Many HACCP pages explain what a critical control point is, but far fewer show what one looks like in day-to-day operations. That is where teams get stuck. They can repeat the seven HACCP principles, but they still do not know which steps in their own process deserve CCP status and which should stay as prerequisite controls or general process checks.
This article gives practical CCP examples for common food business processes. If you need the full method for deciding whether a step should become a CCP in your own plan, use how to create a HACCP plan step by step alongside this page.
What makes a good CCP example
A useful CCP example should answer four questions clearly:
- What hazard is being controlled?
- Why is this step critical rather than just important?
- What is the limit or decision point?
- How will staff monitor it and act if it fails?
Without those four pieces, a CCP example is usually just a vague process note.
1. Cooking high-risk food
Cooking is one of the clearest CCP examples because it is often the main step that reduces microbiological risk to an acceptable level. This commonly applies to products such as poultry, burgers, and other foods where a validated heat treatment is essential.
- Hazard controlled: survival of harmful microorganisms
- Why it may be a CCP: there may be no later step that reliably removes the same hazard
- Evidence: defined cooking standard, probe use, records where applicable, corrective action for failed cooks
2. Chilling or blast chilling after cooking
In some operations, rapid cooling is critical because product passes through a temperature range where bacterial growth can accelerate if the step is not controlled properly. Soups, sauces, cooked rice, and batch-cooked proteins are common examples.
- Hazard controlled: growth of microorganisms during slow cooling
- Why it may be a CCP: if the process depends on rapid cooling to keep food safe and there is no equivalent fallback control
- Evidence: staged cooling method, monitoring record, corrective action and product decision when cooling fails
3. Hot holding of ready-to-eat food
Hot holding may function as a CCP where food is prepared in advance and then held before service. The logic is that food safety now depends on maintaining the controlled condition until point of sale or service.
- Hazard controlled: growth of microorganisms after cooking
- Why it may be a CCP: there is ongoing exposure after cooking and the control is time or temperature dependent
- Evidence: holding checks, clear action if the limit is missed, defined time control if used as an alternative
4. Metal detection or sieving in manufacturing
In some manufacturing environments, the CCP is not temperature-based at all. A metal detector or validated sieving step may be critical because it controls a serious physical hazard before release.
- Hazard controlled: physical contamination
- Why it may be a CCP: it is the defined last control step before product release
- Evidence: challenge checks, rejection procedure, start-up and shift verification, hold/release controls
5. Chilled storage of a highly sensitive product
Not every fridge check is automatically a CCP, but chilled storage may become one when the safety of the product depends directly on maintaining a specific temperature and there is limited tolerance for drift.
- Hazard controlled: growth of temperature-sensitive microorganisms
- Why it may be a CCP: product safety relies on that storage condition being maintained
- Evidence: monitoring frequency, alarm or manual checks, documented corrective action and product disposition
6. Acidification or pH control in a validated process
For certain sauces, preserved foods, or specialist products, pH control may be the step that keeps the hazard at an acceptable level. In those cases the CCP is not heat or time, but a validated composition limit.
- Hazard controlled: survival or growth of microorganisms in the finished product
- Why it may be a CCP: the validated pH is the control measure that makes the product safe
- Evidence: testing method, calibrated equipment, batch results, action for out-of-spec product
7. Packaging or label release where undeclared allergens create serious risk
In some food manufacturing systems, final label release or pack verification can become a critical step because the product itself may be safe, but the wrong label makes it unsafe for allergic consumers.
- Hazard controlled: exposure to undeclared allergens
- Why it may be a CCP: this may be the last effective step preventing mislabelled product from release
- Evidence: artwork approval, line clearance, pack verification, segregation of obsolete packaging, release sign-off
Common mistakes when choosing CCPs
- Calling every important step a CCP and ending up with a plan nobody can manage
- Treating general cleaning or staff hygiene as CCPs when they are better controlled through prerequisites
- Listing a CCP without a realistic limit, monitoring method, or corrective action
- Using copied CCP examples that do not match the actual product or process
A smaller number of defensible CCPs is usually stronger than a long list that staff cannot explain or monitor consistently.
How this page fits the wider cluster
These examples are here to make CCPs easier to recognise in practice. They are not a substitute for hazard analysis. If you need the full logic for deciding whether a step should become a CCP in your own business, continue with the full HACCP plan guide. If your main challenge is time and temperature control, move next to temperature control in HACCP.
Final takeaway
A good CCP example is useful because it shows the full control chain: hazard, critical step, measurable limit, monitoring method, and corrective action. Once you can describe a step that way, it becomes much easier to decide whether it truly belongs in the HACCP plan as a CCP or whether it should sit elsewhere in the system.