Food defense is having measures in place to reduce the chances of someone intentionally contaminating the food used in your foodservice operation in order to harm children and cause panic, alarm, and distrust in our food supply. A food defense plan helps you identify steps you can take to minimize the risk of intentional contamination or tampering of food products in your school. A plan increases preparedness and will be particularly helpful during emergencies when stress is high and quick responses are essential.
Although food defense is different from food safety, they are similar in that both focus on preventing the contamination of food. Food safety deals with preventing the unintentional contamination of food products that can be reasonably anticipated based on the type of food product and how it is prepared. This knowledge is used to construct your School Food Safety Plan based on Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) Principles. Creating a food defense plan does not require development of another HACCP-type document. Some of the information you may use will possibly exist in your School Food Safety Plan, Sanitation Standard Operating Procedures, and other documents such as emergency response procedures. Make sure to consult these documents for information.