Hazard analysis and assessment – key process in food safety management. Case study: meat industry

Abstract

Food safety is related to the presence of hazards of food origin in food products in the moment of consumption. As these hazards may occur in any stage of food chain, adequate control throughout this one is essential. Due to the fact that most laboratory analyses made on food require some time to be interpreted (it is usually equal or longer than foods’ shelf–life) is practically impossible to make these analyses and afterwards to deliver them to consumers. Three types of dangers and hazards respectively are associated with food products: biological, chemical and physical ones. Hazard assessment is made depending on their seriousness and probability of manifestation. To get very good results it is recommended to consider HACCP implementation as a working instrument and not as an objective, especially not as an objective imposed by the control authorities of the state.