The preferred production practices (PPP) of the various quality assurance programs are used for health, nutrition, and other management practices and are evaluated based on the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point principles. The key to the HACCP system is the analysis of potential production hazards and pinpointing of places, called critical control points, where preventive measures can be taken to control or eliminate food safety hazards. The Meat Goat Quality Assurance program, just as those for the beef, sheep, and pork industries, are pre-harvest programs that use HACCP-like procedures to assist in the production of animals and assure wholesome animal products. Five areas that have been identified as critical points in the production of quality goat meat include herd health, nutrition/feedstuffs, management and proper care, record keeping, and bio-security. These critical control PPP have been covered extensively in different sections of this book. However, some of the major points, including bio-security, will be re-emphasized in this section. Following is a list of important factors considered under each of the five critical control points of production practices.

Herd Health

• A herd health program should be developed on each farm and use of any off-label drugs should be under the guidance of an experienced veterinarian.
• Use of proper injection procedures (subcutaneous is preferred over intramuscular or intravenous), needle size (generally 18-20 gauge), injection sites (area between neck and point of shoulder) and a proper withdrawal period must be practiced.
• All persons treating animals must be trained on proper drug usage and injection techniques.

Nutrition/ Feedstuffs

• Animals should be fed properly according to their age and production stage as described in this book.
• Feed and water should be free of chemical, biological, and other contaminants.
• Goats should not feed on protein derived from ruminants (potential hazard of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy or BSE) and broiler litter (possibility of contamination from broilers’ fed ruminant-derived protein).
  
• It is recommended to consult with a veterinarian regarding medicated feeds for goats. There are very few drugs approved for goats. A list of approved drugs for livestock can be found at http://www.fda.gov.
  
• Chemicals used on pastures must be properly recorded.