What is the third HACCP principle?

• A. Conduct a hazard analysis
• B. Establish critical limits
• C. Establish verification procedures
• D. Establish monitoring procedures

Answer: (B)

The third HACCP principle is establishing critical limits for each critical control point. Critical limits are the specific criteria that separate safe from unsafe operation at a CCP—things like maximum or minimum cooking temperatures and times, cooling rates, pH, moisture (water activity), or allowable chemical residues. They come from scientific data or regulatory requirements and must be measurable and verifiable. When monitoring shows a limit is exceeded, corrective actions are taken to bring the process back into control and prevent unsafe product. The other steps serve different roles: hazard analysis identifies what could go wrong, monitoring tracks CCPs during production, and verification confirms the HACCP plan is actually effective.