HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical control point) to guarantee safety in food recovery for social solidarity’s purposes

Abstract

FAO estimates that each year 1.3 billion tons of food is wasted almost 1/3 of the total production intended for human consumption.
The amount of food wasted each year in Italy is around 5.1 million tons, of which only 500.000 tons recovered (9% of food surplus).
During the last three years, in Italy there was an important increase of the number of charitable organizations (OCs) active in recovering and distributing food for social solidarity’s purposes.
The purpose of this study was to carry out hazards identification and potential risks analysis in the phases of recovery, collection, storage and distribution of food surplus with the aim to guarantee food safety among this supply chain.
Based on the results of the analysis, the main critical control points (CCPs) were identified to guarantee the microbiological quality and safety of food recovery: (i) the best practices for managing the recovery of the different categories of food, (ii) the control of the correct storage temperatures and (iii) the volunteers required training on good hygiene procedures.
The study of the CCPs allowed defining the significant prerequisite programme (PRP) that must be adopted by the OCs.
All the PRP have been collected in the Manual of Good Procedures for Charitable Organizations validated by Italian Ministry of Health in conformity to Regulation (EC) n. 852/2004.
Thanks to the Manual it has been also possible to write a simplified HACCP system for the benefit of the Centro di Raccolta Solidale per il Diritto al Cibo of Lodi.