Lesson 5: Developing and Implementing a Food Safety Plan

In this final lesson, we’ll cover how to develop and implement a food safety plan for your business.

What is a food safety plan?

A food safety plan is a written document that outlines the steps your business will take to prevent foodborne illness. A food safety plan typically includes:

  • A hazard analysis, which identifies potential food safety hazards in your business
  • Critical control points (CCPs), which are the points in your food preparation process where you can control or prevent a food safety hazard
  • Monitoring procedures, which describe how you will monitor the CCPs to ensure that they are effective
  • Corrective actions, which describe what you will do if a CCP is not working as intended
  • Recordkeeping procedures, which describe how you will keep records of your food safety plan and any monitoring or corrective actions

Developing a food safety plan

To develop a food safety plan for your business, you can follow these steps:

  • Conduct a hazard analysis to identify potential food safety hazards in your business
  • Determine the critical control points (CCPs) where you can control or prevent the hazards
  • Establish monitoring procedures to ensure that the CCPs are working as intended
  • Develop corrective actions to take if a CCP is not working as intended
  • Establish recordkeeping procedures to keep track of your food safety plan and any monitoring or corrective actions

Implementing a food safety plan

Once you’ve developed a food safety plan for your business, you’ll need to implement it. To implement your food safety plan:

  • Train your staff on the procedures outlined in the plan
  • Monitor the CCPs regularly to ensure that they are effective
  • Take corrective actions if a CCP is not working as intended
  • Keep accurate records of your food safety plan and any monitoring or corrective actions

Conclusion

By developing and implementing a food safety plan for your business, you’ll be able to prevent foodborne illness and provide a safe and healthy environment for your customers and staff alike.