The HACCP Concept

HACCP is an internationally recognized concept of assuring the safety of foods intended for human consumption. Riverwest Processing, Inc. is HACCP certified by the American Council for Food Safety & Quality which verifies that our HACCP plan is appropriate and meets all HACCP requirements.

The Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) system is a preventative system for assuring the safe production of food products. This system can effectively reduce, eliminate and prevent the likelihood of an occurrence of a significant hazard during food production.

The HACCP concept covers all types of potential food safety hazards – Biological, Physical, and Chemical – whether they naturally occur in food, are contributed by the environment or originate from a mistake in the manufacturing process.

Biological Hazard
Microorganisms that have the potential to cause illness or injury
Molds and yeasts
Salmonella
Aflatoxins

Physical Hazard
Potentially harmful extraneous matter not normally found in food
Rocks
Glass
Hard plastic
Metal

Chemical Hazard
Naturally occurring substances, intentionally added substances or unintentionally added chemicals/substances
Allergens
Color or nutritional additives
Agricultural chemicals, cleaning chemicals, lubricants, paints, etc.

Riverwest’s detailed HACCP Plan provides the framework used in our everyday operations including:
Education and Training of Employees
Quality Systems Procedures
Sanitation Standard Operating Programs (SSOPs)
Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP’s)
Good Agricultural Practices (GAP’s)
Compliance with all Laws and Regulations

Our HACCP Plan has established roots in the field through effective communication between our field representatives and grower base. Continued emphasis is placed on following GAP’s in the field. In this way we can ensure that contributions to food safety are maintained at all levels of production.

Our plan provides employees and customers of Riverwest with a description of company policy for maintaining an effective and economical food quality system planned and developed in conjunction with HACCP. This plan was developed by following the seven principals listed below for establishing, implementing, and monitoring a HACCP plan.

Conduct an onsite Hazard Analysis. Prepare a list of steps in the process where significant hazards could occur and describe the preventative measures.

Identify CCP’s in the process. A Critical Control Point is a procedure at which control can be applied and a food safety hazard can be prevented, eliminated or reduced to an acceptable level.

Establish critical limits for preventive measures associated with each identified CCP.

Establish CCP monitoring requirements in conjunction with procedures for using the results of monitoring to adjust the process and maintain control.

Establish corrective actions to be taken when monitoring indicates that there is a deviation from an established critical limit.

Establish effective record-keeping procedures that document the HACCP system.

Establish procedures for verification that the HACCP system is working correctly.

The Riverwest HACCP Plan is successful primarily due to continued management and employee commitment, ongoing training, and scheduled reconvening of the HACCP team for an annual audit of systems in place.

Our promise of providing Riverwest customers with high quality, safe almond products is obtained through our continued commitment to both the HACCP Plan and all supporting programs.