How to Create a HACCP Plan for Your Restaurant
Complete guide to creating a HACCP plan covering all 7 principles and 5 preliminary steps. UK-specific guidance for restaurants, cafes, and food service businesses.
HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) is a systematic, science-based approach to identifying and controlling food safety hazards. Under EC Regulation 852/2004 (retained in UK law), every food business must have food safety procedures based on HACCP principles. For restaurants, cafes, and food service businesses, a well-constructed HACCP plan is the foundation of your entire food safety management system.
The Codex Alimentarius Commission established the internationally recognised HACCP system, which consists of 5 preliminary steps and 7 core principles. While smaller businesses may use the simplified SFBB approach, a full HACCP plan gives you more detailed control and is often required for larger operations, businesses supplying other businesses, or those handling high-risk processes.
This guide walks you through every step of building a HACCP plan from scratch, tailored specifically for UK food service operations. By the end, you will have a comprehensive plan that satisfies regulatory requirements and genuinely protects your customers.
12 steps to complete
Assemble your HACCP team
Identify the people who will develop and maintain your HACCP plan. This should include your head chef or kitchen manager (who understands the practical processes), a food safety-trained manager, and ideally someone with formal HACCP training (Level 3 or above). For smaller businesses, this might be just one or two people, but you need someone with direct knowledge of every process in your kitchen.
Describe your products
Create a detailed description of every product category your restaurant produces. Include the ingredients used, processing methods (cooking, chilling, reheating), packaging or serving methods, storage conditions, shelf life, and target consumers. For a restaurant, group similar products together — for example, all grilled meat dishes, all cold salads, all desserts.
Identify intended use and consumers
Document who your food is intended for and how it will be consumed. Note if you serve vulnerable groups such as elderly customers, young children, pregnant women, or people with food allergies. If you offer takeaway or delivery, document the additional time-temperature risks involved. This information shapes the level of control required at each stage.
Create process flow diagrams
Map out every step your food goes through from delivery to service. This includes receiving goods, storage (ambient, chilled, frozen), preparation, cooking, cooling, reheating, hot-holding, cold-holding, and service. Create separate flow diagrams for different process categories — for instance, a cook-serve flow, a cook-chill-reheat flow, and a no-cook flow for items like salads.
Confirm flow diagrams on-site
Walk through your kitchen during a busy service and verify that your flow diagrams accurately reflect what actually happens. Check that food follows the routes you have documented and that no steps are missing. It is common to discover that the real process differs from what you assumed. Update your diagrams to match reality, not the other way around.
Conduct hazard analysis (Principle 1)
For each step in your flow diagrams, identify all potential biological, chemical, and physical hazards. Biological hazards include bacteria like Salmonella, E. coli, and Listeria. Chemical hazards include cleaning product residues, allergens, and pest control chemicals. Physical hazards include glass, metal fragments, hair, and plasters. Assess the likelihood and severity of each hazard and determine whether existing controls are sufficient.
Determine Critical Control Points (Principle 2)
A Critical Control Point (CCP) is a step where control is essential to prevent or eliminate a food safety hazard or reduce it to an acceptable level. Use a CCP decision tree to systematically evaluate each hazard. Common CCPs in restaurants include cooking temperatures, chilling times, and hot-holding temperatures. Not every step is a CCP — be rigorous in your assessment to keep the plan manageable.
Establish critical limits for each CCP (Principle 3)
Set measurable limits that separate safe from unsafe at each CCP. For cooking, this is typically a core temperature of 75°C (or 70°C for 2 minutes). For chilled storage, it is 0°C to 5°C. For cooling, food must go from 63°C to below 8°C within 90 minutes. These limits must be based on scientific evidence or regulatory guidance, not guesswork.
Establish monitoring procedures (Principle 4)
Define exactly how each CCP will be monitored, including what is measured, how it is measured, how often, and by whom. For cooking temperatures, this means probing the thickest part of the food with a calibrated thermometer. For fridge temperatures, this means checking and recording at least twice daily. Monitoring must be consistent and documented — a check that is not recorded did not happen.
Establish corrective actions (Principle 5)
Document what must happen when monitoring shows a critical limit has been breached. Corrective actions must address both the immediate problem (what happens to the affected food) and the underlying cause (why did the breach occur and how do you prevent it recurring). For example, if a fridge exceeds 8°C, the corrective action might be to check food temperatures, discard anything above 8°C for more than 4 hours, call an engineer, and move remaining stock to a working unit.
Establish verification procedures (Principle 6)
Set up procedures to confirm that your HACCP plan is working effectively. This includes regular internal audits, reviewing monitoring records for trends, calibrating thermometers monthly, and periodic end-product testing if appropriate. Schedule a formal HACCP review at least annually, or whenever you change your menu, suppliers, equipment, or premises layout.
Establish documentation and record keeping (Principle 7)
Create and maintain all HACCP documentation including the plan itself, hazard analysis worksheets, CCP monitoring records, corrective action logs, verification records, and review meeting minutes. Records must be kept for a minimum of one year (the FSA recommends longer for due diligence). Ensure records are signed and dated, and store them where any manager can access them quickly during an inspection.
Tips for success
Common mistakes to avoid
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a HACCP plan or is SFBB enough?
SFBB (Safer Food Better Business) is based on HACCP principles and is accepted by the FSA as sufficient for most small food businesses such as restaurants, cafes, and takeaways. A full HACCP plan is recommended for larger operations, businesses with complex processes (such as cook-chill or sous vide), caterers supplying other businesses, or any operation where SFBB does not cover your specific activities. Your local authority can advise on which is appropriate.
How often should I review my HACCP plan?
At minimum, review your HACCP plan annually. You must also review it whenever there is a significant change to your operation, such as a new menu, new equipment, changes to suppliers, alterations to your premises, new food preparation methods, or after a food safety incident. Document every review with the date, who was involved, what was assessed, and any changes made.
What HACCP training do I need?
There is no legal requirement for a specific HACCP qualification, but the person responsible for developing and maintaining your HACCP plan should ideally hold a Level 3 Award in HACCP for Food Manufacturing or Catering. Food handlers should understand the principles relevant to their role as part of their general food safety training. Many local authorities and private training providers offer HACCP courses both online and in person.
What is the difference between a CCP and a prerequisite programme?
Prerequisite programmes (PRPs) are the basic hygiene conditions and practices that must be in place before HACCP can be effective — such as cleaning schedules, pest control, personal hygiene, and supplier approval. A CCP is a specific step in a food process where control is essential to prevent or eliminate a hazard. PRPs create the foundation; CCPs address specific process hazards.
Can I create a HACCP plan myself or do I need a consultant?
You can absolutely create a HACCP plan yourself, provided you have adequate knowledge of HACCP principles and your food processes. Many small businesses successfully develop their own plans using FSA guidance and templates as a starting point. However, if your processes are complex or you lack confidence, a food safety consultant can help. The key is that whoever creates the plan must understand your specific operation intimately.
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