What is a Critical Control Point (CCP)?

• A. A step at which controls are not necessary.
• B. A method for measuring cooking temperature.
• C. A step at which control can be applied to prevent, eliminate, or reduce a food safety hazard to safe levels.
• D. A surveillance technique for packaging lines.

Answer: (C)

A Critical Control Point is a step where you can apply a control to prevent, eliminate, or reduce a food safety hazard to safe levels. This means only certain steps in a process are identified as CCPs because action taken there directly affects safety. For example, cooking to a proven safe temperature can kill pathogens, cooling rapidly can prevent microbial growth, and sanitation or separation can stop cross‑contamination. These steps are monitored against a defined critical limit, and if the limit isn’t met, corrective action is taken to bring the process back under control.

The other options don’t define a CCP: measuring a cooking temperature is a tool or method, not the control point itself; and a surveillance technique for packaging lines is about monitoring, not a point in the process where hazard control is applied.