HACCP Glossary

Bacteria
Groups of single cell living organisms. Some are known to cause food poisoning or food spoilage.

Control Measures
The measures which you decide upon to make all of the hazards safe.

Critical Control Points (CCPs)
The stages of your process where the hazards must be controlled for the food to be safe to eat.

Critical Limits
Specified safety limits which your Control Measures at Critical Control Points (CCPs) must achieve.

Corrective Action
If you monitor a Control Measure and find that it has failed to meet its Critical Limit, you must act to make the food safe or to prevent it being used. This is known as a "Corrective Action".

Documentation
A HACCP based system must have appropriate documentation to demonstrate it is working effectively.

HACCP
The letters stand for "Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point".

Harmful Bacteria
Bacteria capable of causing illness through contamination of food.

Hazard
Anything which may cause harm to your customers through eating your food.

Monitoring
A HACCP based approach to food safety requires that all Control Measures at Critical Control Points (CCPs) must be monitored.

Process Steps
To understand HACCP based procedures, you should think of your catering operation as a sequence of process steps. The first step is the purchase of food - and the last step is serving it to your customers.

Records
A requirement of a HACCP based system is that Monitoring is recorded at a frequency that reflects the nature and size of your business.

Spores
Certain kinds of bacteria are capable of entering a resting phase during which they are very resistant to high temperatures and other adverse conditions. Bacteria in this phase are known as spores.

Toxins
Toxins are poisons produced by bacteria capable of causing food poisoning.

Verification
Taking an overview of your HACCP based system to ensure it is working and establishing that your procedures are effective in controlling hazards and checking to see that your procedures are being applied in practice.