Principle 1: Conduct a hazard analysis.
Potential hazards associated with a food and measures to control those hazards are identified. The hazard could be biological, such as a microbe; chemical, such as a toxin; or physical, such as ground glass or metal fragments.

Principle 2: Determine the critical control points (CCPs).
These are points in a food's production -- from its raw state through processing and shipping to consumption by the consumer -- at which the potential hazard can be controlled or eliminated. Examples are cooking, cooling, packaging, and metal detection.

Principle 3: Establish critical limits for each control point.
For a cooked food, this might include setting a minimum cooking temperature and time required to ensure the elimination of any harmful microbes.

Principle 4: Establish monitoring procedures for the critical control points.
Such procedures might include determining how and by whom cooking time and temperature should be monitored.

Principle 5: Establish corrective actions.
Take corrective actions when monitoring shows that a critical limit has not been met -- for example, reprocessing or disposing of food if the minimum cooking temperature is not met.

Principle 6: Establish verification procedures.
Verify that the system is working properly -- for example, testing time and temperature recording devices to verify that a cooking unit is working properly.

Principle 7: Establish record-keeping and documentation procedures.
This would include records of hazards and their control methods, the monitoring of safety requirements and action taken to correct potential problems. Each of these principles must be backed by sound scientific knowledge: for example, published microbiological studies identifying time and temperature factors for controlling foodborne pathogens.