Increasing Sensitivity in Food Safety
The issue of food safety is now one of the most dangerous issues of concern to all the countries of the world, and the consequences of which may pose major problems. Technological developments on the one hand and economic and social welfare on the other hand have increased the sensitivity of foodstuffs to a significant portion of consumers. This naturally changes the buying behavior of these people.
Especially after the Second World War, the rapid population growth has created great pressure on the production and supply of foodstuffs to consumers. In this way, it was necessary to obtain more products in order to meet the increasing need for food, this situation encouraged more intensive agricultural practices and consequently the concept of food safety was overlooked. Thereupon, many public and private organizations have started to make efforts to take and implement some measures.
Ensuring food safety starts with finding safe raw materials. Physical, chemical and microbiological risks that occur in plant and animal raw materials pose a great danger to human health. Therefore, in terms of food safety, determination of pesticide residues used in plant production, monitoring of diseases in animal products and controlling them before processing, and determination of plant conditions to process these raw materials are the most important issues.
In the meantime, the effects of hormone products, food containing chemical residues and antibiotics used in the treatment of animals, which are one of the food-borne risk factors, do not appear immediately in humans. In this case, people have to rely primarily on external appearances to ensure food safety.
According to a study conducted in our country, close to 70 percent of consumers have heard about the concept of food safety. When buying food products, these consumers always look at the expiration date of foodstuffs. According to the research, consumers get their food safety information mostly from radio and television programs and they are affected by advertisements when they buy food. More than half of consumers believe that human health is not paid attention to where food is produced and sold. 76 percent of consumers are willing to pay more for reliable food.
The more consumers are aware of the risks of food safety, the more they can protect themselves against the dangers arising from foodstuffs. Conscious consumers choose healthy, quality, safe and non-destructive food products.
What is the HACCP Standard?
Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) is one of the management systems applied in food safety. HACPP system, which is implemented with the aim of ensuring food safety, prevents food-borne hazards, reduces product losses for enterprises, eliminates the risk of faulty production and increases the competitiveness in the market by creating trust in consumers.
After the publication of the ISO 2005 Food Safety Management System standard by the International Standards Organization (ISO) in 22000, the HACCP standard has ceased to be implemented since 2006. However, HACCP-based food safety management systems have become increasingly widespread in recent years due to consumer demand for safe food. ISO 22000 Food Safety Management System is also a HACCP based system.
Essentially, the HACCP standard was designed to be used by NASA to produce food given to astronauts who would work in space during space studies in the United States during the 1960 years. The HACCP standard largely prevents food-borne risks and is a risk management system. In spite of this, it has been accepted in the whole food sector in a short time and its usage area has expanded and started to be applied internationally.
The HACCP standard fully targets food safety in food producing companies and focuses exclusively on food-specific risks. The only negative aspect of the HACCP standard is that food production activities are based only on production stages and target only food producing companies. However, the ISO 22000 standard covers a much wider range of production lines. Not only does it replace the HACCP standard, it also incorporates the requirements of the latest technological developments into the food safety management system.
Although the HACCP standard was initially applied to manufacturing companies, it has found application in all marketing activities between producer and consumer.
The main reason why the HACCP standard is kept so quickly is that some of the foodstuffs produced are analyzed and not always the right result. The HACCP Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points System has been adopted so quickly because it provides a very systematic methodology that encompasses all processes in production activities.
However, although it was deemed sufficient in the early times, especially when the issue of food safety reached more serious levels with globalization, it was not enough to keep only the companies under control. The ISO 22000 Food Safety Management System standard, established on the basis of the HACCP standard, targets all processes from production to storage, from distribution to consumer desk.
As the welfare levels of the countries increase and consumers become more aware, more importance is given to the nutrient content, reliability and health of foodstuffs. As a result of this, manufacturers have turned to certify their products as an indicator of quality and reliability.
The HACCP standard is designed to identify risks for food production and to ensure timely action. This standard is used as a reference in legal audits conducted by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The Food Hygiene Directive issued by the European Union in 1993 also required the HACCP standard in food production.
In our country, 2003 was published by Turkish Standards Institute under the title of HACCP standard, TS 13001 Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points Management System standard.
What Does HACCP Certificate Gain to Businesses?
The HACCP standard is applicable to all organizations working in the food production sector. The benefits of the HACCP certification companies are as follows:
- Food-borne diseases are prevented because effective control is established in quality, reliable and healthy food production.
- Businesses are always prepared for regular audits of domestic and foreign organizations.
- As standards are open to innovations, changes in production systems are easily adapted.
- The system targets critical control points and prevents possible errors in a timely manner.
- The respectability of enterprises increases and their efficiency and competitiveness in the market increases.
