April 20, 2006

FDA Provides Manual for Voluntary Use of HACCP Principles for
Operators of Retail and Food Service Establishments

FDA recently provided a food safety and Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) document titled "Managing Food Safety: A Manual for the Voluntary Use of HACCP Principles for Operators of Food Service and Retail Establishments." This Manual provides a "roadmap" for developing and voluntarily implementing a food safety management system based on HACCP principles. By developing and implementing a food safety management system like the one suggested in this Manual, establishment operators can take a proactive role in ensuring that the food served or sold in their establishment is safe. Rather than responding to a foodborne illness when it occurs, they can prevent it by taking active steps to eliminate, prevent, or reduce to an acceptable level food safety hazards that may cause someone to become sick or injured.

HACCP is built upon a foundation of operational practices called prerequisite programs (discussed in Chapter 3 of the Manual), and its success is dependent upon both facilities and people. Properly implemented, a food safety management system based on HACCP principles may offer the following other advantages:

• Increase in employee awareness and participation in food safety
• Consistency in product preparation
• Reduction in product loss
• Increase in product quality
• Better control of product inventory
• Increase in profit

FDA Provides Manual for State, Local, and Tribal Regulators on
Conducting Risk-based Inspections in Retail and Food Service Establishments and
Evaluating Voluntary Food Safety Management Systems

FDA recently provided a food safety document titled "Managing Food Safety: A Regulator's Manual For Applying HACCP Principles to Risk-based Retail and Food Service Inspections and Evaluating Voluntary Food Safety Management Systems." This Manual provides a manageable scheme for prioritizing inspections using a risk-based approach.

This Manual was written to focus on the preventive approach and to provide a "roadmap" for evaluating retail and food service establishments based on the application of HACCP principles. Using HACCP principles during inspections will assist regulators in evaluating the effectiveness of food safety management systems implemented by industry.

The voluntary strategies presented in this Manual also foster food safety partnerships between inspectors and their retail or food service operators, which will facilitate inspectors' active role in improving existing food safety management systems.

Many regulatory jurisdictions are already conducting risk-based inspections using HACCP principles and other innovative approaches. This Manual is based on experience gained from many of these approaches and is provided to regulatory food safety professionals to help them enhance the effectiveness of their inspections by incorporating a risk-based approach.