As a professional in the field of food safety, you’ve likely encountered terms like PRP, CCP, and OPRP, and may have found them somewhat perplexing. This guide aims to unravel these terminologies and provide clear explanations to enhance your understanding of food safety management.
The Origins of Food Safety Management
The concepts of Prerequisite Program (PRP) and Critical Control Point (CCP) originate from HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point), a strategic risk assessment tool developed by the Pillsbury Company and NASA in the 1960s. HACCP aims to identify specific hazards within processes, assess their importance, and devise effective controls to ensure such hazards don’t reach the consumer.
Operational Prerequisite Program (OPRP) is a term you might encounter if your food safety management aligns with ISO 22000 standards.
Over the decades since HACCP’s inception, many food safety standards, best practice codes, and regulatory guidelines have adapted and adopted HACCP principles, introducing their interpretations along the way.
The Purpose of Risk Assessment and Management
HACCP requires identifying potential hazards, determining their significance through risk assessment, and implementing appropriate control measures such as PRP, OPRP, and CCP. Various standards have attempted to define how risk assessment should be conducted and how control measures should be determined, leading to some confusion and complexity in HACCP plans.
In the context of food safety, the International Standards Organisation (ISO) defines a control measure as an action or activity that can prevent or eliminate a food safety hazard or reduce it to an acceptable level. Control measures are categorised into PRP, CCP, and OPRP.
Categories of Control Measures
Prerequisite Program (PRP)
PRPs are the basic conditions and activities necessary to maintain a hygienic environment throughout the food chain suitable for producing safe food. These programs are often described as Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), Good Hygienic Practices (GHP), and Good Agricultural Practices (GAP), among others.
Examples of PRPs in a food manufacturing environment include:
Construction and layout of buildings and associated utilities
Layout of premises, including workspace and employee facilities
Supplies of air, water, energy, and other utilities
Supporting services, including waste and sewage disposal
Suitability of equipment and its accessibility for cleaning, maintenance, and preventive maintenance
Management of purchased materials and supplies
Measures for the prevention of cross-contamination
Cleaning and sanitising
Pest control
Personnel hygiene.
PRPs are general to the process and not focused on any particular step. They have the characteristic that their failure does not necessarily lead to an immediate and imminent food safety risk.
Critical Control Point (CCP)
CCPs are specific steps in a food process at which control must be implemented to prevent, eliminate, or reduce a food safety hazard to acceptable levels. CCPs are identified through a HACCP study and typically require critical limits, monitoring, corrective actions, verification, and record-keeping.
Examples of CCPs include:
Cooking
Cooling
Reheating.
CCPs are critical because they are directly related to specific steps in the process where control must be applied to ensure food safety.
Operational Prerequisite Program (OPRP)
OPRPs are control measures identified as critical to controlling the likelihood of introducing food safety hazards or the contamination or proliferation of these hazards in the product(s) or processing environment. OPRPs are essential for reducing the likelihood of a specific hazard’s occurrence.
Examples of OPRPs include:
Metal detection
Sieving
Specific temperature or humidity control in storage.
OPRPs differ from CCPs in that they are not critical control points but are essential in reducing the risk of specific hazards.
Determining and Applying Control Points
When determining control points, a systematic approach such as a decision tree can help identify whether a hazard should be controlled as a CCP, PRP, or OPRP.
Simple Decision Tree
Is the step designed to eliminate or reduce a food safety hazard to an acceptable level?
Yes: Consider as a CCP
No: Proceed to the next question
Is the step necessary to control the likelihood of introducing food safety hazards or contamination?
Yes: Consider as an OPRP
No: Consider as a PRP
CODEX Decision Tree
The CODEX decision tree focuses on whether the hazard should be controlled as a CCP, helping ensure a logical and consistent approach to determining control measures.
Applying These Steps in the Future
Understanding the application and definition of control points within your food safety management framework is crucial. This knowledge ensures that the control measures implemented are effective and appropriate for mitigating risks and ensuring the production of safe and high-quality food. Adopting robust systems and methodologies can enhance the effectiveness of your food safety management system.
By comprehensively understanding and correctly applying PRP, CCP, and OPRP, food safety professionals can better manage hazards and ensure the production of safe food products for consumers.
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