What is a Critical Control Point (CCP)?

What is a Critical Control Point (CCP)?

A Critical Control Point (CCP) is a step in a food production or preparation process where a control measure can be applied to prevent, eliminate, or reduce a food safety hazard to an acceptable level. CCPs are the cornerstone of the HACCP system.

Examples of CCPs in food businesses

• Cooking: Cooking poultry to an internal temperature of 75°C eliminates Salmonella and Campylobacter
• Chilling: Rapid cooling of cooked food from 60°C to 5°C controls bacterial growth
• Metal detection: In food manufacturing, a metal detector after packaging is a CCP for physical contamination
• Pasteurisation: In dairy processing, pasteurisation is a CCP for pathogen elimination
• pH control: Acidification of certain products to below pH 4.6 controls Clostridium botulinum

How is a CCP identified?

CCPs are identified using the HACCP Decision Tree — a logical sequence of questions that determines whether a specific control measure at a specific process step constitutes a true CCP, as opposed to a Prerequisite Program (PRP) or a general good practice step.

CCP vs control measure vs prerequisite program

Not every control step is a CCP. A CCP is specifically a step where failure to control would result in an unacceptable food safety risk to the consumer. General hygiene measures (handwashing, cleaning) are prerequisite programs. Monitoring temperature at delivery might be a control measure. Cooking to a validated temperature is a CCP.

Over-designating CCPs weakens your HACCP system — focus on the steps where control is truly critical.