The Relationship and Differences Between HACCP and 22000

Due to the internationalization and globalization of trade, developing an international standard based on HACCP principles has become a strong demand in the food industry worldwide. Therefore, for export filing, some product types require HACCP certification. ISO22000 is a food safety management system standard based on the principles outlined in the Codex Alimentarius Commission's "General Principles of Food Hygiene" annex "Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) System and Guidelines for its Application." This standard also aims to unify the currently excessive number of food safety management system certifications under one standard.

Keywords: HACCP ISO22000 system difference

HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point) represents the critical control points of hazard analysis and is an effective global method for food quality control management. Its principles were established in 1999 by the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC). The HACCP system consists of the following seven principles:

1. Conduct hazard analysis and determine control measures;

2. Identify critical control points (CCPs);

3. Establish critical limits for CCPs;

4. Establish a monitoring system for CCPs;

5. Establish corrective actions to be taken when monitoring indicates a specific CCP is out of control;

6. Establish verification procedures to confirm the effectiveness of the HACCP system;

7. Establish a documentation system for all procedures and records related to the above principles and their application.

I. The role and shortcomings of HACCP

HACCP is a preventive food safety control system that assesses potential hazards in food processing and then implements controls. Unlike traditional quality control methods, HACCP analyzes various factors affecting product safety in raw materials and each production process, identifies critical steps in processing, establishes and improves monitoring procedures and standards, and takes effective corrective measures to prevent, eliminate, or reduce hazards to levels acceptable to consumers, ensuring that food processors provide safer food.

HACCP ensures food safety during production, processing, manufacturing, preparation, and consumption. It is a scientific, reasonable, and systematic approach to hazard identification, evaluation, and control. However, it does not represent an unacceptable health threat. It identifies possible hazard points in food production and takes appropriate control measures to prevent hazards. By monitoring and controlling each step of the processing, it reduces the probability of hazards occurring.

In production management practice, HACCP principles also have some shortcomings. While emphasizing preemptive hazard analysis and introducing data and monitoring of critical processes, it neglects that it should be part of a complete, systematic, and rigorous management system to function better.

II. The relationship between ISO22000 and HACCP

The ISO22000 food safety management system standard, developed based on HACCP principles, aims to address the above shortcomings. It was created by extensively incorporating the basic principles and process methods of the ISO9001 quality management system. It enriches and improves HACCP principles. Therefore, ISO22000 can be seen as an upgrade from HACCP principles to a system standard in food safety management, which is more conducive to enterprises managing food safety.

ISO 22000 adopts the ISO 9000 standard system structure and refers to the HACCP system and application guidelines in the Codex Alimentarius Commission's "General Principles of Food Hygiene" for food hazard risk identification, confirmation, and system management. The scope of ISO 22000 covers the entire food chain, including raw material planting, breeding, primary processing, manufacturing, transportation, and consumer use, including catering.

The purpose of ISO22000 is to enable various organizations in the food chain to implement a food safety management system, ensuring that when an organization delivers its final product to the next stage of the food chain, the identified hazards have been eliminated or reduced to acceptable levels through control. ISO22000 applies to all types of organizations within the food chain, from raw material producers and primary producers to food manufacturers, transporters, storage operators, retail distributors, and catering operators, as well as related organizations such as producers of equipment, packaging materials, additives, and auxiliaries.

The ISO22000 standard provides food enterprises with a systematic food safety management system framework. It integrates HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) principles and the HACCP implementation steps developed by the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC), clearly requiring the establishment of prerequisite programs (i.e., GMP).

ISO22000 "Food Safety Management System Requirements" is a voluntary international standard. It provides a unified reference for global food safety management systems. At the same time, implementing the standard helps production enterprises avoid awkward situations caused by different requirements in different countries.

III. Differences between ISO22000 and HACCP

1. Different systems

ISO22000 is an international standard for food safety management systems. It guides various organizations in the food chain to establish a food safety management system based on HACCP principles according to basic management element requirements. The ISO22000 standard can be used for first-party internal audits for organizational self-improvement and daily management compliance checks. It can also serve as a standard basis for second-party audits of suppliers and, of course, for third-party commercial certification.

HACCP was established by the CAC (Codex Alimentarius Commission, under FAO and WHO) in 1997 when updating the appendix of "General Principles of Food Hygiene" CAC/RCP1-1996, Rev., using the "Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) System and its Application Guidelines" as the principle for establishing food safety management systems...

2. Different scopes of application

In terms of scope, ISO22000 applies to various industries, while HACCP applies to food and related industries. ISO22000 covers all food sectors and can integrate with various enterprise systems and food safety assurance management systems (SSOP, GMP series, HACCP, etc.). HACCP mainly targets food production enterprises and focuses on the hygiene and safety of the entire production chain (responsible for consumer life safety). ISO22000 also includes hygiene and safety but is more specific, integrating parts of HACCP and ISO9001:2000. Besides improving product safety assurance, it also enhances enterprise management capabilities.

3. ISO22000 emphasizes the importance of "validation" and "verification"

"Verification" is obtaining evidence to confirm the effectiveness of control measures arranged by the HACCP plan and operational prerequisite programs. The ISO22000 standard explicitly and implicitly includes the requirement or concept of "verification" in multiple places. "Validation" is the confirmation through objective evidence that specified requirements have been met. The purpose is to confirm the effectiveness of the system and control measures. The ISO22000 standard requires validation of prerequisite programs, operational prerequisite programs, HACCP plans and control measure combinations, handling of potentially unsafe products, emergency preparedness and response, recalls, etc.

4. The ISO22000 standard establishes a traceability system and implements a recall mechanism for unsafe products.

The ISO22000 standard proposes recall requirements for unsafe products, fully reflecting the modern food safety management concept. It requires organizations to establish a traceability system from raw material suppliers to direct distributors, ensuring that unsafe final products delivered can be timely and completely recalled using the traceability system, minimizing and eliminating harm to consumers caused by unsafe products.