Have you ever wondered if a working HACCP should eliminate all food safety hazards from the process, how is it possible most of the companies that underwent recalls had a HACCP Plan?

It is quite surprising to come across a number of articles on a daily basis associated with recalls of various food items from all over the globe due to suspected or confirmed activities of food-borne illnesses or outbreaks, despite the stringent hazard control systems already up and running in food industries. This clearly points the food sector to move in the direction of evolving to a better system for hazard management.

A well-known saying, “you are what you eat” can be attributed to being factual as recent studies suggest that including fruits and vegetables in daily diets can lead to decreased stress levels and depressive symptoms, promoting an overall positive and satisfactory attitude towards life. Hence, as long as the dependence on plant-forward eating is seen as a predominant factor in modern food trends it is essential now more than ever to emphasize the importance of smarter hazard control strategies.

HACCP as the fundamental step in controlling hazards

As we all know HACCP is a primitive yet the most efficient method in use that has come a long way today from ensuring safe space food for astronauts of NASA to overcoming a wide range of hazards in any food industry. It can be explained in simple terms as the non-negotiable component of any food enterprise to monitor their total food system, from harvesting to consumption in order to reduce and eliminate the risk of foodborne diseases.

It is to keep in mind that fruits and vegetables are commodities that go through several pathways before reaching the consumers which increases their risk of exposure to various hazards from the growing environment, post-harvest preparation, processing, packaging, storage, and transportation to markets. Therefore, the HACCP system implemented must be equipped for dealing with any type of hazard from any source and having differing severity.

Barriers to effectively regulate hazards

For accomplishing an adequate HACCP program, there are several challenges to be addressed involving a combination of factors that apply to every food company, regardless of its size. These factors primarily range from barriers to food safety such as knowledge gaps, lack of resources, shorter shelf life, and changing seasonal untrained workers. This is particularly seen in small or medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and the difficulties change for different nations based on internal and external factors regarding food operations as well as the accessibility of government or industry support.

Systematic prerequisite programs (PRPs), sound technical knowledge of regulations and hazard analysis, assembling an ideal HACCP team with members having expertise from multiple disciplines, timely revision and review of the HACCP plan, effective education and training for food handlers, and selection of the most appropriate corrective actions are among other criteria to emphasize on for tackling hazards through HACCP system. It is also recommended to stay up-to-date with the latest scientific developments in the identification and control of hazards.

Ways to reduce and eliminate hazards from fruits and vegetables

Adopting Good Agricultural Practices (GAP), Good Hygiene Practices (GHP), and Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) along with a well-integrated Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) system during the initial production and throughout post-harvest processing activities proves to have significant effects in controlling hazards. Identification of possible hazards and proper implementation of sufficient hygiene measures and counteractions is crucial for the prevention and eradication of hazards as well.

The preliminary step by which the safety of fruits and vegetables can be ensured is through maintaining the quality of fresh products received from suppliers by being conscious of the food safety practices followed by them from farm to processing units, and evaluating and verifying the execution of these protocols using a credible system.

The next step involves the application of techniques that can eliminate dangerous hazards during product handling. These include novel technologies that can be carried out by optimizations and advances in conventional methods such as using modified and active packaging systems, employing non-thermal processes like irradiation, ultraviolet light treatment, cold plasma, and pulsed light technologies, and applying antimicrobial sanitizers. They have varying degrees of efficacies based on their large-scale practicality and severity of hazards for different products.

Since water is used for several purposes associated with fresh fruits and vegetable growing and processing, it is of utmost importance to implement appropriate disinfection against human pathogens to generate fit-for-purpose microbiological parameters for water. Making use of electrolyzed water (EW) is beneficial as it possesses antimicrobial effects against a variety of microorganisms and their spores. Another chief agent that is commonly used for sanitizing fresh-cut fruits and vegetables is chlorine as it can lower parasitic pathogen populations and control their growth.

Finally, even after efficient hygienic practices in production, harvesting, and processing procedures, there is a chance for hazards to prevail if the packaging methods in place are defective or lack sanitary principles. Latest packaging technologies have the ability to regulate criteria such as levels of O₂, CO₂, and N₂ that can control the influence of hazards.

Implementing a systematic HACCP system with SmartFoodSafe

Smart Food Safe presents Smart HACCP that can facilitate establishing a HACCP system for any food industry with ease and convenience with an array of customizable elements catering to each step in a HACCP plan.

Smart HACCP includes features attributing to generic steps of the flow diagram and process narrative, a Risk Matrix for the evaluation of different hazards, a Hazard database to identify potential hazards, a Hazard analysis table to determine the extent of danger a hazard possesses, and Process Preventive Controls listing out the different food safety and preventive controls that should be followed. Additional features such as Allergen Preventive Control, Sanitation Preventive Control, and Supply-Chain-Applied Preventive Controls Program enable the customer not only to become FSMA compliance but also to look into all possible aspects where hazards can become an issue and curate the HACCP systems according to their needs.

Smart HACCP self-learning ability allows bringing enhancements as and when the regulation or knowledge of new hazards or scientific developments in the marketplace. In short, Smart HACCP can simplify the execution of HACCP systems in an efficient, transparent, and cost-effective way that has become the need of the hour for the industry.