CHA Principles of HACCP 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which of the following best describes the role of prerequisite programs (PRPs) in relation to HACCP?
- PRPs replace CCPs for low-risk operations
- PRPs control general hygiene conditions so HACCP can focus on significant hazards (Correct answer)
- PRPs are optional once a HACCP plan is fully implemented
- PRPs are documented within the HACCP plan itself
Correct answer: PRPs control general hygiene conditions so HACCP can focus on significant hazards
PRPs like GMP and SSOP manage the baseline food safety environment, allowing the HACCP plan to focus specifically on significant, identified hazards.
Question 2: When a HACCP team determines that a processing step controls a significant hazard but a critical limit cannot be validated, what is the appropriate course of action?
- Designate the step as a CCP with a best-guess critical limit
- Remove the hazard from the hazard analysis
- Redesign the process or product so the hazard can be adequately controlled (Correct answer)
- Transfer control of the hazard to a prerequisite program
Correct answer: Redesign the process or product so the hazard can be adequately controlled
If a valid critical limit cannot be established for a step, the process must be redesigned to ensure the hazard is effectively controlled before HACCP implementation.
Question 3: Which of the following is NOT one of the seven original HACCP principles as defined by Codex Alimentarius?
- Conduct a hazard analysis
- Determine critical control points
- Establish a recall procedure (Correct answer)
- Establish record-keeping and documentation procedures
Correct answer: Establish a recall procedure
While recall procedures are important to food safety management, they are not one of the seven HACCP principles; the principles focus on in-process hazard control.
Question 4: A HACCP auditor finds that a company's monitoring frequency at a CCP was changed without updating the HACCP plan. This finding most directly relates to which HACCP principle?
- Principle 2 – CCP Determination
- Principle 4 – Monitoring (Correct answer)
- Principle 6 – Verification
- Principle 7 – Record Keeping
Correct answer: Principle 4 – Monitoring
Monitoring procedures, including frequency, are defined under Principle 4; any change must be documented in the HACCP plan through the reassessment process.
Question 5: In a hazard analysis, the HACCP team concludes that Listeria monocytogenes is a significant biological hazard. What factor most likely drove this conclusion?
- Low likelihood but extremely severe health consequences for vulnerable populations (Correct answer)
- High regulatory inspection frequency for Listeria
- Presence of Listeria in ingredient supplier documentation
- Absence of a validated kill step in the process
Correct answer: Low likelihood but extremely severe health consequences for vulnerable populations
Listeria is often classified as significant due to its severe outcomes (high mortality) in at-risk groups even when occurrence probability may be relatively low.
Question 6: Which record type is specifically required to demonstrate that a corrective action was taken and effective at a CCP?
- Calibration log
- Corrective action record (Correct answer)
- Supplier verification record
- Prerequisite program audit report
Correct answer: Corrective action record
Corrective action records document what deviation occurred, the action taken to restore control, and how affected product was handled, fulfilling Principle 7 requirements.
Question 7: A HACCP plan for a ready-to-eat deli meat facility identifies slicing as a step. The team debates whether slicing is a CCP. What question from the CCP decision tree is most decisive?
- Does a hazard exist at this step?
- Is this step specifically designed to eliminate or reduce the hazard to acceptable levels?
- Will a subsequent step eliminate the hazard? (Correct answer)
- Is the hazard controlled by a prerequisite program?
Correct answer: Will a subsequent step eliminate the hazard?
The decision tree asks whether a later step will control the hazard; for RTE products with no kill step after slicing, slicing becomes critical because cross-contamination introduced there will not be eliminated.
CHA Principles of HACCP 3
Which of the following best describes the role of prerequisite programs (PRPs) in relation to HACCP?