Food Safety Terms & Definitions

Acid Foods: These are foods that naturally have an equilibrium pH of 4.6 or below.

Acidified Foods: These are foods to which acid has been intentionally added to reduce the pH to 4.6 or below.

Adequate: Adequate refers to what is necessary to achieve a specific purpose in accordance with good public health practices. In the context of food safety, it implies meeting the necessary requirements to ensure safety and health.

Allergen Cross‐Contact: Allergen cross-contact occurs when a food allergen is unintentionally introduced into a food product, posing a risk to individuals with allergies to that specific allergen.

Audit: An audit is a systematic, independent, and documented examination process. It involves observing, investigating, reviewing records, and engaging with employees to assess and ensure that an entity's food safety processes and procedures are effective.

aW (Water Activity): Water activity (aW) is a measure of the free moisture in a food, expressed as the quotient of the water vapor pressure of the substance divided by the vapor pressure of pure water at the same temperature. It indicates the availability of water for microbial growth and is a crucial factor in food preservation.

CCP (Critical Control Point): A Critical Control Point is a specific point, step, or procedure in a food process where control can be applied to prevent, eliminate, or reduce a food safety hazard to an acceptable level.

cGMPs (Current Good Manufacturing Practices): Current Good Manufacturing Practices are guidelines and standards ensuring that food products are consistently produced and controlled according to quality standards during the manufacturing process.

Cleaning: Cleaning involves the removal of soil, food residue, dirt, grease, or any other undesirable substances from surfaces and equipment to maintain a hygienic environment.

Correction: Correction refers to the immediate action taken to identify and rectify a problem that occurred during the production of food, without additional measures associated with a corrective action procedure.

Corrective Action: Corrective actions are procedures that must be taken when preventive controls are not properly implemented. These actions are aimed at addressing and rectifying issues to prevent their recurrence.

Critical Limit: A Critical Limit is the maximum or minimum value, or a combination of values, to which a biological, chemical, or physical parameter must be controlled to significantly minimize or prevent a hazard requiring a process preventive control.

Cross‐Contamination: Cross-contamination is the unintentional transfer of a foodborne pathogen from one surface or food item to another, posing a risk of contamination and potential foodborne illness.

Defect Action Level: The Defect Action Level is a threshold for non-hazardous, naturally occurring, unavoidable defects in food products. Exceeding this level may lead the FDA to consider the food product "adulterated" and subject to enforcement action.

Deviation: Deviation refers to a failure to meet a critical limit, indicating that a process or control measure may not be operating as intended.

Environmental Pathogen: An environmental pathogen is a pathogenic microorganism capable of surviving and persisting within the manufacturing, processing, packing, or holding environment. If not controlled, it may contaminate food, leading to potential foodborne illness.

Facility: A facility refers to a domestic or foreign establishment that is obligated to register under section 415 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, following the requirements outlined in 21 CFR part 1, subpart H.

FDA: FDA stands for the Food and Drug Administration, a federal agency responsible for protecting and promoting public health by controlling and supervising various aspects of food safety, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and more.

Food: Food includes articles used for food or drink for humans or animals, chewing gum, and articles used as components of any such food. Examples of food encompass a wide range, from fruits, vegetables, and fish to dairy products, eggs, and various food ingredients. Excluded are pesticides or food contact substances not intended to have any technical effect on the food.

Food Allergen: A food allergen refers to substances that may cause allergic reactions in certain individuals. Common food allergens include milk, egg, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, wheat, peanuts, soybeans and sesame.

Food‐Contact Surface: Food-contact surfaces are those areas that come into direct contact with human food or from which drainage or transfer onto the food occurs during normal operations. This includes utensils and surfaces of equipment used in food processing.

Food Safety Plan: A Food Safety Plan is a set of written documents based on food safety principles. It incorporates hazard analysis, preventive controls, supply-chain programs, and a recall plan, outlining procedures for monitoring, corrective actions, and verification.

Food Safety System: The food safety system is the outcome of implementing the Food Safety Plan and its supporting elements, designed to ensure the safety and quality of food products.

GMPs (Good Manufacturing Practices): GMPs refer to regulations outlining the conditions and practices that the regulated food industry must follow for processing safe food under sanitary conditions. These cover various aspects, including personnel, facilities, equipment, processes, and distribution.

HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point): HACCP is a systematic approach to identifying, evaluating, and controlling significant hazards in food production. It focuses on critical control points to prevent or minimize potential risks to food safety.

Hazard: A hazard is any biological, chemical, or physical agent with the potential to cause illness or injury when present in food.

Hazard Analysis: Hazard analysis is the process of collecting and evaluating information on hazards to determine their significance for food safety. This analysis helps identify hazards that must be addressed in HACCP or a Food Safety Plan.

Hazard Requiring a Preventive Control: A hazard requiring a preventive control is a known or reasonably foreseeable hazard for which preventive controls are established to significantly minimize or prevent the hazard in food production.

Known or Reasonably Foreseeable Hazard: This refers to a biological, chemical, or physical hazard that is known or has the potential to be associated with the facility or the food.

Lot: A lot is the quantity of food produced during a specific period, identified by an establishment's specific code.

EnsureIQ LMS: EnsureIQ LMS is a specialized learning management system designed specifically for the food and beverage processing and manufacturing industries. It aims to enhance employee training and compliance through a variety of features tailored to meet the unique needs of this sector. 

Microorganisms: Microorganisms include yeast, molds, bacteria, viruses, protozoa, and microscopic parasites. Undesirable microorganisms may include those that are pathogens, cause decomposition, indicate contamination, or may adulterate food.

Monitor: To monitor is to conduct a planned sequence of observations or measurements to assess whether control measures are operating as intended.

NACMCF (National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods): NACMCF is a committee chartered under the USDA to provide impartial scientific advice to U.S. Federal food safety agencies. It contributes to the development of an integrated national food safety system approach from farm to final consumption.

Non‐Food‐Contact Surface: Non-food-contact surfaces are those areas that do not come into contact with human food and from which drainage or transfer onto the food does not occur during normal operations.

Operating Limits: Operating limits are criteria that are more stringent than critical limits. Operators use these limits to reduce the risk of a deviation, helping to maintain control and prevent potential issues during food production.

Parameter: A parameter is a characteristic, feature, or measurable factor that can be used to define a particular system. In the context of food safety, parameters may include various factors relevant to the production and processing of food.

Pathogen: A pathogen is a microorganism of public health significance, capable of causing illness or infection in humans.

Pest: Pests refer to objectionable animals or insects, including birds, rodents, flies, and larvae, which may pose a threat to food safety and hygiene.

PCQI Certification: Preventive Controls Qualified Individual certification is a qualification for individuals in the food industry, indicating their expertise in developing and implementing preventive controls to ensure compliance with food safety regulations under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA).

Potable Water: Potable water is water that meets the standards for drinking purposes set by the state or local authority having jurisdiction. It can also conform to the standards prescribed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's National Primary Drinking Water Regulations.

Prerequisite Programs: Prerequisite programs, including Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs), provide the basic environmental and operating conditions necessary to support the Food Safety Plan. These programs lay the foundation for a robust food safety system.

Preventive Controls: Preventive controls are risk-based, reasonably appropriate procedures, practices, and processes implemented to significantly minimize or prevent hazards identified during the hazard analysis. They align with the current scientific understanding of safe food manufacturing, processing, packaging, or holding.

Preventive Controls Qualified Individual: A preventive controls qualified individual is an individual who has successfully completed training in the development and application of risk-based preventive controls or is otherwise qualified through job experience to implement a food safety system.

Qualified Auditor: A qualified auditor is an individual with technical expertise, obtained through education, training, or experience, necessary to perform auditing functions as required by regulations. This may include government employees or audit agents of certified bodies accredited by FDA.

Qualified Individual: A qualified individual is a person with the education, training, or experience necessary to handle duties related to manufacturing, processing, packing, or holding clean and safe food. This individual may or may not be an employee of the establishment.

RTE (Ready‐to‐Eat) Food: Ready-to-eat food is any food that is normally eaten in its raw state or any other food for which it is reasonably foreseeable that the food will be eaten without further processing that would significantly minimize biological hazards.

Reanalysis: Reanalysis is a verification procedure to ensure that the Food Safety Plan remains valid and that the food safety system operates according to the plan.

Receiving Facility: A receiving facility is a facility subject to Hazard Analysis and Risk-based Preventive Controls and Supply-Chain Program regulations. It manufactures or processes a raw material or ingredient received from a supplier.

Rework: Rework is clean, unadulterated food that has been removed from processing for reasons other than insanitary conditions or has been successfully reconditioned by reprocessing, making it suitable for use as food.

Risk: Risk is a function of the probability of an adverse health effect and the severity of that effect, consequential to a hazard(s) in food.

Safe‐Moisture Level: The safe-moisture level is a moisture level low enough to prevent the growth of undesirable microorganisms in the finished product under the intended conditions of manufacturing, processing, packing, and holding. It is related to water activity (aw).

Sanitize: To sanitize is to adequately treat cleaned surfaces by a process effective in destroying vegetative cells of pathogens and substantially reducing numbers of other undesirable microorganisms, without adversely affecting the product or its safety for the consumer.

Sanitary Conditions: Sanitary conditions result from a combination of cleaning and sanitizing, as appropriate for the environment, to prevent the adulteration of food.

Severity: Severity refers to the seriousness of the effects of a hazard. It assesses the potential harm or damage that could result from exposure to a hazard.

Significantly Minimize: Significantly minimize means to reduce to an acceptable level, potentially including elimination. This term is often used in the context of preventive controls to manage and mitigate identified hazards.

SOP: SOP stands for Standard Operating Procedure. It is a documented set of step-by-step instructions or guidelines aimed at ensuring consistent and high-quality output in a specific operational area.

Supplier: A supplier is the establishment that manufactures or processes the food, raises the animal, or grows the food provided to a receiving facility without further manufacturing/processing by another establishment, except for de minimis activities like labeling.

Supply‐chain‐applied Control: A supply-chain-applied control is a preventive control implemented for a hazard present in a raw material or other ingredient. In this context, the hazard in the raw material or ingredient is controlled before its receipt, contributing to overall food safety.

Unexposed Packaged Food: Unexposed packaged food refers to food that is securely packaged in a way that prevents exposure to the external environment. This packaging protects the food from potential contamination and environmental influences.

Validation: Validation involves obtaining and evaluating scientific and technical evidence to ensure that a control measure, combination of control measures, or the entire food safety plan, when properly implemented, is capable of effectively controlling the identified hazards. It provides assurance that the chosen control measures are scientifically sound.

Verification: Verification is the application of methods, procedures, tests, and other evaluations, in addition to monitoring, to determine whether a control measure or combination of control measures is operating as intended. It establishes the validity of the food safety plan and ensures ongoing compliance with established control measures.

Very Small Business: A very small business is a business (including subsidiaries and affiliates) with an average annual sales of less than $1,000,000, adjusted for inflation, over the three-year period preceding the applicable calendar year. This financial threshold applies to sales of human food and the market value of human food manufactured, processed, packed, or held without sale.

Written Procedures for Receiving Raw Materials and Other Ingredients: Written procedures for receiving raw materials and other ingredients are documented instructions aimed at ensuring that these materials are obtained only from approved suppliers. These procedures help the receiving facility maintain control over the sources of its raw materials and ingredients, contributing to the overall safety of the food supply chain. Temporary acceptance from unapproved suppliers may be allowed under specific conditions, with thorough verification activities in place before acceptance for use.