Step 7: Identification of Critical Control Points (CCPs and others)
HACCP method ? A practical approach

This is clearly another key step—and, for some, a decisive one—in the very existence of an HACCP plan in the absence of true CCPs! This view is somewhat extreme and rigid; it overlooks the very essence of the HACCP approach, which is, for the company, to integrate food safety concerns into the virtuous cycle of continuous improvement. This is expressed by the Codex, which, in its great wisdom and in the 1999 revision of the founding text, emphasizes the need for flexibility in its application and in the use of flowcharts for identifying CCPs. This flexibility, however, must not preclude a certain degree of rigor in defining CCPs.