The Food Safety Guide: HACCP, Regulations, and Food Safety & Quality Management

Food safety is a fundamental responsibility for the food and beverage industry. Every day, billions of consumers worldwide trust that the products they purchase are safe for consumption. But ensuring food safety is a complex challenge that requires rigorous management systems, regulatory compliance, and proactive risk mitigation strategies.

In this FAQ-style guide, we’ll answer the most common and important questions surrounding food safety, HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point), and food safety and quality management systems.

What is food safety, and why is it important?

What is the difference between food safety and food quality? 

What are the four main types of food hazards?

What is HACCP, and why is it essential in food safety management?

How does HACCP differ from HARPC?

What are PRPs, OPRPs, and CCPs, and how do they relate to HACCP?

What is the role of Prerequisite Programs (PRPs) vs HACCP in Food Safety Management?

What are some major food safety regulations worldwide?

What is the impact of food recalls on companies?

How do food safety audits help ensure compliance and reduce risk of recalls?

How can digital solutions improve food safety management?

Why is food safety & food quality best managed in a unified food safety & quality management system?

Conclusion: The Future of Food Safety Management

What is food safety, and why is it important?

Food safety refers to the practices, regulations, and procedures that ensure food is free from adulterants and safe to consume. It involves identifying, assessing, and controlling hazards that can cause foodborne illnesses or injuries.

Unsafe food can lead to severe health consequences, including foodborne outbreaks, hospitalizations, and deaths. According to the FDA and CDC, foodborne pathogens cause over 128,000 hospitalizations and 3,000 deaths annually in the U.S. alone.

What is the difference between food safety and food quality? 

Food safety ensures that a product is free from any harm to consumers during usage (handling) and consumption. Food safety is not only regulated, it is also a fundamental human right. Although food is a basic necessity, it can only truly be considered food when it is safe. Food safety management is science-based, relying on rigorous standards, research, and systematic approaches such as HACCP to prevent harm from hazards. Food safety is a recognized area of non-compete between companies and brands. 

Food quality refers to the characteristics of a product (including both foods and beverages) that aim to meet consumer expectations, covering aspects such as sensory experience (e.g. taste, texture, color, smell), nutrition, cost, and convenience. These qualities are typically defined by the product’s formulation, and its packaging. Food companies fiercely compete to provide higher quality products, aiming to gain consumer preference over their competitors.

What are the four main types of food hazards?

Food hazards can be categorized into four main types:

1. Biological hazards – e.g. bacteria (Salmonella, E. coli), viruses (Norovirus), parasites, and fungi.
2. Chemical hazards – e.g. naturally occurring toxins, pesticides, heavy metals (lead, mercury), or cleaning agents.
3. Physical hazards – Foreign objects like glass, metal, or plastic fragments in food.
4. Allergenic hazards – substances in food that can cause an allergic reaction in some people. Allergens are often proteins and can be found in many foods and drinks (e.g., peanuts, dairy, gluten, shellfish).

What is HACCP, and why is it essential in food safety management?

HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point) is a preventive food safety system that identifies and controls hazards (including biological, chemical, physical, allergens) in food production. The seven principles of HACCP are:

1. Hazard Analysis – Identify potential food safety hazards.
2. Critical Control Points (CCPs) – Pinpoint key stages where hazards must be controlled.
3. Critical Limits – Establish measurable safety thresholds (e.g., temperature, pH).
4. Monitoring Procedures – Ensure CCPs are consistently managed.
5. Corrective Actions – Develop plans for deviations from critical limits.
6. Verification Procedures – Confirm HACCP effectiveness through audits/testing.
7. Record-Keeping and Documentation – Maintain logs for traceability and compliance.

How does HACCP differ from HARPC?

A food safety plan is based on a HARPC (Hazard Analysis and Risk-Based Preventive Controls) plan. HARPC is a U.S. regulatory framework introduced under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). Unlike HACCP, which focuses on CCPs, HARPC mandates five types of preventive controls:

• Process Controls (similar to HACCP’s CCPs)
• Allergen Controls
• Sanitation Controls
• Supply Chain Controls
• Recall Plans

What are PRPs, OPRPs, and CCPs, and how do they relate to HACCP?

Prerequisite Programs (PRPs): These are foundational programs that create a hygienic environment necessary for food production, such as sanitation, pest control, and employee training.

Operational Prerequisite Programs (OPRPs): These address specific hazards but are not CCPs. OPRPs reduce the likelihood of hazards occurring, such as ensuring proper storage temperatures. The ISO 22000 standard for food safety management introduces the concept of A OPRP.

CCPs: These are the most crucial steps where hazards must be controlled to ensure food safety, such as pasteurization in dairy processing. The Codex Alimentarius defines the concept of a CCP as part of their definition of a HACCP system.

What is the role of Prerequisite Programs (PRPs) vs HACCP in Food Safety Management?

A proactive approach to food safety is essential to mitigate foodborne hazards. Combining Prerequisite Programs (PRPs) with HACCP systems effectively minimizes risks, ensuring food products are safe, high-quality, and compliant with regulations. PRPs establish the necessary hygiene and operational conditions for food production, forming the foundation for HACCP, which assumes these programs are in place.

PRPs address general hazards that could indirectly impact food safety, creating a clean and organized production environment. They include cleaning and sanitization procedures, pest control, and employee training in hygiene. By maintaining these fundamental practices, PRPs support a robust food safety system.

What are some major food safety regulations worldwide?

Globally, food regulations are based on the Codex Alimentarius, requiring the use of HACCP and prerequisite programs to ensure food safety. With FSMA, the US enacted the most significant deviation from HACCP, mandating a HARPC-based approach to food safety management.

• • Codex Alimentarius – International food safety standards.

• • FSMA (Food Safety Modernization Act) – Requires preventive controls (HARPC).
  • FDA HACCP – Mandatory for seafood, juice, and meat industries.

• • General Food Law Regulation (EC No. 178/2002) – Requires businesses to implement HACCP.

A food recall can have devastating effects on a brand’s reputation and finances. Recent major recalls include:

Recalls often lead to production shutdowns, regulatory fines, and loss of consumer trust. Implementing a robust food safety management system minimizes the risk of recalls and ensures compliance with regulatory standards.

How do food safety audits help ensure compliance and reduce risk of recalls?

Food safety audits are verification tools that assess a company's compliance with regulatory and industry standards. Audits help identify gaps in food safety practices before issues lead to costly recalls.

Common types of food safety audits:

• Internal Audits – Conducted by the company to ensure internal compliance.
• Third-Party Audits – Audits by Certification bodies to assess compliance to industry audit schemes.
• Supplier Audits - Conducted by manufacturers to ensure compliance to their supplier QFS standards. 
• Regulatory Audits – Government inspections to enforce compliance.

How can digital solutions improve food safety management?

Traditional food safety management often involves manual record-keeping, which can be inefficient and error-prone. Digital solutions like Veeva’s QualityOne modernize food safety by providing the following benefits:

1. Effectiveness: Create robust HACCP plans, based on up-to-date, harmonized data, with all hazards considered and their assessments completed. Define adequate controls, while also guarding against mistakes and omissions.
2. Efficiency: Automatically retrieve data from supporting systems, alerting HACCP teams about updates, creating draft records where possible. Allow teams to focus on essential tasks including hazard assessment, control measure creation and review and approval of drafted plans.
3. Compliance: Ensure adherence to global food safety standards and regulations, such as Codex Alimentarius, ISO 22000, GFSI and FSMA.
4. Governance: Gain oversight across your company’s full HACCP portfolio with integrated reporting & dashboards. Be alerted to differences and easily spot potential risks.
5. Collaboration: Strengthen food safety knowledge exchange between your subject matter experts and factory teams. Improve collaboration across your HACCP teams and easily communicate critical outcomes with factory workers.

See why Nestlé has partnered with Veeva to streamline food safety and quality processes, improve visibility and control over critical risks, and enable proactive quality management and compliance globally.

Why is food safety & food quality best managed in a unified food safety & quality management system?

Food safety and quality are best managed in a unified system because it streamlines processes, enhances collaboration, and ensures compliance. A single source of truth eliminates redundancies, reduces manual errors, and increases visibility across the supply chain.

A unified Food Safety & Quality Management system, like Veeva QualityOne, integrates HACCP, supplier verification, audit management, and recall processes, ensuring proactive risk management. It helps businesses shift from reactive to predictive food safety by leveraging real-time data analytics to identify and mitigate risks before issues arise.

Regulatory compliance is simplified with automated tracking, documentation, and audit readiness. Supplier collaboration is improved with real-time engagement and compliance verification, preventing unsafe ingredients from entering production.

By reducing the risk of recalls, compliance fines, and inefficiencies, a unified system lowers costs and enhances operational excellence. Its scalability and AI-readiness provide predictive insights and regulatory forecasting, keeping companies ahead of evolving food safety requirements.

Conclusion: The Future of Food Safety Management

The food and beverage industry must transition from reactive to predictive food safety management. This requires: 

• Unified, data-driven approach to food safety management
• Embracing digital solutions like QualityOne for HACCP automation. 
• Ensuring compliance with FSMA, HACCP, and food safety regulations globally. 
• Conducting regular food safety audits to confirm compliance to food safety regulations and industry standards ensuring trust across the food supply chain. 
• Enhancing traceability to protect consumers and maintain trust.

By adopting modern food safety solutions, food & beverage companies can strengthen brand integrity, prevent foodborne illnesses, and ensure long-term success.

For more information on how platform-based digital solutions like QualityOne can help modernize your food safety and compliance practices, contact one of Veeva Consumer Products’ food & beverage industry experts today.