What is a hazard?
A hazard is anything in or on food that could cause harm to the person who eats it. HACCP groups hazards into types. The FSAI names four types: microbiological, chemical, physical and allergens. Allergens have their own type because they are so important.
- Microbiological (biological): bacteria such as Salmonella, Campylobacter, Listeria monocytogenes and E. coli O157, and viruses such as norovirus. Also moulds and parasites.
- Chemical: cleaning products, pesticides, too much of an additive, and toxins that bacteria or moulds can produce.
- Physical: hard or sharp objects such as glass, metal, plastic, bone, stones or pieces of packaging.
- Allergens: foods that cause allergic reactions in some people. Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 lists 14 allergens that must be declared.
Hazard, risk and control measure
A hazard is the thing that could harm. The risk is how likely it is and how serious. A control measure is anything that prevents the hazard, removes it or reduces it to a safe level. Examples are cooking, chilling, hand washing, separating raw and cooked food and checking suppliers.
The hazard analysis
Hazard analysis is the first principle. The business goes through the process step by step and asks:
- What hazards could be present or could get in at this step?
- How likely is each one, and how severe would the harm be?
- What control measure deals with it?
This is done for each food or group of similar foods. The result is a list of significant hazards. These are the hazards likely enough and serious enough that they must be controlled.
Building the picture first
Before the analysis, the HACCP team prepares. Following Codex, the preparatory steps are:
- assemble a HACCP team with the right knowledge
- describe the product, including its ingredients and how it is stored
- state its intended use and who will eat it, such as vulnerable groups
- draw a flow diagram of every step, from delivery to service
- confirm the flow diagram on site, by walking through the real process
The flow diagram matters. A hazard can only be found if the step it happens in is on the diagram. A kitchen that cooks, chills for a day and reheats has more steps, and more hazards, than a kitchen that cooks and serves at once.
Typical hazards at typical steps
- Delivery: chilled food arriving warm, damaged packaging, pests in boxes.
- Storage: raw meat above ready-to-eat food, a fridge that is too warm, past use-by dates.
- Preparation: cross-contamination from boards, knives and hands; allergens moving between dishes.
- Cooking: surviving bacteria if the core does not get hot enough.
- Cooling and reheating: bacteria growing while food is slow to cool, or reheating that does not reach a safe temperature.
- Hot holding and display: food held too warm or too cold for too long.
- Service: bare hands on ready-to-eat food, incorrect allergen information.
Who is at risk
Hazard analysis also asks who eats the food. Older people, babies and young children, pregnant women and people with a weak immune system are more at risk. That is why food for a hospital or care home is treated more strictly than food for a general restaurant.
Key points
- Hazards are microbiological, chemical, physical or allergens, and allergens need their own attention.
- Hazard analysis asks how likely a hazard is and how serious its harm would be.
- A flow diagram checked on site is the base of a good analysis.
- A control measure prevents, removes or reduces a hazard.
In practice
A deli adds a new product, a ready-to-eat salad with cooked chicken. The team adds it to the flow diagram. Cooked chicken is handled after cooking, so cross-contamination from raw meat is a significant hazard. They write control measures: separate boards and knives, hand washing before handling, chilled storage and a short shelf life. The hazard analysis was done before the first salad was sold.