HACCP: A Commitment to Food Safety

The Barth-Haas Group is a quality driven company, committed to total customer satisfaction, through teamwork, innovative product specification/development, and improvement. As part of a continued commitment to providing safe and quality hop products, the Barth-Haas Group has developed and implemented HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point) programs at all its company locations.

HACCP is an internationally recognized management system focused on the prevention of food related safety problems. The philosophy of HACCP is one of a common sense and proactive approach to food safety, where safety issues are addressed during production and not solely through end-product testing. In developing a HACCP program, all aspects of production, from raw material acquisition to storage and distribution of finished product, are examined. Determinations are made as to whether the food product is liable to a safety threat from a naturally occurring or process-induced hazards. Hazards are biological (principally microbiological), chemical, and/or physical properties of a food product that have the potential to injure or cause illness when the food product is consumed. Through HACCP, existing or potential hazards are identified, and a system is put in place to effectively control/eliminate the presence of the hazard in the finished food product.

The HACCP programs that have been developed and implemented by the Barth-Haas Group of companies are based on a solid foundation of Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs) and Sanitation Standard Operating Procedures (SSOPs). Our HACCP programs adhere to the new EU regulation 852/2004 (scheduled to come into effective in 2006), a regulation that reinforces HACCP principles found in the Codex Alimentarius. HACCP is also a well recognized food safety program in the United States, and those interested in further information regarding HACCP may wish to consult the US FDA web site.

The development and implementation of HACCP programs is just another aspect of the Barth-Haas Group's continuing commitment to supplying its customers with safe, high quality, hop products.