Standards documents are written by committee, and it shows. This glossary translates the terminology of Codex Alimentarius CXC 1-1969, BRC Global Standard for Food Safety Issue 9, and ISO 22000:2018 into definitions your HACCP team can actually use. Where a term has a formal definition and a practical meaning that differ, both are given — because knowing what the standard says and knowing what the auditor means are not always the same thing.
Core HACCP Terms
HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points): A systematic, science-based approach to identifying and controlling food safety hazards. Defined by Codex Alimentarius in CXC 1-1969. It is not a quality system — it addresses safety only. HACCP is built on 7 principles applied through 12 steps. Every GFSI-benchmarked standard (BRC, FSSC 22000, SQF) requires a HACCP-based food safety system.
Hazard: A biological, chemical, physical, or radiological agent in food with the potential to cause an adverse health effect. Since the 2020 Codex revision, radiological hazards are explicitly included. In SafetyCore and in practice, allergens are assessed as chemical hazards — they are chemical agents that cause an adverse immune response in sensitised individuals.
Significant hazard: A hazard identified through hazard analysis as requiring specific control beyond Good Hygiene Practices (GHPs) or standard PRPs. Introduced as a formal concept in the 2020 Codex revision. A significant hazard must be controlled by a CCP or an OPRP. If it can be adequately controlled by a PRP, it is not significant in Codex terms — though it still needs to be documented in your hazard analysis.
Control measure: Any action or activity that can be used to prevent, eliminate, or reduce a food safety hazard to an acceptable level. Control measures are assigned during hazard analysis. A single hazard may require more than one control measure, and a single control measure may address more than one hazard.
CCP (Critical Control Point): A step in the process where control can be applied and is essential to prevent, eliminate, or reduce a food safety hazard to an acceptable level. The defining characteristics: it must have a measurable critical limit, it must be monitored in real time or near-real time, and deviation must trigger immediate pre-determined corrective action. Common examples: thermal processing (cooking, pasteurisation, retort), metal detection, pH adjustment. If you cannot measure it, monitor it, and act on it immediately — it is not a CCP.
Critical limit: The maximum or minimum value to which a biological, chemical, or physical parameter must be controlled at a CCP to prevent, eliminate, or reduce a food safety hazard to an acceptable level. Must be measurable and validated. Examples: minimum core temperature of 75°C, maximum metal detector aperture of 2.0mm ferrous, pH below 4.6. "Clean" is not a critical limit. "Acceptable appearance" is not a critical limit unless the acceptance criteria are objectively defined.
Monitoring: The planned sequence of observations or measurements to assess whether a CCP is under control. Must specify what is measured, how, at what frequency, and by whom. Monitoring is a real-time activity — it happens during production. It is distinct from verification, which happens after the fact.
Corrective action: The action taken when monitoring indicates that a CCP is not under control. Must be pre-determined — decided before a deviation occurs, not improvised in the moment. Must address both the immediate product safety issue (what happens to the affected product) and the process control issue (how to bring the CCP back under control). Root cause investigation is required.
Verification: Activities other than monitoring that confirm the HACCP system is working as intended. Includes: review of monitoring records, internal audits, product testing, calibration of monitoring equipment, review of corrective actions, and review of the HACCP plan itself. Verification is periodic and retrospective — it asks "is the system working?" not "is this batch safe?"
Validation: Obtaining evidence that the control measures identified in the HACCP plan are capable of effectively controlling the significant hazards — if properly implemented. Validation answers the question "will this work?" before implementation, not "is it working?" after. Example: proving that 75°C for 30 seconds eliminates Salmonella in chicken using published kill curves or challenge test data. Validation must be repeated whenever there is a significant change to product, process, or equipment.
Prerequisite Programmes
PRP (Prerequisite Programme): The basic conditions and activities necessary to maintain a hygienic food production environment. PRPs are the foundation on which HACCP is built — if PRPs fail, the HACCP system is undermined regardless of how well CCPs are managed. PRPs include: cleaning and sanitation, pest management, equipment maintenance, personal hygiene, training, supplier approval, water quality, waste management, and foreign body controls. PRPs do not have critical limits in the CCP sense. They are managed through documented procedures, monitoring schedules, and periodic verification. Cleaning is always a PRP — never a CCP.
OPRP (Operational Prerequisite Programme): An ISO 22000 and FSSC 22000 concept. A PRP that has been identified through hazard analysis as essential to control a significant hazard, requiring more rigorous management than a standard PRP — documented monitoring and corrective actions — but not meeting the full CCP criteria (no binary critical limit with immediate real-time response). BRC Issue 9 does not use the OPRP term explicitly, but the concept maps to enhanced PRPs that require monitoring. Example: a hand-wash station at a high-care entry point — critical for control but not monitored with a measurable instrument in real time.
GHP (Good Hygiene Practice): The Codex term for the basic hygiene conditions and practices that form the foundation of any food safety system. GHPs are essentially the same concept as PRPs — the terminology differs between Codex (GHP) and ISO/BRC (PRP) but the practical requirements overlap almost entirely.
BRC-Specific Terms
Fundamental requirement: A clause in the BRC standard designated as fundamental to the establishment and maintenance of food safety and quality. Section 2 (HACCP food safety plan) is a fundamental requirement. Any non-conformance against a fundamental clause results in a major non-conformity at minimum — regardless of the severity of the individual finding. Other fundamental clauses cover senior management commitment, food safety and quality management system, internal audits, corrective actions, site standards, and product control.
Major non-conformity: A substantial failure to meet the requirements of a clause, or a situation where there is significant doubt about the conformity of the product being supplied. A single major against a fundamental clause can drop you from Grade A to Grade B or worse. Multiple majors in Section 2 can result in audit failure.
Minor non-conformity: A clause is not fully met but conformity of the product is not in doubt. Minors still require corrective action within 28 days. Accumulation of minors in the same area signals a systemic problem that auditors will flag.
Grade A / B / C / D: The BRC audit grading system. Grade A (announced) or A+ (unannounced) is the target. Grade depends on the number and severity of non-conformities found. Grade D is a critical non-conformity — effectively an audit failure.
Codex Application Steps
Step 1 — Assemble the HACCP Team: Form a multi-disciplinary team with a designated leader who has demonstrable HACCP competence. BRC clause 2.1.
Step 2 — Describe the Product: Full product description including composition, properties, processing, packaging, storage conditions, shelf life, and allergen status. BRC clause 2.3.
Step 3 — Identify Intended Use: Define expected use by the end consumer, identify vulnerable groups, consider foreseeable misuse. BRC clause 2.4.
Step 4 — Construct Process Flow Diagram: Diagram all stages from receipt to dispatch, including inputs, outputs, and rework. BRC clause 2.5.
Step 5 — On-Site Verification of Flow Diagram: Walk the production line to confirm the diagram matches reality. Cover all shifts. BRC clause 2.6.
Step 6 — Hazard Analysis (Principle 1): At every process step, identify all potential hazards, assess significance, and determine control measures. BRC clause 2.7.
Step 7 — Determine CCPs (Principle 2): Use a decision tree or systematic approach to classify significant hazards as controlled by CCP, OPRP, or PRP. BRC clause 2.8.
Step 8 — Establish Critical Limits (Principle 3): Set validated, measurable limits for each CCP. BRC clause 2.9.
Step 9 — Establish Monitoring (Principle 4): Document what is monitored, how, frequency, and responsibility for each CCP. BRC clause 2.10.
Step 10 — Establish Corrective Actions (Principle 5): Pre-determine actions for CCP deviations including product disposition and root cause investigation. BRC clause 2.11.
Step 11 — Verification and Validation (Principle 6): Validate control measures before implementation. Verify the system is working through audits, record reviews, and testing. BRC clause 2.12.
Step 12 — Documentation (Principle 7): Maintain version-controlled HACCP documentation. Retain records for defined periods. BRC clause 2.13.
Hazard Categories
Biological hazards: Pathogenic bacteria (Salmonella, Listeria monocytogenes, E. coli O157, Campylobacter, Clostridium botulinum, Staphylococcus aureus), viruses (norovirus, Hepatitis A), parasites (Cryptosporidium, Trichinella, Anisakis in fish). These are typically the highest-severity hazards in food manufacturing.
Chemical hazards: Cleaning chemical residues, pesticide residues, veterinary drug residues, heavy metals (lead, cadmium, arsenic, mercury), mycotoxins (aflatoxins, deoxynivalenol, ochratoxin A), allergens, processing contaminants (acrylamide, 3-MCPD, PAHs), lubricants and engineering fluids, migration from packaging materials. Allergens are assessed as chemical hazards — they are chemical agents that trigger an immune-mediated adverse reaction.
Physical hazards: Glass, metal, hard plastic, wood, stone, bone, personal effects (jewellery, plasters). Controlled through prevention (no glass policy, metal-detectable plasters), detection (metal detectors, X-ray), and management (foreign body procedures, glass and hard plastic registers).
Radiological hazards: Explicitly added to the Codex hazard categories in the 2020 revision. Relevant where ingredients originate from regions with potential radiological contamination, or where irradiation is used as a processing step. Low probability in most UK food manufacturing but must be considered and documented — auditors check that the hazard analysis shows it was assessed, even if the conclusion is that the risk is negligible.
Risk Assessment Terms
Severity: The seriousness of the health consequence if the hazard occurs. Typically scored on a scale (e.g. 1–5) from negligible to life-threatening. Must be assessed based on the effect on the consumer, not on the business.
Likelihood (or probability): The probability of the hazard occurring in the finished product reaching the consumer, taking into account existing controls. Assessed at baseline (before controls) and at controlled level (after controls are applied).
Risk matrix: A grid combining severity and likelihood to determine whether a hazard is significant. There is no single "correct" matrix — 3×3, 4×4, and 5×5 matrices are all used. The important thing is consistent application across all hazards and documented methodology.
PIGS classification: A framework for categorising how a hazard relates to a process step. P = Presence (the hazard is already in the ingredient), I = Introduction (the hazard enters at this step), G = Growth (conditions at this step allow the hazard to multiply), S = Survival (the hazard is not eliminated at this step). Useful for determining appropriate control measures — you control introduction differently from growth.
Scheme and Standard Terms
Codex Alimentarius: The international food standards body jointly run by the FAO and WHO. CXC 1-1969 (General Principles of Food Hygiene, including HACCP Annex) is the foundational HACCP methodology document. The current version incorporates the 2020 revision and 2022 amendments.
BRC (BRCGS): The British Retail Consortium Global Standard for Food Safety, now published by BRCGS (a subsidiary of LGC Group). Issue 9 is the current version (August 2022). A GFSI-benchmarked standard widely required by UK and European retailers.
FSSC 22000: Food Safety System Certification 22000. A GFSI-benchmarked certification scheme based on ISO 22000:2018 plus sector-specific PRPs (ISO/TS 22002-1 for food manufacturing) plus FSSC additional requirements. Version 6 is current.
GFSI (Global Food Safety Initiative): A business-driven initiative that benchmarks food safety standards. If a standard is "GFSI-recognised" (BRC, FSSC 22000, SQF, IFS), it means it meets the GFSI benchmarking requirements. Most major retailers accept any GFSI-benchmarked certification.
SALSA (Safe and Local Supplier Approval): A UK food safety certification scheme designed for small and micro food producers supplying local and regional markets. Less onerous than BRC but still requires a documented HACCP system.
UFAS (Universal Feed Assurance Scheme): The UK's leading feed safety assurance scheme, managed by AIC. Based on HACCP principles, certified by Kiwa Agri-Food. Covers feed manufacturers, merchants, storekeepers, and hauliers. The 2024 standard is current.
FEMAS (Feed Materials Assurance Scheme): AIC's assurance scheme for feed ingredient suppliers. Covers the supply of feed materials destined for UK livestock.
EC 183/2005: The EU Feed Hygiene Regulation, retained in UK law. Requires feed business operators to implement HACCP-based procedures. The regulatory basis for HACCP in animal feed production.
Codex CAC/GL 80: The Codex guidance document on the application of HACCP principles specifically to animal feed. Addresses feed-specific hazards and process contexts that differ from food manufacturing.
SafetyCore is built around Codex CXC 1-1969 and BRC Issue 9 terminology and methodology. Every term in this glossary maps to a feature in the platform — from hazard analysis through to CCP determination, annual reviews, and triggered reviews.
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