Critical control points along the organic food supply chain

Summary

Within the framework of “Organic HACCP” a systematic analysis was carried out among selected certified organic food production chains (wheat bread, cabbage, tomatoes, apples, wine, eggs, milk) to investigate current procedures of production management and quality assurance related to the chains. Relevant critical control points (CCPs) were accordingly assessed for the single management steps of production, wholesale, processing, transport and retail.
Therefore, a questionnaire was set up by experts knowledgeable in the areas of seven quality and safety criteria such as microbial toxins and abiotic contaminants, nutrient content and food additives, pathogens, freshness and taste, natural plant toxicants, fraud, social and ethical aspects. Questions were formulated with regard to the areas of consumer concerns. A database was established to carry out the analysis of collected data representing several regions typical for the selected commodity and to overview the management steps and their critical control points.
The database contains information on i) the background of the CCPs, ii) the quantitative risk related to other chains in the analysis or, if relevant, compared with data from other studies, iii) how and why the step is controlled in the chain or suggestions of means for improved control and, iv) discussions in relation to the differences between the chains.
Possibilities which may alleviate the problem at a later stage, if relevant, are also included. The lecture will highlight examples of critical control points along organic food chains.