Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) refers to a system that is established and instituted to monitor all stages of a processing or manufacturing operation to ensure that the final product is not compromised because of microbial contamination. Originally, HACCP was devised for the food processing industry. Now, HACCP has expanded to include the manufacture of pharmaceuticals and other products that could be affected by unwanted growth of microorganisms.

The global scope of the HACCP program reflects the susceptibility of, for example, a food to contamination from different microorganisms at different stages of the processing pathway. The altered storage conditions, physical state and chemistry of the food, and shipping conditions can select for the growth of different microbes. The absence of microbes as a food enters a plant is no guarantee that the...