Understanding HACCP: Hazard Analysis in Food Production

What Is HACCP?

HACCP stands for Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points. It is not a single standard but a preventive methodology for systematically identifying, assessing, and controlling hazards in food production: biological hazards such as pathogens, chemical hazards such as residues or cleaning agents, physical hazards such as foreign objects, and, increasingly, allergens.

HACCP originated in the US space program of the 1960s, developed to guarantee absolutely safe food for astronauts. Today it forms the backbone of the Codex Alimentarius, the joint food standard of the FAO and WHO, and underpins nearly every national and international food safety regulation.

The core idea: instead of spot-checking finished products, the entire production process is analyzed. At the points where a hazard could realistically occur and go uncontrolled — the critical control points (CCPs) — limits, monitoring, and corrective actions are defined. Safety is built into the process proactively, rather than inspected into the finished product afterward.

Who HACCP Applies To — and Who It Barely Applies To

HACCP applies to you if …

… your business manufactures, processes, packages, stores, transports, or sells food. In the EU, Article 5 of Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 on the hygiene of foodstuffs requires every food business operator — with the exception of primary production (e.g., growing, harvesting, milking) — to put in place procedures based on the HACCP principles. This covers practically the entire value chain:

• Food manufacturers and processors.
• Restaurants, catering, and institutional foodservice (canteens, hospitals, schools).
• Food retail with fresh-food counters or on-site preparation.
• Bakeries, butchers, and dairies.
• Beverage producers and breweries.
• Food logistics and cold chains.
• Manufacturers of food packaging with direct product contact.

HACCP barely applies to you if …

… you operate exclusively in agricultural primary production (e.g., growing crops without further processing) or prepare food purely in a private, non-commercial setting. Primary production is instead subject to the general hygiene requirements in Annex I of Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 and supplementary national rules.

Unlike, say, NIS2, the question with HACCP is rarely "Am I in scope?" — almost every food business is — but "What exactly should my HACCP plan look like?"

The Seven Core Principles of HACCP

The Codex Alimentarius defines seven core principles that every HACCP plan must include.

1. 1
   Conduct a hazard analysis.Identify and assess all biological, chemical, and physical hazards along the process, including allergens.
2. 2
   Determine the critical control points (CCPs).Identify the process steps where a control measure is essential to prevent, eliminate, or reduce a hazard to an acceptable level.
3. 3
   Establish critical limits.Define measurable limits for each CCP, such as temperature, time, pH, or water activity.
4. 4
   Establish a monitoring system.Define procedures for the scheduled monitoring of each CCP.
5. 5
   Establish corrective actions.Define what to do when monitoring shows that a CCP is out of control.
6. 6
   Verification.Establish procedures to confirm that the HACCP plan is actually working effectively, such as internal audits or calibration of measuring equipment.
7. 7
   Documentation and record-keeping.Document all procedures, monitoring results, and corrective actions in a traceable way.

These seven principles are preceded, in the Codex Alimentarius, by five preliminary steps: assemble the HACCP team, describe the product, identify its intended use, construct a flow diagram, and confirm that diagram on-site. Only after these steps are the seven principles applied.

The Typical Challenge in Implementing HACCP

• Static HACCP plans. Recipes, suppliers, and processes change, but the HACCP plan often remains a PDF created once and filed away.
• Scattered evidence. Temperature logs, cleaning schedules, training records, and supplier approvals live on paper, in spreadsheets, and across different systems.
• No link to other standards. Many HACCP requirements overlap with ISO 22000, IFS, or BRCGS, yet are maintained independently of each other.
• Reactive rather than proactive control. Deviations at CCPs are often discovered only during an internal audit or, worse, a regulatory inspection, instead of being visible in real time.

How Sightadel Simplifies HACCP Implementation

Sightadel is the compliance portal of the neonotu Cybersecurity Suite, and it represents your HACCP plan as structured, living evidence — not a static document.

HACCP with Sightadel in Practice

1. 1
   Record.Document products, processes, and flow diagrams in the portal; establish the HACCP team and responsibilities.
2. 2
   Analyze.Assess hazards at each process step, identify CCPs, and record critical limits.
3. 3
   Monitor.Map monitoring and corrective actions; continuously capture temperature logs and cleaning records.
4. 4
   Maintain.Trigger reviews when recipes or suppliers change, schedule internal audits, and keep an evidence record retrievable at any time for regulators and customers.

HACCP Compared to Other Standards

HACCP is a methodology, not a certifiable standard in the strict sense. In practice, it is usually certified through other management systems:

• ISO 22000: The international standard for food safety management systems, combining HACCP with the high-level structure used across other ISO standards.
• FSSC 22000: A certification scheme built on ISO 22000, supplemented with sector-specific technical specifications and recognized by the GFSI.
• IFS Food: A widely used food-retail standard that requires a complete HACCP plan as its foundation.
• BRCGS Food Safety: A UK-originated, GFSI-recognized standard with a similar structure.
• ISO 9001: Quality management, often run in parallel with HACCP as an overarching framework.

Many companies combine HACCP with one of these management systems rather than running it in isolation.

Which Companies Benefit from a Structured HACCP Plan?

HACCP is especially relevant for food manufacturers and processors, restaurant and catering operators, retailers with fresh-food departments, beverage producers, central kitchens in hospitals and schools, and manufacturers of food packaging. In B2B relationships, trading partners and certification bodies increasingly expect robust, documented evidence — making a structured HACCP plan a competitive factor in retail listings and supplier audits.

Food Safety as a State, Not a Project

A HACCP plan does not end with its first draft. Recipes, suppliers, and processes change continuously. Sightadel keeps your food safety evidence continuously up to date — structured, auditable, and without requiring external support for every change.

This page is a general explanation and not food-law advice. For the binding assessment of your specific case, consult your food safety officer or a specialized advisor.