A jerky HACCP plan is the written plan an inspected meat establishment keeps for its jerky: the hazards at each step of the process, the steps where a hazard is controlled (the critical control points), the limit each has to meet, how and how often it's checked, what happens when it isn't met, how the plan is verified, and the records. For jerky, the critical control points are most often the heating step that destroys pathogens and the drying step that makes the jerky safe on a shelf, and often the label, because marinades carry soy and wheat. Below is who needs a plan, what the rules ask it to contain, a jerky maker's hazard analysis and plan, where the limits come from, the records, an example log, and a free worksheet.
The short version
- An inspected establishment needs a written HACCP plan for each product whose hazard analysis finds a hazard reasonably likely to occur.
- Jerky is "heat treated, shelf stable" in the federal list of processing categories.
- Start with a flow chart of every step, then the hazards at each step.
- Typical jerky CCPs: heating (lethality), drying (shelf stability) and labeling (allergens).
- Critical limits come from supporting documentation, not a guess.
- Every reading is written down when it's taken, with the date, time and initials, and reviewed before the lot ships.
- TaroStack keeps batch records with your own fields, limits and sign-off, and a lot for every batch. It doesn't write your plan. More below.
Who needs a jerky HACCP plan
Every official establishment, meaning one operating under federal or state inspection, has to conduct a hazard analysis, and develop a written HACCP plan for each product where that analysis finds a food safety hazard reasonably likely to occur (9 CFR 417.2). The rule lists the processing categories, and jerky falls in "heat treated, shelf stable". One plan may cover several products in the same category, such as beef and venison jerky, if their hazards, CCPs and limits are essentially the same. Jerky sold beyond a retail counter is almost always made under inspection; cottage food laws generally leave meat out. How the retail store exemption works for a meat shop is in sausage making business plan, and the business side of jerky in beef jerky business plan. This is general information, not legal advice; your inspector and a HACCP course are where a real plan starts.
What the plan has to contain
The hazard analysis includes a flow chart of each process and identifies the product's intended use or consumers. The written plan, at a minimum (9 CFR 417.2):
- Lists the food safety hazards to be controlled for each process.
- Lists the critical control points for each hazard.
- Lists the critical limits that must be met at each CCP.
- Lists the monitoring procedures and how often they're done.
- Includes the corrective actions for a deviation from a critical limit.
- Provides a recordkeeping system with the actual values and observations from monitoring.
- Lists the verification procedures and how often they're done.
The plan is signed and dated by the responsible establishment individual when it's first accepted, at any change, and at least once a year when it's reassessed.
An example: a jerky maker's hazard analysis
Cedar Hollow Jerky, a made-up jerky maker in Bozeman, Montana, I use in these examples, makes beef jerky in an inspected establishment. Its flow chart is receiving, cold storage, slicing, marinating, heating, drying, packaging and labeling, storage and shipping:
| Step | Hazard | Reasonably likely? | Controlled by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Receiving raw beef | B: Salmonella, E. coli O157:H7 | Yes | Heating, CCP 1 |
| Cold storage | B: growth of pathogens | No | Cooler log, prerequisite program |
| Slicing | P: metal from the slicer | No | Slicer checks before and after each run |
| Marinating | C: soy and wheat in the marinade | Yes | Labeling, CCP 3 |
| Heating | B: pathogens surviving | Yes | CCP 1 |
| Drying | B: growth in a product stored unrefrigerated | Yes | CCP 2 |
| Packaging and labeling | C: undeclared soy and wheat | Yes | CCP 3 |
| Storage and shipping | None reasonably likely | No |
B is biological, C chemical (allergens included), P physical. A hazard that's "not reasonably likely" still needs a written reason: the cooler is controlled by a daily log, and the slicer has no history of fragments. How a food safety plan is organized more broadly is in what is a food safety plan.
The plan
| CCP | Critical limit | Monitoring | Corrective action | Verification |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Heating | Internal temperature, time and humidity from the supporting documentation | Probe the thickest pieces, three a rack, each batch | Keep heating; if not met, hold the lot, re-cook or discard; find the cause | Thermometer checked daily; records reviewed before shipping |
| 2 Drying | Water activity at or below the limit in the supporting documentation | Water activity meter, one sample a lot | Keep drying and retest; hold until met | Meter calibrated; records reviewed |
| 3 Labeling | Every package declares soy and wheat | A label checked against the recipe, each lot | Hold, relabel, find the cause | Weekly review of label checks |
Where the limits come from
A critical limit has to be supported: a published process, a study or guidance the establishment follows, kept with the plan as the reason for each limit. FSIS's compliance guideline for jerky made by small and very small establishments sets out the key steps in the jerky process and the science available to support a safe process (FSIS-GD-2014-0010). For home cooks, FSIS's advice is to heat meat to 160°F and poultry to 165°F before drying, because the 130 to 140°F of a food dehydrator won't destroy pathogens on its own (FSIS). An inspected process uses limits from its own support, which for heating means time, temperature and humidity together, and for drying a water activity measured on each lot. The example log uses 160°F as its heating limit for illustration.
The records
The rules ask for records of the monitoring at each CCP with the actual times, temperatures or other values, instrument calibration, corrective actions and verification, with the product and lot. Each entry is made when it happens, with the date and time, and initialed by the person making it. Before a lot ships, someone, preferably not the person who made the records, reviews them, dates and signs. Records for shelf-stable product are kept at least two years, and records kept on computers are acceptable with controls on the integrity of the data and signatures (9 CFR 417.5). How a HACCP log is laid out is in HACCP record keeping form example.
An example log
| Date | Time | Lot | CCP | Reading | Limit | Within limits? | Initials | Corrective action |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 6 | 10:40 | BJ-1006-1 | 1 Heating | 164°F | 160°F | Yes | MR | |
| Oct 6 | 14:15 | BJ-1006-1 | 3 Labeling | Correct | Correct | Yes | AT | |
| Oct 7 | 11:05 | BJ-1007-1 | 1 Heating | 158°F | 160°F | No | MR | Kept heating 20 minutes, probed again |
| Oct 7 | 11:40 | BJ-1007-1 | 1 Heating | 163°F | 160°F | Yes | MR |
The deviation on October 7 is the log doing its job: the reading was below the limit, the batch kept heating, and the record shows both readings and what was done. That lot doesn't ship until the review sees it.
Get the worksheet
Download the jerky HACCP plan worksheet. Three sheets: a hazard analysis, one row for each step with its hazards, whether each is reasonably likely and why, and the preventive measure; the HACCP plan, one row for each CCP with its limit, monitoring, frequency, who, corrective action, verification and record, with lines to sign and date; and a monitoring log where each reading is checked against its limits. It's a worksheet to organize your own plan, not a plan to copy. It's an ordinary Excel file with no macros, and it works in Google Sheets, LibreOffice and Numbers.
Where this stops working
Three CCPs on every lot, two smokehouse runs a day, a clipboard for each, and a review before every shipment. Paper logs get filled in at the end of the shift, a review means finding the right sheets, and when a customer asks about a bag, finding the lot's heating and drying readings means a box of clipboards.
How TaroStack does it
TaroStack keeps batch records with your own fields, limits and sign-off, and a lot for every batch. It doesn't write your HACCP plan, and it doesn't make anyone compliant; it keeps the records a plan asks for.
The readings on the batch. A batch record form carries your own fields: the internal temperature at each probe, the water activity, the label check, each with its limits, initials and a sign-off, on the batch the readings belong to. How a batch record works is in what is a batch record.
Hold until reviewed. A lot can be held, kept out of what can be sold or shipped, until its records are reviewed and it's released.
Lots from beef to bag. Each batch takes its beef off stock and records the supplier lots it used, and the lots each customer got are recorded as they ship, so a question about a bag leads to its batch, its readings and its beef.
| The job | Clipboard | In TaroStack |
|---|---|---|
| Heating and drying readings | A sheet on the smokehouse | Fields on the batch, with limits |
| A reading below the limit | Noticed at review | Shown against its limit |
| Don't ship before review | A rule on the wall | Lot held until released |
| Which beef went into a lot | The receiving log | Lots recorded on the batch |
Batch records, lots, holds and recalls are on every plan, from $49 a month. The first 30 days are free, with no credit card. If you'd like a hand setting up, ask, and we'll do it with you.