ASQ Certified HACCP Auditor Food Safety Management Systems: HACCP, PRPs, ISO 22000 & GFSI Schemes: practice questions

1 · Prerequisite programmes · medium

Rework is controlled as a prerequisite programme mainly because it:

1. Always contains higher pathogen levels than fresh product from the line
2. Is legally prohibited in all food products in most countries
3. Changes the critical limits that apply to the cooking step
4. Can carry allergens into the wrong product and break traceability links

2 · HACCP: critical control points, critical limits and monitoring · hard

A plant sets an operating limit of 75 °C core temperature for a product whose critical limit is 72 °C. The core reads 74 °C. What should happen?

1. Destroy the batch because the operating limit is a legal minimum
2. Hold all product made since the last check and start corrective action at once
3. Record nothing, because only critical limit breaches are written down
4. Adjust the process back above 75 °C; the critical limit is not breached

3 · HACCP: corrective actions, verification, validation and records · hard

An oven's core temperature fell below the critical limit for 20 minutes. Which response is a correction rather than a corrective action?

1. Replacing the faulty thermostat after root cause analysis
2. Retraining operators on oven loading
3. Changing the oven maintenance schedule
4. Holding and reprocessing the under-cooked batch

4 · HACCP: corrective actions, verification, validation and records · hard

A batch of chilled soup missed its cooking critical limit. A laboratory test of five samples finds no pathogens. Should the batch be released?

1. No: reprocess by a validated process or destroy it
2. Yes: five negative samples show the hazard is absent from the whole batch
3. No: but it can be sold to a catering customer who will reheat it
4. Yes: provided the shelf life is halved and the label says keep refrigerated

5 · Operational prerequisite programmes and preventive controls · medium

Which control is most likely to be managed as an OPRP rather than a CCP?

1. Extra slicer cleaning in a ready-to-eat area
2. Acidification of a low-acid vegetable to pH 4.6
3. Pasteurisation of milk with flow diversion
4. Retort sterilisation of low-acid canned soup

6 · Operational prerequisite programmes and preventive controls · easy

Under the FDA Preventive Controls for Human Food rule, who must prepare or oversee the food safety plan?

1. The plant's external auditor
2. A licensed food analyst
3. A state food safety inspector
4. A Preventive Controls Qualified Individual

7 · Food safety culture · hard

After a culture programme, the number of near-miss reports from the floor doubles while incidents stay level. The best interpretation is:

1. Staff feel safer to report problems, a sign of improving culture
2. Near misses are irrelevant to food safety and should not be counted
3. Food safety has clearly worsened and the programme has failed
4. Reporting should be discouraged to reduce the workload of quality staff

8 · Traceability, withdrawal and recall · medium

Under the FSMA Food Traceability Rule, firms must keep key data elements for:

1. Only the final retail sale to the consumer
2. Every ingredient used anywhere in the facility, whatever the food
3. Only foods imported from outside the United States
4. Critical tracking events such as shipping and receiving

9 · Allergen management programmes · easy

Cross-contact in allergen management means:

1. Transfer of flavour between products stored side by side
2. Contamination of food by pathogenic bacteria from raw meat
3. Unintended transfer of an allergen into another product
4. Mixing of two raw materials that are both declared on the label

10 · Internal and third-party auditing · medium

Internal auditors should not audit their own work mainly because:

1. Internal audits must be done only by external consultants
2. Auditors must be independent of the area audited
3. Their findings cannot be recorded in the management review
4. Auditing one's own area is illegal in all countries