Which HACCP principle focuses on identifying potential hazards and establishing critical limits?

• A. Hazard Analysis (Principle 1)
• B. Critical Control Points (Principle 2)
• C. Verification (Principle 6)
• D. Pre-requisite Programs

Answer: (A)

The main idea here is identifying what could go wrong in a process and outlining how those risks will be controlled from the start. Hazard Analysis is the step that systematically looks at each part of the process to spot potential biological, chemical, or physical hazards and to determine where control measures are needed. This phase sets up the plan for how limits will be used to keep unsafe conditions out of the food, laying the groundwork for later steps that actually define the exact limits at each control point.

In practice, the precise critical limits are established at each point where control is applied, but the hazard analysis is the principle that focuses on spotting hazards and designing the control framework, including where those limits will be required. The other options describe components of the system that come after this planning stage: identifying where control is needed (critical control points), verifying that the plan works (verification), or establishing general operational controls (pre-requisite programs).