The HACCP definition the FDA gives, cited below, is that HACCP is a systematic approach to the identification, evaluation and control of food safety hazards based on seven principles. Each word carries weight. Systematic: every process step, every time, not the ones that seem risky. Identification: the hazards named at each step. Evaluation: which are significant and where they can be controlled. Control: limits, monitoring, corrective action, verification, records. The HACCP plan template on this site prints a plan in that shape, free and without an account.
Systematic
The approach walks every process from receiving to serving, and applies the same questions at every step. The kitchen's intuition about which steps are risky is where a hazard hides; the system is what finds the cooling step nobody thought about. The template on this site counts the steps and asks the questions at each.
Identification and evaluation
At each step: biological, chemical, physical hazards and allergens, named. Then evaluated: how likely, how severe, and whether this step is where control is essential. The evaluated points are the critical control points, and a small kitchen has a handful.
Control
The FDA's safe cooking temperatures, from the same page: 145°F with a 3 minute rest for whole cuts of beef, pork, veal and lamb and for fin fish; 160°F for ground meat and egg dishes; 165°F for poultry, leftovers and casseroles; 140°F to reheat fully cooked ham. The FDA's safe food handling page, cited below, says to keep the refrigerator at 40°F or below and the freezer at 0°F or below, to refrigerate perishables within 2 hours of cooking or purchasing and within 1 hour if the temperature outside is above 90°F, and its buffet guidance keeps hot foods at 140°F or warmer and cold foods at 40°F or colder. Each critical control point has a limit from sources like these, a monitoring routine, a corrective action written in advance and a record. The hot food temperature check and the temperature log planner on this site are the monitoring records.
Seven principles
Hazard analysis, critical control points, critical limits, monitoring, corrective actions, verification, records. The definition names them as the base; the plan is complete when each has something under it, and working when the records exist for every day. ProbeLedger Pro keeps them.
Questions people ask about haccp definition
What does HACCP stand for?
Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point. The name is the method in short: analyse the hazards at every step, then control them at the points where control is critical.
Is HACCP a law?
It is a method that food law in many jurisdictions requires or builds on; the FDA's guidelines cited below are the US statement of the method.
Who needs a HACCP plan?
Any food business that handles hazards, which is any that cooks, cools or holds food.
Is the template free?
Yes, without an account.