The Food Safety Vocabulary, Decoded

GMPs vs HACCP vs FSMA Preventive Controls vs "Food Safety Plan" — untangled.

1. GMPs, HACCP, FSMA, and the "Food Safety Plan": what each one isTell the four food-safety terms apart — the clean-operation baseline, the hazard-control method, the federal rule, and the written plan it requires — and know which stack applies to what you make.
2. Is my Food Safety Plan the same as my HACCP plan?Tell whether your HACCP plan and your FSMA Food Safety Plan are one document or two — what each requires, where they overlap, and which one the rules actually make you keep.
3. Prerequisite programs: the foundation under your HACCP planLearn what prerequisite programs are, why a hazard they already control does not need to become a CCP, and why a weak one is what most often sinks a first audit.
4. Which food-safety rules actually apply to youWork out your FSMA status — full Preventive Controls, qualified-facility modified requirements, or exempt — and see why an exemption from FDA never overrides what your customer requires.