HACCP Certification
During the last few years the global food industry has been directly affected by an escalation of legislation and regulations covering food safety and hygiene. Today, HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point) techniques are increasingly being used in the food industry and the UK’s Food Standards Agency recommends HACCP as the most effective way for food businesses to ensure consumer protection.
HACCP principles developed by the Codex Alimentarius of the World Health Organisation demand that effective food safety systems are established through the application of systematic approach to hazard and risk analysis.
LRQA provides an extensive and challenging HACCP assessment and certification service backed by the Dutch Council for Accreditation (RvA).
Our advice: Start up companies in the food and catering sector should contact their local Environmental Health Officer for initial advice.
John Roberts, Food Sector Account Manager, LRQA.
How can HACCP benefit my organisation?
Increasingly companies within the food chain must be able to demonstrate an effective HACCP system, depending on varying local and national requirements. Meeting local food hygiene regulations and applying hazard analysis techniques, such as HACCP, add to what may already seem to be a complex and daunting process for those in the food chain.
However, taking a formalised approach to assuring food safety helps a company to demonstrate commitment by meeting the demands of legislation and customers and may support a due diligence defence.
Our HACCP assessments are designed for companies to demonstrate the effectiveness of the product safety and the hygiene critical elements of their operations. We also offer an alternative HACCP assessment service to existing clients that do not require accredited certification, but that still want to benefit from an LRQA assessment of their systems for ensuring food safety. These assessments use the HACCP principles detailed in Codex Alimentarius as reference criteria.
In addition, your HACCP visit can complement any existing LRQA ISO 9001 approval - saving both time and money - by accommodating any duplication within the systems.
How can we gain certification to HACCP?
The duration of the initial assessment and subsequent visits following certification depend on which LRQA HACCP service is selected. Please call one of our business advisors on 0800 783 2179 who will ask you a few key details about your organisation to facilitate your query. Alternatively, complete the enquiry form on this website.
Background to HACCP
The principles of a HACCP system are:
- description of products
- description of processes
- hazard analysis: identifying the potential hazards (ie. biological, chemical and physical)
- risk analysis: defining ‘critical control points’ (CCP) and other ‘points of attention’ (POA)
- control of the critical control points
- control of any points of attention, by general measures
For further information on HACCP visit:
- www.food.gov.uk The Food Standards Agency
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