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Valuable Information for Companies in the Food Industry |
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Welcome to PSV Food Safety Consultants
Welcome to our newsletter. It delivers important news and information, as well as identifying useful resources that can enhance your organization's competitiveness in the food industry. Our focus is on helping you to achieve and maintain an approved food safety certifications. In doing so, we typically become a valued business partner to our clients. |
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What does HARPC Mean for Your Business?
If your establishment has a verified HACCP plan, you may feel that you are covered for the new Hazard Analysis and Risk-Based Preventive Controls (HARPC) plan mandated by the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) and administered by the FDA. Not so - HARPC goes beyond HACCP by placing more emphasis on risk prevention. HARPC requires: - Extensive preventive controls to minimize or prevent the hazards from arising in the first place.
- Implementation of effective monitoring programs to ascertain whether preventive controls are working.
- Corrective Action steps to handle detected deviations.
- Testing to verify that a HARPC plan is working correctly.
- The FDA requires that extensive records be kept, including the processes, testing results, deviations and corrective actions. A facility must make these records and documentation available to the FDA upon oral or written request.
Who Must Have a HARPC Plan?  Any food facility in the United States or abroad that is producing food products for distribution in the United States must have a HARPC plan. Exceptions are those facilities regulated by the USDA and seafood and juice companies (which still require a HACCP Plan). Companies whose annual product value is less than $500K are also exempt from HARPC requirements, but should still have a food safety plan. Compliance dates for businesses are staggered over several years. Companies generally must comply with the requirements of HARPC by September 19, 2016. Later compliance dates apply for small and very small businesses, some types of facilities and for certain provisions (e.g., the supply-chain program). What if I'm Already Certified to a GFSI Scheme? You are well ahead of the game. GFSI is working closely with the FDA to determine what changes (if any) may be necessary for HARPC alignment within the various GFSI approved schemes. We Can Help
We are a North American Alliance of expert food safety consultants. If your organization needs assistance in preparing food safety plans, becoming certified to GFSI schemes, or being prepared for HARPC compliance under the FSMA landscape, we can help. We also have customized maintenance programs to help ensure that your facilities remain prepared for re-certification audits, vendor audits and FDA inspections. Learn more at Food Safety Consultants.
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