Food safety, HACCP and document management
CSIA supports food businesses in managing the obligations related to food hygiene, traceability, HACCP procedures and documentation. The aim is to set up a self-monitoring system that is consistent with the actual activity, up to date and applicable in day-to-day management.
For a food business, having a manual is not enough: the documentation must be specific, suited to the premises and processes, prepared before start-up and kept up to date over time. CSIA supports the client at every stage of this process.
The HACCP manual must genuinely reflect the activity
A generic document, out of date or inconsistent with the actual premises and processes, is not a useful tool: it is just a paper formality. CSIA helps the company build something concrete and applicable.
Activities that require an HACCP system
The “Hygiene Package” (EC Regs. 178/02, 852/2004 and 1169/2011) requires food businesses to ensure the wholesomeness and traceability of food. The activities involved are many and varied.
A path built on the reality of the business
To draw up an effective HACCP Self-Monitoring Manual, you need to start from a direct analysis of the premises, processes and operating practices. Not from a standard document.
Site inspection
Analysis of the premises where food is prepared, cooked, served, stored or packaged.
Process assessment
Gathering of operational information on the activities, flows, critical points and ways food is handled.
Drafting of the Manual
Preparation of the HACCP Self-Monitoring Manual, specific and suited to the production reality and the premises surveyed.
Updating and assistance
Ongoing support to keep documentation and procedures consistent with the development of the activity.
Clear, specific and documented procedures
The HACCP Self-Monitoring Manual gathers the procedures the company adopts to manage food hygiene and safety. It should not be a standard document copied from a generic template, but a tool built on the production reality, the premises, the processes and the ways food is handled.
The documentation must be prepared before the activity starts and must be constantly updated. An out-of-date manual, or one inconsistent with the processes in place, does not fulfil its function, either operationally or from a regulatory standpoint.
The principles behind the HACCP system
The HACCP method is built on seven principles that guide the identification, control and management of food safety risks.
Identification of hazards
Analysis of the likely biological, chemical and physical hazards associated with the processes and the food handled.
Identification of the CCPs
Identification of the critical control points where risks can be prevented, eliminated or reduced.
Setting of the limits
Determination of the limit values for each critical control point, beyond which the process is not safe.
Monitoring of the CCPs
Systematic control procedures to verify that the critical points stay within the established limits.
Corrective actions
Identification of the measures to adopt when monitoring detects that the set limits have been exceeded.
Verification of the processes
Management of the verification activities to confirm that the HACCP system works correctly over time.
Recording and documentation
Collection and archiving of the documentation required by the regulations, as evidence that the system works correctly.
Ongoing assistance with obligations
CSIA supports the company with the formal obligations required by current regulations, helping to keep order between documentation, procedures, updates and records during ordinary operations.
Food hygiene
Support in managing the obligations related to hygiene in the production, preparation, storage and serving of food, under the Hygiene Package.
Traceability and documentation
Assistance in managing food traceability and in preparing the related records and documentation.
Updating of the procedures
Support in keeping the Manual and the operating procedures up to date with the development of the activity, the premises and the regulations.
CSIA also provides consultancy on FCM — food contact materials and objects. This is a specific topic concerning packaging, containers, equipment and surfaces that may interact with food products, with potential implications for safety and regulatory compliance.
The support provided takes the applicable provisions into account, without extending to assessments for which specialist consultancy of a different kind would be required.
More orderly management of food safety
Entrusting food safety to CSIA means having technical support in understanding the obligations, preparing the documentation and updating the procedures. The service helps the company turn HACCP from a mere formality into a concrete management system.
The process always starts from the site inspection and the analysis of the actual activity, because only with a direct understanding of the premises and processes is it possible to build a manual that is applicable and useful over time.
Correct documents, applicable procedures, greater peace of mind.
CSIA supports businesses in managing food safety, helping them prepare and keep up to date the manuals, procedures and documentation needed to operate with greater order and awareness.
