Which two processing steps are usually identified as CCPs in production of FC-NSS products?

Which two processing steps are usually identified as CCPs in production of FC-NSS products?

• A. Cooking and drying
• B. Fermentation and cooking
• C. Cooking and stabilization (cooling)
• D. Curing and fermentation

Answer: (C)

In FC-NSS production, a CCP is a step where taking specific control actions can prevent or reduce a food safety hazard to an acceptable level. For these products, the safety hinge is on what happens to pathogens at two points. Cooking is a CCP because heat is used to inactivate pathogens that could cause illness. The process must reach and hold a validated temperature for a sufficient time to achieve the necessary lethality. That step is monitored and verified to ensure the product is brought to a safe level. Stabilization, or cooling, is the second CCP. After cooking, the product must be cooled promptly and kept out of the temperature danger zone so any surviving organisms don’t multiply to unsafe levels. Proper cooling limits the time spent in temperatures where bacteria can grow, preserving the safety gained by cooking. Other steps like fermentation or curing don’t routinely provide the same assured control over both lethality and post-process growth for FC-NSS products, so they aren’t identified as the two CCPs in this context.

In FC-NSS production, a CCP is a step where taking specific control actions can prevent or reduce a food safety hazard to an acceptable level. For these products, the safety hinge is on what happens to pathogens at two points.

Cooking is a CCP because heat is used to inactivate pathogens that could cause illness. The process must reach and hold a validated temperature for a sufficient time to achieve the necessary lethality. That step is monitored and verified to ensure the product is brought to a safe level.

Stabilization, or cooling, is the second CCP. After cooking, the product must be cooled promptly and kept out of the temperature danger zone so any surviving organisms don’t multiply to unsafe levels. Proper cooling limits the time spent in temperatures where bacteria can grow, preserving the safety gained by cooking.

Other steps like fermentation or curing don’t routinely provide the same assured control over both lethality and post-process growth for FC-NSS products, so they aren’t identified as the two CCPs in this context.