Safety Systems & Standards Flashcards
7 cards from real CHA practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Safety Systems & Standards flashcards as text
A facility produces both allergen-containing and allergen-free products on shared equipment. The most robust preventive control for allergen management in this scenario is:
Answer: Validated allergen cleaning procedures with verification swabbing between production runs
Validated cleaning with verification testing is the most robust control because it confirms actual removal of allergen residue before allergen-free production.
Which of the following best illustrates the concept of 'food safety culture' within a HACCP-based system?
Answer: Shared values and behaviors across all levels of the organization that prioritize safe food production
Food safety culture encompasses the shared attitudes, values, and behaviors at all organizational levels that collectively support the production of safe food.
An auditor finds that a critical control point record has a blank entry for a monitoring check. Under HACCP principles, this should be treated as:
Answer: Presumptive evidence that monitoring was not performed, requiring corrective action
A blank monitoring record is presumed evidence that monitoring did not occur, which constitutes a deviation requiring documented corrective action.
Which of the following describes the primary purpose of conducting a 'challenge study' in food safety?
Answer: To experimentally verify that a process or formulation controls the target pathogen to the required level
Challenge studies inoculate product with target pathogens to experimentally confirm that the control measure achieves the required log reduction.
Under FSMA's Preventive Controls rule, who must perform or oversee the preparation of a food safety plan?
Answer: A Preventive Controls Qualified Individual (PCQI) who has successfully completed recognized training
FSMA requires that a Preventive Controls Qualified Individual (PCQI), trained in accordance with 21 CFR 117.190, prepare or oversee the food safety plan.
When a HACCP auditor requests 'objective evidence' during a third-party audit, which of the following would be the LEAST acceptable form?
Answer: Verbal assurance from the plant manager that the process is under control
Verbal assurances are not objective evidence; auditors require documented, verifiable records to confirm HACCP system compliance.
Which of the following represents a 'system failure' rather than an isolated incident in a HACCP audit context?
Answer: Repeated corrective action reports for the same CCP deviation with no root cause identified or resolved
Recurring deviations at the same CCP without root cause resolution indicate a systemic failure in the corrective action or HACCP system itself.