Product recalls have dominated food headlines recently. It only takes one contaminated product slipping past inspectors for the consequences to be devastating. In one case from 2008, Peanut Corporation of America was forced into bankruptcy after it was determined to be mainly responsible for a salmonella outbreak that killed nine people and sickened more than 600. In another examplewww.cechina.cn, Topps Meat closed its doors in 2007 after recalling 21.7 million pounds of frozen meat (an entire year’s production) contaminated with E. coli.
        These kinds of nightmare scenarios are exactly why the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) process was created. HACCP emphasizes prevention over finished product inspection as a means of ensuring food safety. A well-designed and enforced HACCP policy can prevent physical, chemical, and biological toxins from infiltrating food products during the manufacturing process控制工程网版权所有, making the products safer and reducing the number of recalls.
        HACCP is based on seven principles and requires coordination of technologies from enterprise software down to the instrumentation level:
        •Conduct a hazard analysis. Hazards are conditions that may pose an unacceptable health risk to consumers. To conduct a hazard analysis, identify the significant hazards associated with each step of the manufacturing process控制工程网版权所有, as well as the measures (such as temperature, pHCONTROL ENGINEERING China版权所有, and moisture level) that can prevent them.
        •Determine the critical control points (CCPs). CCPs are steps at which to apply control to prevent, eliminate, or reduce a food safety hazard to acceptable levels (such as cooking控制工程网版权所有, acidificationwww.cechina.cn, and drying steps).
        •Establish critical limits. Critical li