Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) is a systematic preventive approach to food safety. The International HACCP Alliance was developed on March 25, 1994, to provide a uniform program to assure safer meat and poultry products. It is housed within the Department of Animal Science at Texas A&M University.
HACCP has been increasingly applied to industries other than food, such as cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. This method, which in effect seeks to plan out unsafe practices, differs from traditional "produce and test" quality control methods which are less successful and inappropriate for highly perishable foods. Similarly, FAO/WHO published a guideline for all governments to handle the issue in small and less developed food businesses.