A critical control point is a step in a food production process at which a control measure is essential to prevent, eliminate or reduce a food-safety hazard to an acceptable level, and is a core element of any HACCP plan.
In trade practice
Each critical control point must have defined critical limits, a monitoring procedure, records and documented corrective actions. Common examples in frozen fruit processing include metal detection, blanching temperature and freezing rate. GFSI auditors verify that critical limits are scientifically justified and that out-of-limit events trigger documented corrective actions. Buyers may request sight of the HACCP plan or a summary during supplier approval.
In a specification
A supplier quality questionnaire or audit checklist typically asks for the number and nature of critical control points in the production process, the critical limits applied and evidence that monitoring records are maintained.