The topic of safety in the production process is of the utmost importance to any entrepreneur or business that is developing food for commercial sales. Foodborne illnesses are a preventable, underreported public health problem, which place a burden on consumers while negatively affecting a company’s sales and brand.

The Agricultural Utilization Research Institute (AURI) offers the following resources to help avoid common food safety issues:

Safe Food Preservation

Another important issue for food producers is safe preservation techniques. Below are a series of resources, including PDF documents and videos.

• Usual Preservation Techniques
• U of M Food preservation training videos
• Food microbiology and safety, FATTOM
• Food Preservation and Methods
• Making jams and jellies
• Canning tomatoes

AURI Staff Recommendations: Food Safety and Production

• Labels
• Food Safety Modernization Act
• Food Safety Modernization Act FAQ
• Good Manufacturing Practices
• Foodborne Illnesses
• FDA: Cold Facts About Food Safety
• Safe Food Handling Fact Sheets
• Inspections
• How to Start a Food Business

HACCP Resources

HACCP stands for Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points. It is a systematic preventive approach to food safety from biological, chemical, and physical hazards in production processes that can cause the finished product to be unsafe, and designs measurements to reduce these risks to a safe level.

• HACCP food safety overview
• Conduct a hazard analysis
• Identify critical control points
• Establish critical limits for each critical control point
• Establish critical control point monitoring requirements
• Establish corrective actions
• Establish procedures for ensuring the HACCP system is working as intended
• Establish record keeping procedures