TACCP / VACCP

TACCP / VACCP

April 2015

We have spent the last ten years refining our HACCP systems and now retailers are requiring TACCP (Threat Analysis Critical Control Point) and VACCP (Vulnerability Analysis Critical Control Point).  Do threats and vulnerabilities have to be dealt with through a separate management system or can they be incorporated into our existing HACCP?

The key to making HACCP a management system that production, engineering, supply chain and not just technical understood was to make it logical, logic works in the Food Industry.  Central to this logical approach was the need “to control reasonable hazards”.  Unfortunately when it comes to TACCP /VACCP “reasonable” is a word that is rarely used.  Threats to business usually originate from “unreasonable” people or organisations but unfortunately this is the world we live in when it comes to supply chain management.

The first step for any Technical Manager is to source a guidance standard which will offer some advice.  PAS 96:2014 is such a starting point and when Tesco, McDonalds, J. Sainsbury, Hilton Food Group, Heineken and the Food Standards Agency (FSA) contribute to such a document it carries significant weight.

Personally I believe that TACCP is an unfortunate term as it implies that there will be CCPs in the same way that HACCP does.  This will not be the case as all the threats and vulnerabilities will be controlled by an FBOs pre-requisite programme.

Author: Denis Kiely

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