What is a critical control point?

• A. A step where a hazard can be prevented, eliminated, or reduced to a safe level.
• B. A step where hazards are accepted if not eliminated
• C. A step where costs are minimized
• D. A step where monitoring is unnecessary

Answer: (A)

A critical control point is the step in a process where a control can be applied to prevent, eliminate, or reduce a food safety hazard to an acceptable level. At this point, you set a critical limit and monitor to ensure that limit is met, so the hazard is kept in check. If the limit isn’t met, corrective action is taken to bring the process back into control. This isn’t about accepting hazards, minimizing costs, or skipping monitoring—monitoring at a CCP is essential to verify safety and trigger fixes when needed.