HACCP Critical Limit Check Calculator

Work out haccp critical limit check instantly with clear inputs, formula shown and shareable results.

About HACCP Critical Limit Check Calculator

A critical limit separates safe from unsafe product and a breach requires corrective action and disposition of affected product. An operating limit is set inside the critical limit so that process adjustment happens before a deviation occurs. The gap between the two is the operator's reaction margin.

Formula

Operating limit

For a minimum limit: operating limit = critical limit + margin; for a maximum: critical limit - margin

Worked example

With the default values below, HACCP Critical Limit Check Calculator returns Control Status of DEVIATION - critical limit breached, apply corrective action. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.

Inputs used

Measured Valueminimum -1,000,000: 73
Critical Limitminimum -1,000,000: 75
Limit Typeone of Minimum (must be at or above), Maximum (must be at or below): Minimum (must be at or above)
Operating Limit Marginminimum 0: 2

Results

Control Status: DEVIATION - critical limit breached, apply corrective action
Operating Limit: 77.0000
Deviation Beyond Critical Limit: 2.0000
Margin To Critical Limit: -2.0000

Step by step

1Values used
2Operating limit
3Control Status= DEVIATION - critical limit breached, apply corrective action
4Operating Limit= 77.0000
5Deviation Beyond Critical Limit= 2.0000
6Margin To Critical Limit= -2.0000

Assumptions and limits

The result is derived only from the 4 inputs listed above. Anything not among them is not part of the calculation.
In particular, this calculator does not take inflation, tax, fees or charges or compounding frequency into account.
Figures are rounded for display to 4 decimal places, so totals built from several rounded parts can differ slightly from the unrounded arithmetic.
Critical limits must be established with scientific and regulatory justification, and deviations must be handled under the documented HACCP plan including product disposition.

How these calculators are built and tested is described on the Methodology page. If a figure looks wrong, please report it.

Critical limits must be established with scientific and regulatory justification, and deviations must be handled under the documented HACCP plan including product disposition.

Frequently Asked Questions

What must happen after a deviation?

Bring the process back into control, isolate and evaluate all product made since the last compliant check, determine disposition, record the deviation and review whether the plan needs changing.

Why not just work to the critical limit?

Because normal process variation would then breach it regularly. Operating limits absorb variation so that deviations are genuinely exceptional events.