Food-Service-Manual-for-Health-Care-Institutions

Food Service Manual for Health Care Institutions
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The food service management staff has the basic responsibility to orient and educate higher
administration in the principles of the HACCP process. The food service personnel must ensure
that higher administration understands the need for HACCP and will support the implementation
of the process by providing any needed funds. The food service management staff has
the responsibility to implement and be committed to the process.
The food service director and administrator have the responsibility to maintain and market
sanitation both internally and externally in their organization. They must lead by example at all
times while developing job assignments and providing ongoing supervision and training. They also
have a major role in providing adequate resources, including machines, money, and sufficient labor.
To assist the food service professionals in their sanitation and safety responsibilities, an
HACCP program is currently being supported, monitored, and inspected by many local and
state health department as well as the JCAHO standards. The FDA and the National Restaurant
Association have both been instrumental in the support and development of HACCP guidelines
and HACCP programs.
The HACCP program includes seven steps or principles, as listed below:
1. Determine hazard severity and risks
2. Identify critical control points (CCPs)
3. Set up procedures for controls
4. Monitor CCPs
5. Take corrective action on results
6. Set up a record-keeping system
7. Verify the system is working
HACCP is an evaluation system that identifies, monitors, and controls and is designed to
ensure food safety by reducing the likelihood of food-borne illness.
Upper management’s long-term commitment to provide resources and to enforce food-safety
policies, procedures, and standards is a primary requirement. With the current ability to determine
the cause of death of an at-risk patient, coupled with the readiness for legal action, today’s food
service professional cannot afford the risk that comes from not supporting an HACCP program.
What Is HACCP?
In food service management, HACCP focuses on the flow of food through the operation, beginning
with the decision of what foods to include on the menu and continuing with recipe development,
food procurement, delivery and storage, preparation, holding or displaying, service,
cooling, storage, and reheating. Because the potential for contamination exists at each step, the
chance that a specific condition or set of conditions will lead to a hazard is a considerable risk.
The goal of HACCP is to identify and eliminate hazards or unacceptable contamination, be it
biological, chemical, or physical. Success relies on the identification of critical control points.
Implementing an HACCP system involves seven steps.
Step 1: Identify and assess hazards at each step in the food production process and
develop procedures to minimize the risk at each step
First, assess all hazards associated with growing, harvesting, raw materials, processing, manufacturing,
distribution, ingredients, preparation, marketing, and consumption of food. Identify
the preventive measures that can be taken at each point to eliminate or reduce the risk to an
acceptable level. To be effectively addressed, hazards must be such that their prevention, elimination,
or reduction to an acceptable level is attainable.
The hazard analysis is performed with three purposes in mind. First, identify any hazard
of significance. Second, provide a risk basis for selecting likely hazards. Third, identify the hazards
that can be used to develop the preventive measures for a process or product to ensure or
improve the food safety of the process or product.