How Often Should a HACCP Plan Be Reviewed?

The seventh principle of HACCP — verification — requires that your food safety management system is regularly reviewed to ensure it remains effective and up to date. While UK regulations do not specify an exact review frequency in statute, the universally accepted best practice is to conduct a formal review at least once per year. This annual review should be a structured assessment of your entire HACCP plan, checking that all identified hazards are still relevant, Critical Control Points are still appropriate, critical limits are still correct, monitoring procedures are being followed, and corrective actions are effective. In addition to the annual review, your HACCP plan must be reviewed whenever there is a significant change to your business. This includes changes to your menu or recipes, introduction of new ingredients or suppliers, installation of new equipment, physical alterations to the kitchen or premises, changes in staff or management, a food safety incident or customer complaint, changes in legislation or guidance, and feedback from an EHO inspection. Any of these changes could introduce new hazards or make existing controls inadequate, so the plan must be updated to reflect the current reality of your operation. The review should be documented, showing the date of the review, who conducted it, what was checked, any changes made, and the reason for those changes. This documentation is important evidence for EHO inspections, as it demonstrates that your food safety management is active and responsive rather than a static document. An EHO will look at the date of your last review and will expect to see evidence of updates. A HACCP plan that has not been reviewed for two or three years suggests that the business is not taking food safety management seriously.