How HACCP sets the Standard for Food Safety in 2025

For food brands, ensuring safety and compliance means working with suppliers who understand and implement HACCP principles at every step. From preventing contamination to meeting audit expectations, HACCP isn't just for processors, it's the backbone of a trustworthy supply chain. 

What is HACCP?

HACCP stands for Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points. At its core, it’s a proactive approach to food safety that helps identify and prevent potential hazards before they happen. 

Based on 7 principles, HACCP encourages businesses to get ahead of the risks before problems appear. HACCP acts as safety net designed specifically for businesses handling food at all levels, whether producing food or packaging it. 

Simply put, HACCP is about spotting points in the process where something could go wrong and putting controls in place to stop those dangers from reaching the end consumer.

Why HACCP Matters More Than Ever

With stricter government regulations in place, packaged food companies can’t afford to take shortcuts. Having a Food Safety Plan is a legal requirement throughout parts of North America, including Canada, and HACCP compliance is the most effective way to meet those standards. 

A HACCP-compliant Food Safety Plan helps you: 

• Protect Your Brand: Food safety incidents can be devastating to a company’s reputation and bottom line. Implementing HACCP lowers that risk significantly.
• Build Consumer Trust: When customers know you have solid safety measures, they’re more likely to trust and buy your products again and again.
• Streamline Operations: By focusing on potential hazards upfront, HACCP helps create standardized procedures that improve efficiency and reduce waste.
• Simplify Audits: Regulatory agencies and many retailers (Loblaws, Walmart, Costco, etc) expect HACCP plans, so having one in place keeps inspections smooth and stress-free.

The 7 Principles of HACCP

HACCP is a structured system built around these seven principles:

1. Conduct a Hazard Analysis: 

       Identify any risks in your production process.

2. Determine Critical Control Points (CCPs): 

       Figure out where in your process hazards can be controlled or eliminated.

3. Establish Critical Limits: 

       Set limits (ie. temperature or time) that must be met at CCPs.

4. Monitor CCPs: 

       Put systems in place to continually track these points.

5. Take Corrective Actions: 

       Define what you’ll do if a CCP goes beyond its limit.

6. Recordkeeping: 

       Keep detailed documentation to prove that safety controls are in place.

7. Verification: 

       Regularly check to ensure your HACCP plan is working effectively.

HACCP and IFS PACsecure Certified Packaging: The Unsung Hero

While HACCP is often associated with food processing, packaging plays an equally critical role in food production. Packaging can introduce contaminants or fail to protect food from environmental hazards if not properly managed. That’s why partnering with IFS PACsecure certified packaging suppliers matters. This certification integrates HACCP principles directly into packaging manufacturing, ensuring your packaging is produced under the same rigorous safety standards as your food. 

Working with a certified partner like Associated Labels and Packaging means fewer risks, smoother audits and complete peace of mind knowing your supply chain is HACCP-aligned from start to finish. 

Wrapping It Up: Why implement HACCP strategies? 

HACCP is a roadmap to building a safer food system from farm to fork. If you want to ensure the food leaving your facility is safe, consistent, and trustworthy, HACCP principles are straightforward, tried, trusted and true ways to ensure compliance all around. 

Whether you’re reviewing your existing HACCP plan or implementing one for the first time, remember this: food safety is a team effort. Your suppliers, your packaging partners, and every employee in your production line all contribute to the big picture.

Have questions about HACCP or how our IFS PACsecure certification supports compliance? Get in touch with us at Associated Labels and Packaging today.