Abstract
A hazard analysis and critical control point (HACCP) program is applied for the production of safe food worldwide. While the development of a product HACCP plan may take several months of effort, the resulting HACCP program for that product may be in place for several years. This paper provides a detailed review of the role of each step in HACCP programs for cream and butter products, which have wide application in many sectors of the food industry. These products are relatively limited shelf-life products. Therefore, HACCP analyses of these products are important issues for public health. Implementation of the HACCP program to production of bulk cream and butter products has proven to be a valuable tool for improving the safety and quality characteristics of both products. Chemical and microbiological results have shown that critical limits of all control measures defined for the critical control points (CCPs) in both cream and butter HACCP plans are in accordance with those generally recommended to ensure safe food production. The overall performance of cream and butter production plants after implementation of HACCP is judged satisfactory and further improvements are anticipated within the frame of a total quality system.