ESTABLISH CRITICAL LIMITS FOR EACH CCP

ESTABLISH CRITICAL LIMITS FOR EACH CCP (HACCP PRINCIPLE 3)

For each of the CCPs that have been determined, the HACCP team must establish critical limits which will serve as the criteria for accepting or rejecting a raw material or ingredient that is a CCP, or a semi-finished or finished product that is obtained at a process step that is a CCP. A critical limit is commonly a maximum value of a parameter that must not be exceeded or a minimum value of a parameter that must be reached at a CCP. At a CCP, the critical limits must be respected for the hazard to be prevented, eliminated or reduced to an acceptable level, and therefore for the product obtained at the CCP to be acceptable. If the critical limits at a CCP are not respected, the product obtained at the CCP will not be acceptable.

Codex Alimentarius Critical Control Point Decision Tree

Question 1: Do preventive control measures exist?

(a) If the answer is Yes, go to Question 2.

(b) If the answer is No, is control at this step necessary for the safety of the  product?

(i) if the answer is No, this step is not a CCP; proceed to the next identified hazard in the process

(ii) If the answer is Yes, modify the steps in the process or the product, and return to start of Question 1.

Question 2: Is this step specifically designed to eliminate or reduce the likely  occurrence of the hazard to an acceptable level?

(a) If the answer is Yes, this step is a CCP

(b) If the answer is No, go to Question 3.

Question 3: Could contamination with the identified hazard(s) at this step,  occur in excess of acceptable level(s) or could these hazards increase to  unacceptable level(s)?

(a) If the answer is Yes, go to Question 4

(b) If the answer is No, this step is not a CCP; proceed to the next identified  hazard in the process.

Question 4: Will a subsequent step eliminate the identified hazard(s) or reduce the likely occurrence to acceptable level(s)?

(a) If the answer is Yes, this step is not a CCP; proceed to the next identified  hazard in the process

(b) If the answer is No, this step is a CCP

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