Safe to the Last Drop: A First-Hand NCIMS HACCP Pilot Experience
In 1997, the National Conference on Interstate Milk Shipments (NCIMS) appointed a committee of regulatory officials and industry and academic professionals to address how a Hazard Analysis & Critical Control Points (HACCP) system could be implemented, evaluated, monitored and enforced under the NCIMS as a voluntary alternative to the traditional Inspection/Rating/Check rating system used in the dairy industry. (See “Got HACCP?” for information on HACCP as it relates to the dairy industry). The HACCP concept, noted the committee, would enable those operating under and regulating under a HACCP system to move to a preventive approach, whereby food safety hazards are identified and controlled in the manufacturing environment.
As a result, the NCIMS HACCP Committee developed a pilot program for dairy processing plants, which was authorized as a voluntary program at the 1999 NCIMS Conference. The goals of this program, as set forth by the committee, are to:
• Use current National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods (NACMCF) HACCP principles that are consistent with current U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) HACCP recommendations;
• Continue to assure at least the same level of milk safety provided by the traditional Inspection/Rating/Check Rating System; and to