A HACCP plan should describe what happens in your kitchen or food business, where food safety hazards might arise and how staff will control them.
If you are wondering how to write a HACCP plan, start by mapping your food preparation process. Then identify significant hazards, document the controls, decide what needs monitoring and explain what happens when a check fails.
Here is how to turn those decisions into a workable written plan.
If you manage food preparation or supervise kitchen staff, Course Gate’s Food Hygiene and Safety Level 3 course covers HACCP, contamination prevention and practical food safety responsibilities. It can help build the knowledge behind the procedures explained below.
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Do UK Food Businesses Need a HACCP Plan?
UK food businesses generally need food safety management procedures based on Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) principles. That does not mean every café needs a lengthy HACCP manual.
The UK food safety management guidance explains that the appropriate system depends on a business’s size, risk and complexity. A small caterer may use an appropriate official pack; complex production may need more detailed documentation.
Whatever approach you use, the procedures must reflect how your business actually handles food.
Before Writing a HACCP Plan: What to Prepare
Choose a Suitable HACCP-Based Approach
Check that essential hygiene arrangements are in place, including cleaning, pest control, staff hygiene, safe storage and equipment maintenance. These are often called prerequisite programmes.
UK businesses can use different official resources
- England and Wales: Safer Food, Better Business (SFBB) provides practical packs for small food businesses.
- Scotland: CookSafe food safety guidance supports catering businesses in developing HACCP-based procedures.
- Northern Ireland: Safe Catering guidance provides guidance and recording forms for caterers. ✕
For more complex operations, the MyHACCP tool may be useful.
Gather Food Information and Map Your Process
Decide what products and activities the plan covers. Involve staff familiar with production and gather ingredient, supplier and existing record details.
Next, sketch the process in order. For a cooked chicken dish, this might be:
Delivery → Chilled storage → Preparation → Cooking → Hot service
Walk through the kitchen to check the diagram matches everyday practice. The HACCP preparation guidance also covers the product’s intended use, the scope of the study and prerequisite controls.
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How to Write a HACCP Plan in 7 Steps
The following steps turn the 7 HACCP principles [INTERNAL LINK OPPORTUNITY: HACCP Explained: The 7 Principles With a UK Kitchen Example] into written procedures. Work through each stage of your process rather than copying controls from another business.
Step 1: Identify and Assess Food Safety Hazards
Look at each process stage and ask what could make the food unsafe. Consider microbiological hazards, chemicals, physical objects and relevant allergens.
Record the potential hazard, its likelihood and severity, and how it will be controlled. For example, raw chicken may contain harmful bacteria, so your plan needs suitable handling and cooking controls.
Your plan should also cover allergen risks, including cross-contact during food preparation. Find out more in our allergen management guide.
Step 2: Determine Critical Control Points
Decide which stages require essential control to prevent, eliminate or reduce a significant hazard to an acceptable level. These are Critical Control Points (CCPs).
A CCP decision must follow the hazard analysis. Not every hygiene check is a CCP; some risks can be managed through prerequisite procedures.
Record the decision and its reasoning.
Step 3: Establish Critical Limits
For each CCP, write down the measurable or observable boundary between acceptable and unacceptable control.
A cooking CCP might use a justified time-and-temperature combination. Other processes may need different validated limits.
Make the requirement specific enough that staff can recognise whether the process has passed or failed.
Step 4: Write Monitoring Procedures
Explain what will be checked, how, when and by whom. For a cooking CCP, this might involve measuring a core temperature with a clean, suitable probe and recording the result for each batch.
Keep instructions realistic for a busy service.
Supervisors should also check that monitoring records are kept up to date. This is one of several food hygiene supervisor responsibilities covered in our daily checklist.
Step 5: Record Corrective Actions
State what staff must do if monitoring shows a critical limit has not been met.
For example, chicken that has not reached the required cooking limit must not be served. The procedure might require further cooking and a repeat check, or safe disposal if the food cannot be brought under control.
Record the problem, action taken, affected food and person responsible.
Step 6: Plan Verification Checks
Monitoring checks whether a control meets its limit during operation. Verification checks whether the HACCP system is being followed and works as intended.
Your plan might assign a supervisor to review temperature records, observe procedures and check thermometer accuracy.
Validation is different: it establishes that a chosen control can effectively manage the hazard.
Step 7: Organise Documentation and Records
Bring together the product description, flow diagram, hazard analysis, CCP decisions, limits, monitoring instructions, corrective actions and verification arrangements.
Keep completed records with the current plan. Date or version documents and ensure relevant staff can access them.
HACCP Plan Example for a UK Kitchen
Imagine a small catering kitchen preparing chicken dishes for immediate hot service. Its process includes chilled storage, preparation, cooking and service.
After assessing the risks, the kitchen identifies cooking as a CCP for controlling harmful bacteria.
One illustrative HACCP control entry could look like this:
| Process Step | Hazard and Control | CCP and Critical Limit | Monitoring | Corrective Action and Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cooking chicken | Survival of harmful bacteria; thorough cooking. | CCP: Core reaches 75°C for at least 30 seconds. | Trained cook checks the thickest part with a clean probe for each batch and records the result. | Continue cooking and recheck if below limit. Do not serve until safe. Record the deviation and action. |
A core temperature of 75°C maintained for 30 seconds is one recognised safe cooking time-and-temperature combination.
This is an illustration, not a ready-to-use plan. Businesses must assess their own processes and hazards, justify CCP decisions and validate their controls. Chilling, cross-contamination and allergen controls also need consideration elsewhere in the system.
What Should a HACCP Plan Format Include?
There is no single layout that suits every business. A practical HACCP plan template will usually include:
- Business details, responsibilities and the plan's scope.
- Food descriptions and a verified process flow diagram.
- Identified hazards, risk assessment and control measures.
- CCP decisions and critical limits, where applicable.
- Monitoring methods, frequencies and responsible staff.
- Corrective-action, verification and review arrangements.
- Supporting records and document version information.
For an official starting point, follow the HACCP planning guidance to understand how to develop a suitable food safety management plan.
How to Review and Maintain Your HACCP Plan
A plan must reflect actual practice. Assign responsibilities, check records and schedule reviews.
Revisit the plan when ingredients, suppliers, equipment, recipes or production methods change, and after a food safety problem exposes a weakness.
Update the relevant controls, document changes and make sure staff understand revised procedures.
A useful final check is simple: Could someone following this plan identify the hazard, carry out the control and know what to do if it fails?
If you’re responsible for food safety in a kitchen, having a good understanding of HACCP and day-to-day hygiene practices can make the job easier. Course Gate’s Food Hygiene and Safety Level 3 course covers these areas, along with temperature monitoring, contamination prevention and food hygiene supervision.
Frequently Asked Questions About HACCP Plans
A common model is to assemble a HACCP team, describe the product, identify its intended use, draw a process flow diagram and confirm the diagram on site. Some guidance, including MyHACCP, separates preparation into more stages. These tasks come before applying the seven HACCP principles.
Yes, provided you have the knowledge needed to assess your operations and develop suitable procedures. A small business may use an appropriate official pack. Complex processes may need specialist input.
Yes. Official resources include SFBB, CookSafe, Safe Catering and the free MyHACCP tool. Choose a resource that suits your business rather than treating any template as automatically compliant.
Review it at planned intervals and when significant changes affect your food safety controls. Changes to ingredients, equipment or methods may require an earlier review. Record any updates.
