HACCP
The overall systematic approach to identifying, evaluating, and controlling food-safety hazards.
Food-safety glossary
HACCP is a food-safety term about hazards and control.
This plain-language definition explains the term, a HACCP plan, and a critical control point without turning one food-safety concept into a universal checklist.
HACCP means Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points. FDA describes HACCP as a management system in which food safety is addressed through analysis and control of biological, chemical, and physical hazards across the food chain. Read the FDA overview.
Three related terms
The words are connected, but they are not the same thing.
Knowing the vocabulary can help a team discuss a food-safety topic more clearly. It does not identify what applies to a real product, facility, or process.
A HACCP plan
A written document based on HACCP principles that describes procedures for a particular context. This page does not provide, review, or validate one.
A critical control point
A term for a step where control can be applied and is essential to prevent, eliminate, or reduce a food-safety hazard. This page does not decide whether any real step is one.
Why context matters
A definition is useful. It is not a conclusion about a food business.
One word can appear in very different operating discussions.
Teams may use HACCP when they are talking about a product, ingredients, a process, a facility, distribution conditions, or a partner. Naming which context is being discussed can keep the conversation clear. It does not tell a team which hazards, controls, records, or requirements apply.
A terminology note
FDA guidance describes seven HACCP principles.
They include hazard analysis, critical control points, critical limits, monitoring, corrective actions, verification, and recordkeeping/documentation. This glossary names the concepts for orientation only.
Why this is not a how-to sequence
The FDA guidance describes the principles as part of a HACCP system, but also says systems need to be tailored to the individual product, process, and distribution conditions.
Glossary boundary: This page does not turn the principles into a checklist, decide which apply, or tell a visitor how to perform, validate, or approve a food-safety process.
What this glossary does not decide
This educational definition does not identify food-safety hazards, critical control points, critical limits, monitoring, procedures, corrective actions, verification, record requirements, or regulatory duties. It does not assess a product, formula, process, facility, supplier, co-packer, label, record, or launch; determine applicability or compliance; validate a plan or record; certify safety; or provide legal, regulatory, food-safety, quality, financial, accounting, tax, or operational advice.
Source note
Primary references for this definition
These sources support the terminology on this page. They are not a substitute for a brand’s own qualified reviewers, partners, or applicable authorities.
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