Where to start learning?

Hi all. 

First post, eh? I feel like I'm jumping into the deep end, here!

I would just like to know if any here could recommend to me a starting point for learning more about HACCP and food safety in general. I work for a company in the process of becoming HACCP accredited, and although my specialization is IT and office work, I would like to know more about the processes involved so that I find myself in a better position to assist and out of personal curiosity regarding the matter. Preferably, I'm after free resources..  but from my own searches I'm not sure how much is actually out there. Alternatively, cheap resources are good too! I will most likely be paying for anything out of my own pocket, so that is a factor. Oh, and for what it is worth? I'm based in South Africa.

Any tips on where to start? The field seems extremely vast, and I'm afraid I just don't know the right places to look. This book has caught my eye, but I'm wondering if there is anything else available?

Thanks!

Hi,

Attached are a few files on basics of HACCP. If you are very specific about your industry and what you plan to manufacture, people can help you all the better. You might consider joining LinkedIN and hooking up with groups and people from your counrty as well for information and resources that are highly specific.

Regards,

Xylough

Thank you very much for the reply, and for all the uploads.

I didn't even think to mention what sector we were in. A rather silly thing to have overlooked! We are a food manufacturer specializing in bread premix manufacturing.

We work with a lot of flour, yeast, and enzymes. We don't bake bread ourselves, except for what is produced internally in our test bakery, but rather supply the necessary materials to bake bread to other companies.

I know that we don't make use of any kind of meat in our factory, but we do store and utilize nuts and seeds. I also know that dairy products and other allergens such as wheat, gluten and soya would be used.

Thanks again!

Personally, I would not spend much money on a book unless it addressed your specific food indusrty with expertise. Books can be dated and one sided, There is so much free and current material on HACCP. Consider looking at HACCP for the Codex Alementarius resources (European). Must also look at what your customers or potential cutomers will demand in the way of HACCP. 

Regards,

Xylough

I know that we don't make use of any kind of meat in our factory, but we do store and utilize nuts and seeds. I also know that dairy products and other allergens such as wheat, gluten and soya would be used.

Thanks again!

You have quite a few allergens in you facility so I'd recommend being very careful on you allergen management program (policy, procedures and responsibility). Although not directly a HACCP issue (allergen management is technically a prerequisite program) this PRP does come heavily into play when you get into product and process risk analyses in your HACCP plan(s). Allergens, as you probably are aware, are a chemical hazard. And keep in mind that in your policies, procedures and responsibilities you'll need to define how you prevent allergen cross contamination from storage and processing points of view (for example do you use dedicated equipment, sequential sequencing in your production schedule, etc.). You'll need this to justify preventive controls in your process analysis in your HACCP plan(s)..

Regards,

esquef

Hello Jeronkey,

             Attached here is HACCP Example - Courtesy of Fletchers Bakery, Sheffield,though this does not contain allergens ,you can identify your allergens and sometimes allergens can be CCP considering so may recalls from markets due to not labelling allergens on food products.

Hello and Welcome!

There is a company called Safefood 360^o that sells software for food safety.  On their web site, they have some whitepapers free if you give your name and contact information, and you are signed up for a newsletter. 

The topics are very basic, so it should be a good place to start.  And it's free.

http://safefood360.c...es/whitepapers/

Martha

And maybe you can take a look at the free IFSQN weekly webinars

Shameless plug :blush:

Dear jeronkey,

IMO the answer to yr OP is, initially at least, likely to be related to your current technical capabilities. And possibly the daily Company technical support available to you.

Many haccp  texts assume a certain level of BCP knowledge. Not to mention a capability to follow topics such as risk assessment as related to a  BCP context.

IMEX, even people with strong BCP backgrounds find it necessary to take training courses/seminars in HACCP. Free, on-line courses also, i think, exist.

If you wish to test yr capabilities / likely constraints, i would suggest you have a look at the haccp textbook of Mortimore and Wallace, now into its 3rd or 4th edition. This is probably the No.1 best selling haccp textbook in the English language. It is substantially accessible as a Google book. IMO it has some of the clearest introductory material for haccp which you can find anywhere. It also contains excellently explained process examples to support the text and demonstrate how haccp can be practically implemented.

Rgds / Charles.C