How to implement a program of HACCP food safety in your restaurant-principle 1

The hazard analysis and critical control points (HACCP) is not a requirement for the food service industry. Developed 30 years ago by NASA to manage food safety, HACCP has become since the definitive programme of FDA to control food-borne diseases. HACCP is effective because it requires the commercial kitchen to identify and then track the points where the food is exposed to agents that may cause illness. Many local health councils promote the use of HACCP because it is so effective in the control of epidemics and diseases, but again, there is a mandatory program.

So why use HACCP if it is not necessary Why do even a customer ill can spell lawsuits and financial ruin for your business. Large institutions that serve thousands of meals per day like prisons and universities practicing HACCP religiously precisely why. Small independent operators and small, medium and large chains do not face any less amount of risk of food-borne diseases, and many still do not use a HACCP program to control the risks. The purpose of the HACCP system is to give him active managerial control over the most critical points regarding food safety in your establishment.

Principle 1-understanding of hazards and risk factors

This step is also the first part of the acronym HACCP: hazard analysis. The second part, critical control points, did not do very well if you don't know which endangers the control. Foodborne diseases come from three main groups of dangers:

Biological agents: viruses, bacteria and toxins produced by bacteria and parasites.

Physical objects: jewels, stones, glass, bone and metal fragments and packaging materials.

Chemical contamination: allergens, cleaning compounds, food additives, insecticides

Food-borne diseases may result from all three of these groups, although the most common and most worrying for restaurants, biological contamination. All three groups can be controlled using an effective HACCP program. So, how these dangers really get transmitted to the food being prepared and served in restaurants?

Here are the main risk factors:

Food from unsafe sources. The restaurant is just a link in a long chain that brings local food that was taken at the dinner table. Unfortunately for restaurants, they are the last link in this chain. This means that they are to take the blame for food-borne diseases.

Inadequate cooking. Unlike unsecured sources, restaurants absolutely can and should control how the food is cooked.

Improper holding temperatures. Raw food and cooked food both need to be stored in appropriate temperatures (below 32 degrees Fahrenheit) in order to prevent the spread of biological agents.

Contaminated equipment. Equipment used in a commercial kitchen can easily download any one of three groups of the dangers listed above for food just before it is served to a client.

Poor personal hygiene. Similarly, employees of the restaurant can easily download any one of three risk groups to feed the most critical moment.

The most common ways of addressing the risks above are:

Only buy food products from a trusted source and approved. Also make sure appropriate and safe treatment after food arrives at his restaurant.

Always cook food thoroughly. Make certain uncooked products you purchase as pasteurized milk and juice were or heat-treated.

Make sure food is at an appropriate temperature when you're hot, cold, holding or freezing it cooking. Brand food product also date and follow a strategy of first in, first Out (FIFO) which ensures that the oldest product is used for the first time.

Each restaurant is these risk factors. To perform a risk analysis in his establishment, carefully evaluate where, when, why and how each one of the factors above occurs, and which of the three types of risks are involved. Once you have a complete list of hazards and risks, you can begin to develop a process to addressing and minimizing the problems.