What is HACCP?
HACCP stands for Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points. It is a system that helps you identify the food safety risks in your business and demonstrably keep them under control, from the moment products arrive until the plate reaches the table.
The idea behind HACCP is simple: you look at where in your process something could go wrong with food safety (for example a fridge running too warm or chicken not heated thoroughly enough), you determine the points where you must intervene, and you document that you actually do so.
That documentation is the part most hospitality operators deal with daily: temperature logs, cleaning lists and preparation records. Those records are your proof to food safety inspectors that your business operates safely.
Who must comply with HACCP?
HACCP is legally mandatory for every business that prepares, processes, packages, transports or stores food. This is laid down in the European hygiene regulation (EC 852/2004). For hospitality this means:
- Restaurants, cafes, brasseries and lunchrooms: mandatory, regardless of the size of your establishment
- Fast-food outlets, snack bars and food trucks: mandatory
- Hotels with breakfast or a restaurant: mandatory
- Caterers and home cooks who sell food: mandatory, even when preparing from home
There is no lower limit: even a small cafe serving only toasties and cake falls under the obligation. What does differ is how extensive the system needs to be. A pub with a simple menu has fewer critical points than a restaurant with sous-vide preparations.
An HACCP certificate is not required for hospitality. Certification does exist (for example FSSC 22000) but is intended for the food manufacturing industry. As a hospitality operator you must demonstrably work according to HACCP principles, and the Hygiene Code is the standard route for that.
The 7 HACCP principles in brief
The HACCP system is based on 7 principles worldwide. For hospitality they come down to:
- Hazard analysis: identify where things can go wrong (spoilage, cross-contamination, insufficient heating)
- Determine critical control points: choose the points where control is essential, such as fridge temperature and core temperature
- Set standards: for example fridge max 7 °C, freezer -18 °C, core temperature minimum 75 °C
- Monitor: check those points structurally, usually daily
- Corrective actions: document what you do when a standard is exceeded
- Verification: periodically check whether your system works
- Documentation: keep records as evidence
Want to get started on this for your own business? In our step-by-step guide How to create an HACCP plan for your restaurant we work out each principle with practical examples.
The Hygiene Code: the practical route for hospitality
Good news: as a restaurant or cafe you do not need to write your own HACCP plan. The industry has already done this for you in the Hygiene Code for Hospitality. This code is approved by the government as a food safety plan.
If you demonstrably work according to the Hygiene Code, you automatically meet your HACCP obligation. The code translates the 7 principles into concrete work instructions: which temperatures you measure, how often you clean, how you handle deliveries and shelf life.
How the code works in practice, what it contains and how to apply it, you can read in our explainer about the Hygiene Code for hospitality.
Which records do you need to keep?
This is the daily core of HACCP in hospitality. You must be able to show these records during an inspection:
1. Temperature control
Daily checks of fridges and freezers, plus core temperatures for critical preparations such as heating and cooling down. See how a digital temperature monitoring system sets this up automatically, or read which temperature checks are mandatory.
2. Cleaning records
Proof that cleaning happens structurally: who, what, when. With digital cleaning checklists your team signs off with a timestamp and name.
3. Goods reception
Checking temperature and quality of deliveries of perishable products, including recording any deviations.
4. Shelf life and use-by dates
Labelling self-prepared products with preparation and use-by date, and daily checks for expired products. This can be done manually, or automatically with use-by label printing from your recipes.
Want to see what these lists look like? Download free HACCP checklists (PDF and Excel) or see how to keep them digitally.
What do food safety inspectors check?
Food safety authorities check whether you demonstrably work in a food-safe manner. During an inspection an inspector looks at, among other things:
- Whether you work according to an approved hygiene code or your own HACCP plan
- Whether your records are complete and up to date (temperature, cleaning, preparations)
- The actual hygiene in your kitchen and storage areas
- Whether your team knows how to work properly, including allergen awareness
- Shelf life and labelling of products
For a first violation you can expect a warning or a compliance order. Repeat offences lead to fines of thousands of euros, and in serious cases closure follows. Inspections are almost always unannounced.
Read how to prepare in our article about food safety inspections in hospitality.
HACCP on paper or digital?
The law does not prescribe how you keep records, only that you do. Yet the difference in practice is significant:
- Paper: lists get lost, are filled in retrospectively (pen-checking) and are hard to locate during an inspection. A signature without a timestamp is weak evidence.
- Digital: tasks are automatically prepared, each entry gets a name and timestamp, and you export your complete dossier with one click when the inspector asks for it.
Not sure which solution fits your business? Check out our HACCP software for restaurants and cafes, or first read what to look for when comparing HACCP software.