By Julia Robins, Staff Writer
When it comes to food safety, it’s all about prevention.
Last October, Virginia Sea Grant (VASG) extension at Virginia Tech ran a three-day Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) system workshop for seafood industry professionals, leading 29 attendees through the process of developing a plan to prevent contamination and the steps to take when contamination is suspected.
Following a HACCP plan not only makes products safe, but economically viable. After all, if a product fails to meet regulatory standards, it can’t go to market. Steve Eason, an FDA inspector who discussed HACCP regulations at the training, assured the attendees, “You’ll make a better product if you follow a HACCP plan.”
Not following a HACCP plan, on the other hand, can have serious consequences. A buyer could reject the product, the producer may have to destroy it, or worse, someone could get sick.
“That’s why your HACCP plan is so important,” says Mike Jahncke, director of Virginia Tech’s Virginia Seafood Agricultural Research and Extension Center, where the workshop was held. Jahncke, Virginia Tech extension staff affiliated with VASG, and his team have been helping Virginia’s seafood producers meet safety guidelines since 1997 with HACCP training and testing services.
Producers have been so successful in meeting safety guidelines that some have questioned whether HACCP trainings need to be offered any more. But HACCP is about prevention, and the decrease in seafood-related illness is evidence that it’s working.
This fall’s training provided attendees with important resources, including books and hazard guides to assist them in developing HACCP plans. The resources—based on peer-reviewed, FDA-evaluated scientific studies—provide strategies for identifying potential food safety hazards; preventing, limiting, or eliminating such hazards; and ensuring that the HACCP system is working as intended.
“You have many options” when developing a HACCP plan, says Abigail Villalba, Virginia Tech extension staff affiliated with VASG. “But you have to choose the option that works for you and meets the HACCP requirements.”
For example, if your company produces crab cakes, you need to prevent pathogen survival. One way to do so is to fry the crab cakes and then test the final product, ensuring that it is pathogen-free. But this would require sending the product to a lab for testing, which you may not have access to.
Luckily, there are other scientifically proven ways to address these issues. In the case of crab cakes, for example, you could establish a validated cooking procedure that would eliminate pathogens and save you a trip to the lab, without compromising safety.
After the course, the HACCP process is just beginning. Having a reliable HACCP plan requires continuous reassessment and modification, and the attendees left with the tools and knowledge needed to do so. Says Jahncke, “The HACCP plan must be reassessed at least annually or more frequently if changes occur.”
Virginia Tech offers multiple HACCP trainings throughout the year in both English and Spanish, training more than 200 members of the seafood industry annually.
