Definition

Corrective and Preventive Actions (CAPA) is a structured process used in food and beverage manufacturing to identify the root cause of a quality or food safety problem and take action, both to fix what went wrong and to prevent it from happening again.

CAPA has two distinct components that are often used together but have different purposes:

Corrective Action (CA): A response to a detected nonconformance. The goal is to correct the immediate problem, identify its root cause, and implement actions to prevent recurrence.
Preventive Action (PA): A proactive response to a potential nonconformance, one identified through risk assessment, trend analysis, or hazard analysis before a failure occurs. The goal is to eliminate the conditions that could lead to a problem before it surfaces.

Where It Fits

Not every nonconformance warrants a full CAPA investigation. Minor deviations with no food safety or quality impact may be resolved through immediate correction and retraining. CAPA is most appropriate when a problem is significant enough that root cause analysis and documented prevention are needed to protect product safety, regulatory compliance, or customer relationships.

FAQs

Compliance Requirements

FSMA's Preventive Controls for Human Food rule requires written corrective action procedures as part of a facility's Food Safety Plan. [VERIFY: specific CFR section for corrective action procedures under FSMA Preventive Controls for Human Food] Meat and poultry establishments are required to maintain corrective action procedures as part of their HACCP system under 9 CFR Part 417.