What does the acronym "HACCP" stand for?

HACCP stands for Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points. USDA(United States Department of Agriculture) sees the application of HACCP to the meat and poultry industry as a process control system that can be used to prevent hazards to the food supply and a tool in the control, reduction, and prevention of pathogens in meat and poultry.

HACCP has been increasingly applied to industries other than food, such as cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. This method, which in effect seeks to plan out unsafe practices based on science and differs from traditional "produce and sort" quality control methods that do nothing to prevent hazards from occurring and must identify them at the end of the process. HACCP is focused only on the health safety issues of a product and not the quality of the product. HACCP principles are the basis of most food quality and safety assurance systems. In the United States HACCP plans allow both industry and government to allocate their resources efficiently in establishing and auditing safe food production practices.