5 replies to this topic

[QA_123]

Hello all,

Every time I think I understand the difference between preventative controls and critical control points I read something that confuses me.  Do any of you have an easy way to explain the difference?

 

Thank you, 

[erick.white]

Hi QA-123, 

 

Try and think of it with this example:

 

If you have a product that must remain within a certain temperature range (i.e. raw meat) then the Preventative Control is keeping the product refrigerated at a certain temperature.

 

Now, if you have to move this product outside the refrigerator for some reason, like loading, this becomes a Critical Control Point as the product now has the potential to warm up out of the controlled environment.

 

Hope that helps.

Edited by erick.white, 12 February 2019 - 12:16 PM.

[QA_123]

So, keeping my  ingredients frozen or refrigerated would be a preventative control??  However keeping batter temperatures at an acceptable temperature during production would be a critical control point?  

[MsMars]

QA, 

See this parallel thread: 

https://www.ifsqn.co...cp/#entry135265

[erick.white]

So, keeping my ingredients frozen or refrigerated would be a preventative control?

 - From how I interpret the rules, Yes. Because the products are in a controlled environment.

 

However keeping batter temperatures at an acceptable temperature during production would be a critical control point?

- This is correct because it the batter sits in the production area for 4 hours, outside of the controlled temperatures, bacteria can begin to grow.

 

I also would look up flow charts for your area of production. I am in dry goods, so my CCPs would be different than someone making Ice Cream, for example.

[FlotoYo]

CCPs should be moments that, if failed, are DEFINITELY HAZARDOUS to a persons health. If the refrigeration fails, it's probably not a CCP because you have a secondary kill step for that meat. right? the cooking process. So therefore the cooking process is your CCP, because undercooked meat can be a serious hazard. Also, the storage of already cooked meat is a CCP because there's no additional step to kill bacteria before it reaches a consumer. Meat has a lot. :)

 

Here's the thing. CCPs are up to you, as long as you've done a risk analysis. The auditor wants to see you've analyzed each step, but he or she WILL NOT impose upon you whether something is CCP or not.

 

Another one is PCP, or Preventative Control Point. 

 

Most of my Control Points are PCPs or just CPs. Control Points are areas that you monitor, and they are important, but they are NOT life or death moments in the the process. I boil cream, that's a CP, but it wouldn't kill someone if I didn't because the boiled cream then goes into a cooked sugar at 350 degrees for an hour. I analyzed the level of risk, and found it to be low, because undercooked caramel is visually obvious and cannot be sent to consumers anyway, it won't fit in the packaging undercooked, therefore is impossible for my staff to accidentally allow it into the marketplace. Therefore, the PCPs of the process ensure it is NOT a CCP to boil cream in this process flow.