams and individuals are involved in every step of the food supply chain, and our clients come to trust them as an invaluable resource in their commitment to production and distribution of safe, high quality food products.
The need for HACCP is growing as the elimination of food pathogens is an important public health concern as well as an important hazard for food processors to avoid as damaged reputations to food quality can be devastating to individual companies and industries. Also, the methods of food production are becoming increasingly complex and require closer monitoring and control to ensure their effective operation. International trade has also created a greater demand for HACCP as countries are requiring more stringent standards that can restrict a food processors ability to sell their products globally. HACCP can help in overcoming these potential barriers to trade. It is a comprehensive system that requires a substantial commitment of time, resources and expense to implement by a processor but a system that can increase the potential marketplace for processors food products. This system, like all systems listed in the International Quality Systems Directory, is third party auditable.
Several types of audits can pave your way to a certificate:
Quick-scan audit: a quick audit addressing the question "How far to go for a HACCP certification?"
Consultancy audit: consultancy concerning quality management in general and HACCP in particular.
Pre-audit: to be considered as a final rehearsal coaching you, so to say, towards certification.
Certification audit: an audit conducted on behalf of TNO Certification which should lead to certification.
Follow-up audit: your company is visited twice a year, for three years, for a brief follow up audit.
Useful expertise on all aspects of HACCP
Quality management and certification (HACCP, ISO, TQM)
System development and implementation
Identification of hazards, risk assessment
Chain formation and chain control (Integrated Chain Control, chain care)
Product development (innovation, differentiation, QFD, ECR)
Logistics management, production planning, specifications
Food safety and quality legislation and regulations
Preservation techniques
Determination of norms (target values) and tolerances (threshold values, "critical limits")
Verification and validation of processing techniques
Shelf-life prediction
Sanitary production, clean room, trouble-shooting, process screening
Analysis of food products and inspection of quality systems
Chemical, microbiological, toxicological and sensory analyses
The Seven Principles of HACCP
Analyze hazards - Potential hazards associated with a food and the measures required to control those hazards are identified and include biological, chemical and physical contaminants.
Identify critical control points - These are points in a food's production at which potential hazards can be controlled or eliminated.
Establish preventative measures with critical limits for each control point. These are minimum standards required for the safe preparation of food.
Establish procedures to monitor the critical control points - Such procedures include determining how and by whom processing standards are to be monitored.
Establish corrective actions to be taken when monitoring has shown that a critical limit has not been met - Either reprocessing or disposal of foods if minimum processing standards have not been met.
Establish procedures to verify that the system is working properly – testing and calibrating equipment to ensure its proper functioning is but one typical requirement.
Establish effective record keeping in order to document the HACCP system -This would include records of hazards and their control methods, monitoring of safety requirements and corrective actions taken to either prevent problems or how non-conformances are to be prevented from reoccurring.
All seven principles are to be based on proven scientific research in the appropriate field in which the food processing operation is involved.
