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Course Details
Course Name: HACCP Plan Development for Food Processors
Course Code: LF0403WA23
Date of Most Recent Offering: May 16-18, 2023
Course Overview
This is an International HACCP Alliance approved training course.
This two and a half day online workshop will take you through the steps for writing and implementing an intelligent and effective HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point) plan. Because you learn HACCP planning best by doing it, you will actually write a sample plan in class! Working in small groups, you’ll complete hands-on exercises covering how to:
- Conduct a hazard analysis of your food process, including proper flow charting.
- Determine the critical control points (CCPs) and understand the difference between a control point and a critical control point.
- Establish critical limits for each control point.
- Establish monitoring procedures and corrective actions.
- Establish verification procedures to ensure your HACCP system is working and validation procedures to ensure your food products are safe.
- Establish recordkeeping and documentation procedures.
Plus, you will review examples of real HACCP plans and learn about common reasons why HACCP plans fail, so you can make sure your plan succeeds. HACCP plan implementation procedures, as well as problems you may face when implementing a HACCP plan and potential solutions for those issues, will also be covered.
Please Note: This is a general HACCP course. It covers the requirements for Meat and Poultry or Voluntary HACCP for FDA products OTHER THAN Juice or Seafood. It does NOT meet the requirements for Seafood HACCP or Juice HACCP.
HACCP Plan Development Course Format
Donna Schaffner, a trained Lead Instructor with the International HACCP Alliance (IHA), will guide you through every step of the HACCP plan development process so you don’t get overwhelmed. In addition to lectures, this course will feature many opportunities for interaction and participation through group exercises, presentations, and discussions. Participants who successfully complete the program (including the final exam) will receive a certificate of completion affixed with the IHA seal.
Featured Topics
This food safety training course will cover the following topics over 2.5 days of online instruction:
- Overview of Food Safety and HACCP Principles
- Prerequisites to HACCP
- Preventive Controls
- Sanitation Standard Operating Procedures
- Biological, Chemical, and Physical Hazards and Controls
- Initial Tactics
- Hazard Analysis
- Critical Control Points
- Critical Limits
- Monitoring and Corrective Actions
- HACCP Regulations
- Food Defense/Emergency Preparedness
- Verification and Recordkeeping
- Organizing and Managing HACCP Programs
- HACCP Training
Who Should Attend?
This online workshop is a valuable training opportunity for anyone responsible for the development and maintenance of HACCP plans. Members of senior management and personnel responsible for reviewing and auditing suppliers’ HACCP programs can also benefit from the content presented. Past attendees have included:
- Corporate Chefs
- Food Plant Managers and Sanitarians
- Food Production Supervisors
- Food Scientists and Food Technologists
- Food Service Supervisors
- Graduate Students
- HACCP Coordinators and Food Safety Specialists
- Public Health Professionals
- Quality Assurance/Quality Control Professionals
- Research & Development / Product Development Professionals
Learn More About HACCP and its Role in Food Safety
HACCP involves the methodical and systematic application of science and technology to plan, control, and document the safe production of foods. With the goal of preventing problems that could lead to foodborne illness or injury, HACCP consists of identifying food safety hazards and putting controls in place to prevent, eliminate, or reduce them to acceptable levels. When these hazards are effectively controlled, the risk of unsafe food products reaching consumers is minimized.
One of the underlying principles of HACCP is that food safety should be an integral part of all aspects of a food processing operation, including sourcing, handling, storage, and transport. A well-written HACCP plan addresses raw materials, ingredients, processing equipment, personnel, environmental factors, product handling, and more. In contrast to end-product testing, which identifies problems after they have already occurred, HACCP is a preventive systems that seeks to decrease the likelihood that a food product will become unsafe in the first place.
In addition to providing the framework for producing foods safely, HACCP also provides the records to prove they were produced safely through documentation and recordkeeping.
Meet Your Instructor
Donna F. Schaffner, International HACCP Alliance Lead Instructor

Course Director Donna F. Schaffner, MS, is Associate Director of Food Safety, Quality Assurance & Training at Rutgers University – Food Innovation Center South in Bridgeton, NJ. Ms. Schaffner has extensive industry experience working in USDA and FDA processing plants with 20+ years working as a Food Safety Consultant and HACCP specialist, and has taught HACCP, Microbiology, Food Defense and other Food Safety-related classes at Rutgers University and other schools. Currently, Ms. Schaffner develops customized employee training programs for food processors to successfully implement HACCP plans, improve third party audit scoring, and meet the increasing requirements of regulations. Ms. Schaffner also leads a team of food industry professionals who offer inspections, training, and customized solutions to food safety problems in processing plants, and chairs a monthly Q&A Roundtable meeting for the New Jersey Food Processors Association.
Student Reviews

“Donna [the instructor] does a great job of drawing upon the students’ professional experiences, making the material very applicable and tangible. The course is useful both for those new to compliance and for those who already know HACCP because Donna keeps the content current. I definitely recommend it.”

“This is the second time I’ve taken HAACP through Rutgers University. As the Quality Control manager at our facility, HACCP training is a must. The instructor, an expert in the industry, understands manufacturing terms and knows most of the problems we face day to day. She really knows how to speak to her audience. I would strongly recommend this HAACP class to anyone who needs to take it.”

“I learn best by doing. I want to be able to ask questions and practice the strategies. This HACCP class, with its hands-on group exercises, lets me do that and teaches you to think outside the box. If hazard analysis is part of your job, you need this training!”

“I registered to learn about HACCP. Now I know how to design a HACCP plan. [The instructor] was great – knowledgeable and experienced!”
Continuing Education Credits
The most recent offering of HACCP Plan Development for Food Processors was approved for for 2.1 Rutgers CEUs as well as the following credits from professional organizations. We will reapply for similar credits the next time the course runs, but we cannot guarantee credit approval for future offerings.
New Jersey
NJ Health Officers and Registered Environmental Health Specialists (HO/REHS): Rutgers University, NJAES, Office of Continuing Professional Education has been approved by the New Jersey Department of Health as a provider of NJ Public Health Continuing Education Contact Hours (CEs). Participants who complete this education program will be awarded 18.0 NJ Public Health Continuing Education Contact Hours (CEs).
National
Certified Food Scientists: This program qualifies for Certified Food Scientist (CFS) recertification contact hours (CH). CFS Certificants may claim a maximum of 17.75 CH for their participation in this program. For more information, please visit www.ift.org/certification or email ifscc@ift.org.
Program Questions? We’re Here to Help!
If you have any questions about HACCP Plan Development for Food Processors, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us.

Program Coordinator: Suzanne Hills
848-932-7234
suzanne.hills@rutgers.edu