Document Type

Article

Publication Date

7-3-2026

Keywords

Animal welfare, policy, audit, standards

Abstract

A Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) plan is a systematic approach to microbial control of raw products for food safety that identifies, evaluates, and controls potential biological, chemical, and physical hazards at critical points throughout the food production process. These plans have proven highly effective in preventing foodborne illness by managing key points where relevant threat vectors could be introduced. The success of HACCP plans in food safety suggests its potential value elsewhere: if this prevention-oriented approach effectively reduces risks in one domain, then its adaptation to other sectors could similarly improve proactive risk mitigation. Accordingly, some have modeled animal welfare management plans on HACCP principles. (Beekhuis-Gibbon et al., 2011; Bell et al., 2009; CFIA, 2024; Grandin, 2020). While these adaptations of HACCP plans provide some of the benefits of the HACCP framework due to their focus on preventing welfare issues, they do not offer the systematicity and transparency that the HACCP framework assures. This is because the framework demands more explicit data collection, makes that data public, and includes independent review. In this essay, we explain the value of adapting HACCP principles for on-farm animal welfare management plans and identify the distinctive additional transparency benefits of having industry groups coordinate them. While our focus is on the US, the general points could be extrapolated to other contexts. However, we leave that work for others

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Web of Science

Routledge

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