HACCP plans and operating procedures are adaptable to any food production, processing, or distribution activity. The food industry began realizing a number of years ago that the lack of proper food-handling procedures could lead to very drastic situations concerning food-borne microorganisms, toxic chemicals, and physical contaminants. The national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report that we in the United States experience between 4 to 7 million cases of food-borne illness resulting in 5,000 deaths and $3 billion to $6 billion in costs annually. The U.S. food distribution and marketing system is a potential source for these causative agents.

Federal, state, and local food regulatory agencies, along with other food educational and organizational groups, are working to implement the HACCP Food Safety Program in the entire food chain ? from producers and growers to processors, and on to the marketing and distribution channels.

The operating principles of HACCP systems are applicable to any of the food chain activities and to any size of business. The critical areas within supermarkets and other food sales and marketing areas that have a potential to cause consumer harm are essentially the same whether the operation is a large, multifunctional store or a small mom-and-pop grocery and/or deli.

The entire concept of the HACCP program is to provide the consumer with a safe consumable product. The responsibility for producing and marketing these safe products rests with the food industry. Workers in retail food establishments must understand the hazards that are present and the effects these hazards might have on anyone consuming your products.
People in the United States do not go to the supermarket with any fear concerning the safety of the food that they purchase and take home. The majority of food-borne illnesses related to retail food operations are not created in the food store. They are created at home or in a restaurant.

Nevertheless, because of the large complex distribution system that we use to deliver our food from the supplier to the consumer, any situation that arises concerning the safety of the food product can result in literally hundreds of people becoming ill. The Critical Control Points (CCP) can range from the bacteria spread on the knife or slicer in the meat department to an improper chemical sanitizer used in the deli to a light bulb that inadvertently falls into the mixer in the bakery.

The HACCP program is designed so that we are aware of the Critical Control Points that we have within our establishment, and that we ensure that these critical factors are monitored in such a way as to produce a safe food supply.