Good Operating Practice
Following Good Operating Practice (GOP) helps you to control relevant food hazards and makes it easier for you to meet regulatory requirements.
What is GOP
GOP describes a range of actions that, either individually or in combination, contribute to the production of safe and suitable food.
Good Operating Practice may also be described as:
- Good Hygienic Practice
- Good Manufacturing Practice
- Good Agricultural Practice
- supporting systems
- prerequisite programmes
GOP clarifies the practices that your business follows to establish an appropriate environment and hygienic conditions for making safe and suitable food. MPI recommends that you have GOP in place and operating effectively before you apply Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) to the direct processes and inputs.
Find out more about HACCP:
The difference between HACCP and GOP
GOP procedures are generally facility-wide programmes covering such aspects as personal hygiene, staff training, cleaning and sanitation, allergen management and more. They tend to deal more indirectly with food safety by addressing the issues that can affect the safety of the food as it passes through the business. HACCP manages particular hazards associated with a specific food product (or group of products) and the processes you use.
Who uses GOP
All food businesses are expected to implement GOP. In some cases, legislation requires it to be documented. Sometimes having GOP in place is enough to control all the hazards that might prevent you from providing safe and suitable food.
Keeping up to date
It's important to keep up to date with any new or revised information about GOP. Subscribe to MPI's mailing list to receive the latest news by email:
Who to contact
If you have questions about Good Operating Practice, email firstname.lastname@example.org
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