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When a company operates in the food industry, working hygienically is a prerequisite for guaranteeing food safety for consumers. According to legislation, your organization must comply with fixed hygiene regulations and work according to HACCP guidelines. An important step in this is to draw up an HACCP plan. However, some sectors work with a hygiene code that can serve as an alternative. In this article we explain what the difference is and what may be applicable to your company.
An HACCP plan or a hygiene code?
If your company produces, processes or distributes food, you are required to draw up a process- or company-specific HACCP plan that can be assessed by the Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA). Setting up a good HACCP plan requires specific knowledge and time. Especially for smaller companies such as bakeries, butchers, catering establishments and healthcare institutions, this can be a challenge.
This is why industry-specific hygiene codes have been developed. A hygiene code is a practical handbook prepared by industry and sector organizations with HACCP guidelines specific to that sector. These hygiene codes are officially recognized and may be used as a replacement for one's own HACCP plan. For smaller companies such as bakers, butchers, catering or health care institutions, this makes it easier to comply with legal obligations.
The advantages of a hygiene code
Using a hygiene code brings several advantages compared to drawing up your own HACCP plan or having it drawn up:
- The hazard inventory and the drawing up of control measures no longer need to be carried out, because this is already laid down in the code;
- Important hazards are not overlooked because they have already been established;
- The code may be used to replace an HACCP plan. This saves a lot of work, and thus time and money;
- Companies only have to use those parts of the hygiene code that are important for business operations.
Application of hygiene codes
Specific hygiene codes have been drawn up for various sectors and are usually reviewed every three to five years and revised as necessary. Sectors such as poultry slaughterhouses, butcher shops, AGF retail, fish retail, and bread and pastry bakeries can use these codes. However, for some sectors, such as greenhouse construction (horticulture), there is no appropriate hygiene code. Companies in such sectors often have unique process steps that are not included in a standard code and therefore must create their own HACCP plan.
Learn more about food safety
Food suppliers must demonstrate food safety, according to HACCP guidelines or a recognized hygiene code, in order to comply with laws and regulations. Would you like to know what the HACCP guidelines entail and how food hygiene can be secured in practice? Then download our white paper 'Setting up a food-safe hygiene process', with extensive background information on HACCP, hygiene codes and practical applicability.
