Street HACCP: Paving the Way for Small Retail Operations
We all have a favorite restaurant where we delight in the quality of the fare and trust in the establishment’s pride, ability and commitment to serve wholesome and safe foods. Their offerings are both pleasing to the eye and to the palate. We return regularly to these favorite haunts with family and friends and we recommend them to our colleagues and relations. Regardless of their ambiance, we know that we will not be disappointed. As a patron, we instinctively have no fear of foodborne illness when we dine there.
I have always been curious as to the reason for these restaurants’ popularity. What makes these establishments unique and why do they stand out from all the rest? Surely, it’s not the setting. Among the potpourri of my favorites are a very modest Quonset hut diner in Woodstock, VT; a four-star restaurant in Ivoryton, CT; a mom-and-pop cheesesteak purveyor in South Philadelphia, and a burger bar in Dearborn, MI. In each case, I befriended the owner and asked to be shown the operation. Even though my visits to these eateries were social events and not inspections, I could not help but view the kitchens and their operations through the eyes of a sanitarian. Without exception, there is a commonality amongst all of them: attention to detail and pride in the quality of the food received and prepared. In each case, the word “fresh” has a very real meaning, where freshness is measured by quality and punctuated by time and temperature.
It dawned on me that these establishments have their own brand of Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP). The simplicity is in their consistency of operational controls. They have no formal hazard analysis decision tree; monitoring is largely confined to the receipt of foods and temperature holding times, which is dictated by the food turnover rate and meal service. Each keeps records, albeit minimal at best, such as receiving reports and temperature recovery of their refrigeration equipment. Their verification and correctional measure procedures are certainly not formal. More often than not, these consist of righteous indignation, minced oaths and immediate corrective action—repeat mistakes are not tolerated.
In defining what they do, these operators affectionately refer to their brand of food safety strategy as “Street HACCP.” The term was coined several years ago by Capt. Chuck Higgins of the Public Health Service who was assigned to the National Park Service Public Health Program. He, like many of us food safety professionals, believes that formal HACCP programs can be overkill, and therefore cumbersome, for small-sized food retail establishments. Because there are programmatic aspects of a formal HACCP program that can be quite difficult to implement on a smaller scale, we recognize the need for flexibility and common sense. Street HACCP involves modifying the seven HACCP principles such that they are easily integrated and become a natural part of the small retailer’s operation, both in terms of logistics and food safety objectives.