Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) is an internationally recognised monitoring and control system designed to prevent potential hazards during food processing. It is based on a thorough assessment of the potential hazards inherent to the products and/or processes, followed by the identification of the key actions required to prevent them.

Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 on the hygiene of foodstuffs states that that “all food business operators should establish and operate food safety program and procedures based on the HACCP principles”.

HACCP is based on 7 basic principles.

1. Hazard Analysis;
2. Identification of Critical Control Points;
3. Establishment of critical limits at Critical Control Points;
4. Establishment of monitoring procedures at Critical Control Points;
5. Establishment of corrective actions;
6. Establishment of record-keeping procedures to verify that the hazard analysis, identification of Critical Control Points, establishment of critical limits, monitoring procedures and corrective actions are working effectively;
7. Establishment of verification and validation procedures to ensure the effective application of the system.

Critical Control Points are the steps in a process at which control is essential to prevent or eliminate a hazard or to reduce it to acceptable levels, particularly as regards the risk of product contamination.

All the catering and agri-food industry operators are required to implement this system. Given its expertise in agricultural management systems, Digimundo has designed a comprehensive HACCP software solution, including modules designed to identify the critical control points and to manage the workflow. This system is a first step towards the creation of an integrated agri-food traceability system.

The HACCP system may be certified in accordance with the ISO 22000:2005 standard.