Seafood

HACCP Guidance: Seafood

Processors of fish and fishery products currently fall under the regulatory rules of local State Health Departments and the United States Food & Drug Administration’s Seafood Hazards Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) program. This plan guidance page will walk through the basics of developing a HACCP plan in order to achieve compliance with both State and Federal entities to facilitate safe and sanitary processing.

connectfood.com offers plan templates, comprehensive step-by-step guidance, and on-demand expert services to assist in quickly completing and maintaining your plans.

Comprehensive Seafood HACCP Plan Templates – Quick Start

Want to get started right away with a HACCP plan? Use our comprehensive templates, which include the process flow, hazards, controls, SOPs, and Logs as a baseline to build your plans.

Click any template link below to get started!

Example Process Flow

The process flow of a food safety plan (HACCP or Preventive Controls) is the center of a food product’s food safety story. It tells how a company makes it’s products and also what hazards and controls are associated with each step. Here’s an example process flow for lobster:

Seafood HACCP Process Flow

Example Biological, Chemical, and Physical Hazards

Here is a list of potential hazards:

Canned Salmon
  • Spore formers — Clostridium botulinum
Salmon
  • Psychotrophs — Listeria monocytogenes
Oysters/Mussels:
  • Psychotrophs — Listeria monocytogenes
  • Proteobacteria — Campylobacter jejuni
  • Enterobacteriacae — Salmonella
  • Marine biotoxins
  • Virus — Norovirus
  • Environmental chemical contaminants
  • Proteobacteria — Vibrio spp.
  • Allergens
Fin Fish
  • Parasites — Anisakis
  • Environmental chemical contaminants
  • Allergens
  • Enterobacteriacae — Salmonella
  • Psychotrophs — Listeria monocytogenes

Associated Components of the HACCP Plan

The following associated food safety components are recommended to achieve compliance with State and Federal rules and regulations.

Good Manufacturing Practices and Other Prerequisite Programs

The HACCP plan is not a stand alone program, but rather part of a larger food safety system. The foundation programs that are part of the food safety system are frequently termed prerequisite programs. The term was coined to indicate that they should be in place before Food Safety Plan based systems are implemented in order to effectively manage risk from foodborne hazards. The Current Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) regulations address requirements for many prerequisite programs. The regulation (117 Subpart B) that outlines the conditions and practices the regulated food industry must follow for processing safe food under sanitary conditions, including personnel, plant and grounds, sanitary operations, sanitary facilities and controls, equipment and utensils, processes and controls, warehousing and distribution, and defect action levels considerations. Elements of GMPs that are not covered in the HACCP plan are still required by regulations.

Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)

SOPs are related to both GMPs and Controls of Hazards in the Food Safety Plan. SOPs define the specific steps of how GMPs and Controls of Hazards mitigate food safety hazards and define a repeatable process.

Here is a list of suggested SOPs:

  • Using and Calibrating Thermometers
  • Transporting Food to Remote Sites
  • Cooling Potentially Hazardous Foods
  • Cleaning and Sanitizing Food Contact Surfaces
  • Storing and Using Poisonous or Toxic Chemicals
  • Preventing Cross-Contamination During Storage and Preparation
  • Receiving Deliveries
  • Cleaning Building and Facility
  • Allergen Control Program
  • Washing Hands – To prevent foodborne illness by contaminated hands
  • Employee Illness Program

Supply Chain

The safety of your product depends on much more than just what you control within your own facility. Use of an ingredient that has a history of association with a specific hazard may require a supply chain program as a control within your food safety program. Companies may have extensive supplier programs that encompass much more than food safety elements to manage their supplier expectations and performance.

Here is a list of suggested documents to obtain from your supply chain:

  • Food Safety HACCP or Preventive Controls Plan for each product
  • Food Defense/Business Continuity Plan
  • Validation of each product and/or process and Ready-To-Eat statements (if applicable)
  • Certificates of Analysis (COA)
  • Third Party Audit Certificate, Report & Corrective Actions
  • Product Specification
  • Allergen Grid / Statement
  • SDS / MSDS Statement
  • Country of Origin

Records / Logs

Monitoring records and logs must include the actual values or observation that document the actual implementation of a Food Safety Plan . For example, if a temperature is being measured, the actual temperature must be recorded rather than a check mark indicating that the temperature complied with the critical limit. To comply with regulations, information must be recorded at the time it is observed.

Here are suggested record and log types to use:

  • Customer Complaints
  • Corrective Action Forms
  • Employee Training
  • Food Safety Quarterly Audit
  • Food Safety Checklist
  • Raw Materials/Receiving Log
  • Worker Illness Log
  • Freezer Log
  • Thawing Log
  • Refrigerator Log
  • Assembly Log
  • Shipping Temperature Log

Recall Plan

It is recommended when a critical control point (CCP) is defined from a hazard analysis that a Recall Plan is written to protect the consumer and the brand. Recalls are actions taken by an establishment to remove an adulterated, misbranded or violative product from the market. In other words, a product for which FDA or a state could take legal action against the company would be subject to recall.

Validation / Verification

Verification is an important component of supply chain, sanitation, allergen and critical controls. It confirms that the Food Safety Plan is operating as intended. Validation confirms the effectiveness of the Food Safety Plan in controlling food safety hazards. The purpose of verification is to provide a level of confidence that the Food Safety Plan is 1) based on solid scientific principles that are adequate to control the hazards associated with the product and process, and 2) that the plan is being followed correctly every day of operation.

Plan Templates – How It Works

Loading HACCP / Preventive Control templates is an easy step process saving significant time and hassle to write and maintain your plans.

Seafood HACCP Software
  • 1. Load Plan Template

    Load plan template which includes process flow, hazards, controls, procedures, and logs.

  • 2. Print Plan Reports

    To submit the plan to retail executives or regulators, print all available reports.

  • 3. Maintain Plan Integrity with Logs / Records

    “If you didn’t record it, it didn’t happen”. Maintain the safety status by maintaining records.

Get Started With Your Seafood HACCP Plans Today!

Save time by registering for an account with ConnectFood and loading one of the plan templates to get started. Within the software, you will have all of the components (SOPs, Logs, GMPs, and more) accessible to give you a comprehensive and compliant food safety plan.

Click any template link below to get started!

Food Safety Professional Services

If you ever need additional assistance with writing or get a review of your plan, ConnectFood Expert Services are always available On-Demand.