HACCP Flow Diagrams

HACCP Flow Diagram Example: Restaurant Kitchen

Complete HACCP Flow Diagram for a Restaurant Kitchen

Seeing a worked example is often more useful than reading theory. This article walks through a complete HACCP flow diagram for a typical UK restaurant kitchen that handles raw meat, fish, ready-to-eat items, and cook-chill products. We cover the reasoning behind each step, where the CCPs sit, and how to adapt the example to your own operation. This is not a template you can copy unchanged - your flow diagram must reflect your actual processes - but it provides a solid starting point and shows what a thorough diagram looks like.

Key takeaways

A typical restaurant needs at least four flow diagrams: raw meat, raw fish, ready-to-eat items, and cook-chill products.

Cooking to 75C core temperature is the primary CCP for raw meat, with hot holding above 63C as a second CCP if applicable.

Cook-chill processes add CCPs for rapid cooling (below 8C within 90 minutes) and reheating (to 75C core).

Always verify your diagram by walking the process during live service, not from memory.

Product Groups and Scope

A typical UK restaurant with a mixed menu needs at least four flow diagrams. The first covers raw meat and poultry: received chilled, stored in a dedicated raw meat fridge, prepared in a designated area, cooked to order, plated, and served. The second covers raw fish and shellfish: received chilled or frozen, stored separately from meat, thawed if frozen (under controlled conditions, not at room temperature), prepared, cooked, plated, and served. The third covers ready-to-eat items: salads, cold starters, cheese boards, and garnishes received from suppliers, stored in dedicated ready-to-eat fridges, prepared with minimal handling, assembled, and served without cooking. The fourth covers cook-chill items: soups, sauces, braises, and stocks cooked in advance, rapidly cooled, stored chilled, reheated to order, and served. Some restaurants need a fifth diagram for desserts, particularly if they involve raw egg (mousse, tiramisu) or are assembled from multiple components with different storage requirements. For this example, we will walk through the raw meat and poultry diagram in full detail.

Raw Meat Flow: Receiving Through Cooking

Step 1 (Receive delivery): Meat arrives from the supplier in a refrigerated vehicle. Staff check the delivery temperature with a calibrated probe - it must be below 8C, and ideally below 5C. Check use-by dates, packaging integrity, and visual appearance. Reject if temperature is above 8C, packaging is damaged, or there are signs of spoilage. This is a monitoring point. Step 2 (Transfer to raw meat fridge): Move the delivery immediately to the designated raw meat fridge, stored below any ready-to-eat items. The fridge operates at 0-5C. Step 3 (Fridge storage): Meat is stored at 0-5C until needed. Fridge temperature is logged at least twice daily. Step 4 (Preparation): Meat is moved to the raw preparation area. Designated colour-coded boards (red for raw meat) and knives are used. Preparation is completed promptly and any trimmings go to waste. Cross-contamination control is critical here: staff wash hands before and after handling raw meat, and the prep area is cleaned and sanitised between uses. Step 5 (Cooking): This is CCP1. Meat is cooked to a core temperature of at least 75C, verified with a calibrated probe thermometer inserted into the thickest part. For poultry, there must be no pink meat and juices must run clear as a secondary visual check. If the core temperature is below 75C, cooking continues. The temperature reading, food item, and time are recorded on the cooking log.

Raw Meat Flow: Post-Cooking Through Service

Step 6 (Resting): Some cuts rest briefly after cooking. If resting occurs, the food should remain above 63C. If it drops below 63C, it must be served within 2 hours or reheated to 75C. Step 7 (Plating and garnish): Food is plated in the pass area. Garnishes (which are ready-to-eat) are added using clean utensils. This is a potential cross-contamination point if raw and cooked items share the pass area without proper separation. Step 8 (Service): If food is served immediately, no further temperature control is needed. If it enters hot holding (e.g. a carvery or buffet), this becomes CCP2: food must be held above 63C, checked at least every 2 hours, and discarded if it drops below 63C and cannot be promptly reheated. For the cook-chill variant, after Step 5 (cooking), the flow branches: Step 6a (Cooling) is CCP2 - cool from 63C to below 8C within 90 minutes using a blast chiller or ice bath. Step 7a (Chill storage) at 0-5C with a maximum shelf life of 3 days. Step 8a (Reheating) is CCP3 - reheat to a core temperature of at least 75C. Then the flow rejoins at plating and service.

HACCP Flow Diagrams

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Adapting This Example to Your Restaurant

No two restaurants are identical, so you must adjust this example to reflect what actually happens in your kitchen. If you sous vide meats, add a vacuum packing step and note the time-temperature combination you use (e.g. 60C for 2 hours for beef, validated against your HACCP team's risk assessment). If you use a charcoal grill where probing every item is impractical, document your alternative validation method (e.g. timed cooking with periodic probe checks on representative items). If your restaurant has multiple kitchen sections (hot, cold, pastry), your flow diagram should show where food transfers between sections. If you receive any pre-cooked items from central production kitchens or external suppliers, show the receiving step and storage conditions. The critical test is verification: once you have drawn your diagram, walk the process during a live service with the diagram in hand. Does every step in reality appear on the diagram? Does every step on the diagram still happen in practice? If the answer to either question is no, update the diagram before your next EHO visit.

What to do next

Map your restaurant product groups

List every dish on your menu and categorise it by processing route. Identify how many distinct flow diagrams you need and which dishes share a common route.

Walk the raw meat process during service

Follow a chicken breast from delivery through to the customer plate during an actual service. Note every step, movement, temperature change, and handoff. Compare against your existing diagram.

Mark CCPs on your existing diagrams

If your flow diagrams exist but lack CCP markers, add them now. Every CCP from your hazard analysis should be visible on the corresponding diagram with its critical limit.

Common mistakes to avoid

Mistake

Using a single flow diagram for all menu items

Instead

Raw chicken and a green salad follow completely different processing routes with different hazards. Combining them into one diagram obscures the specific controls each product group needs.

Mistake

Omitting the cook-chill branch for items made in advance

Instead

If your kitchen cooks soups, sauces, or braises in advance and cools them for later reheating, this is a distinct process with its own CCPs. Show it as a branch on your diagram or as a separate diagram entirely.

Frequently asked questions

Does every restaurant need the same number of flow diagrams?

No. A simple burger restaurant with no cook-chill might need only two (raw meat cooked to order, and ready-to-eat items). A fine dining restaurant with sous vide, cook-chill, pastry production, and multiple protein types might need six or more. The number depends on how many distinct processing routes your menu involves.

Should I include drinks and cocktails on my flow diagram?

Generally no, unless you prepare beverages that involve food safety risks, such as freshly squeezed juices (microbiological risk from unwashed fruit), smoothies with dairy (temperature control), or infusions that involve raw ingredients. Standard tea, coffee, and alcohol service do not need a flow diagram.

How do I handle daily specials that change frequently?

Group specials by processing route rather than by dish. A daily fish special follows the same raw fish flow diagram as your regular fish dishes. If a special involves a process you do not normally do (e.g. curing, smoking, fermenting), you need to add or create a flow diagram for that process before adding it to the menu.

HACCP Flow Diagrams