The dairy industry has seen many regulatory changes, including the incorporation of the FSMA Preventive Controls Rule within the Pasteurized Milk Ordinance
Shortly after I started working as a Quality Assurance Manager two decades ago, one of the supervisors in production told me that Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) programs would not be around in the years ahead, as they would eventually become obsolete. Some 20-plus years later, HACCP is still alive and well. Many of the techniques used in creating a HACCP plan are shared with other types of plans, such as food quality and food defense plans. Determining what is critical to monitor, monitoring those parameters in real time, responding when a deviation occurs, and documenting each step along the way are the hallmarks of a successful HACCP plan.
Early in my career as Quality Assurance Manager at Gossner Foods Inc., I took a HACCP workshop presented by Northwest Food Processors Association, McDonald's Corporation, Campbell Soup Company, and National Food Lab Inc. My main takeaway from the workshop was that there was an abundance of opinions about HACCP (this was in 1994), particularly regarding how to implement and maintain the system. Gossner Foods already had a HACCP System in place, although it was elaborate and cumbersome to understand and implement. There were no regulatory requirements for dairy HACCP at the time, but many of our customers required that we have a system in place.