Food safety management systems

A hazard can enter food at any point in the food chain, from the farm to the plate. So control is needed all along the chain.

Three systems help:

• Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP): steps that manufacturers take in advance to keep products safe and correctly labelled, so there is little contamination or false labelling.
• Good Handling Practices (GHP): a farm-to-store approach; it finds the risks, and makes sure everyone who handles the food has good hygiene.
• HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point): examines the raw materials and each step of the process, judges the chance of a hazard at every stage, and sets controls there.

Why HACCP is better than only testing the end product: end-product testing finds problems only afterwards, when the food is already made. HACCP is preventive, and cheaper.

HACCP also uses resources well, makes producers responsible (as FSSA 2006 requires), protects consumers, helps trade, and gives steady quality.

Think of a samosa stall: instead of tasting the last samosa, you check the oil, the filling's cooking temperature and the cook's hands at each step. Prevent at each step; don't just test at the end.