What is HACCP?
HACCP stands for Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point. It is the system every food business in Ireland is required to run to keep the food it sells safe. Here is what it means in practice, what the law asks of you, and what training you and your staff need.
- 7 principles
- Legal requirement
- Levels 1 to 3
- Certificate in 160 min
A way of finding what could go wrong, and stopping it.
Strip away the acronym and HACCP is a simple idea. Look at every step food takes through your business, from the delivery door to the plate. Work out where something could go wrong and make someone ill: bacteria growing in a warm fridge, raw chicken dripping onto salad, a chemical stored beside flour, a nut where a nut shouldn't be. Decide which of those points really matter, set a limit at each one, check it, write it down, and fix it fast when it drifts.
The approach was developed in the 1960s for the American space programme, where a case of food poisoning in orbit was not an option. It replaced testing the finished product, which only tells you a problem existed after the food is gone, with controlling the process so the problem doesn't happen. That is why food law across the EU is built on it.
In a restaurant, a deli or a care home kitchen, a HACCP system is not a thick manual. It is a short set of written procedures, a handful of checks that happen every day, and the records that prove they happened. The training exists so that everyone who touches food knows their part in it, and so the person in charge can build and run it.
The seven principles.
Every HACCP system, from a food van to a factory, is built on the same seven steps, in this order.
- Conduct a hazard analysis
List each step in your process and the biological, chemical, physical and allergen hazards that could occur at it.
- Identify the critical control points
Pick the steps where control is essential to prevent or remove a hazard: cooking, chilling, reheating, allergen separation.
- Set critical limits
Give each control point a measurable limit. A core temperature of 75°C, a fridge below 5°C, a use-by date.
- Monitor the control points
Decide who checks each limit, how, and how often, and make it part of the routine.
- Set corrective actions
Agree in advance what happens when a limit is missed: cook longer, discard, move stock, call the engineer.
- Verify the system works
Check that the monitoring is happening and the limits are right: probe calibration, record reviews, audits.
- Keep documents and records
The written procedures and the daily records are what an inspector reads and what proves due diligence.
- Then train the people
Not a principle in the textbook, but the step that makes the other seven work. Everyone needs to know their part.
The prerequisites.
HACCP controls the critical points. Everything else that keeps a kitchen safe has to be in place first, or the plan is built on sand. These are the prerequisite programmes every food business needs.
- Cleaning and disinfection schedules
- Pest control
- Personal hygiene and protective clothing
- Supplier approval and delivery checks
- Temperature control and equipment maintenance
- Stock rotation and allergen management
- Waste management
- Staff training and records
Is HACCP a legal requirement?
Yes. Two parts of one EU regulation cover both the system and the training.
Regulation (EC) 852/2004, Article 5
Food business operators must put in place, implement and maintain a permanent procedure or procedures based on the HACCP principles. It applies to every food business, with flexibility for small ones.
Regulation (EC) 852/2004, Annex II, Chapter XII
Food handlers must be supervised, instructed and trained in food hygiene matters commensurate with their work, and those responsible for the HACCP procedures must be adequately trained in applying the HACCP principles.
S.I. No. 369 of 2006
The Irish regulations that give effect to the EU hygiene rules and are enforced by Environmental Health Officers on behalf of the FSAI.
The regulation sets out what must be in place. The FSAI Guide to Food Safety Skills sets out the skills food handlers and managers should demonstrate at Levels 1, 2 and 3. Our HACCP courses are mapped to those guidelines.
Which HACCP training do you need?
The level depends on what you do with food, not on the size of the business.
Light or low-risk duties
You serve, carry or handle wrapped food but don't prepare it. Waiting staff, baristas, carers, porters, volunteers.
You prepare, cook or handle open food
Chefs, kitchen staff, deli and counter staff, food production. Both levels in one sitting, and the certificate employers ask for.
You already hold Level 1
Your role has grown to preparing food and you need the next step without repeating Level 1.
You own the HACCP plan
Owners, managers, supervisors and head chefs who write the procedures, check the records and train the team.
HACCP in a small kitchen, on one fridge.
Here is how the seven principles land on a single piece of equipment.
| Hazard | Bacteria multiplying in chilled food held too warm |
|---|---|
| Critical control point | Chilled storage |
| Critical limit | Fridge running at 5°C or below |
| Monitoring | Temperature checked and recorded twice a day by the opening and closing chef |
| Corrective action | Above 5°C: move stock to a working fridge, check and discard anything held too warm, report the fault |
| Verification | Manager reviews the sheet weekly; thermometer checked against a calibrated probe monthly |
| Records | Daily temperature sheet, kept for inspection |
Is HACCP a legal requirement in Ireland?
Yes. Regulation (EC) 852/2004, which applies in Ireland, requires every food business operator to put in place, implement and maintain a permanent procedure based on the HACCP principles. How detailed it needs to be depends on the size and nature of the business.
Do I need a HACCP certificate to work in a kitchen?
The law requires food handlers to be supervised, instructed and trained in food hygiene to the level their job needs. In practice, employers ask for a HACCP Level 1 & 2 certificate for most kitchen and counter roles, and Level 3 for the person who manages the system.
What is the difference between HACCP and food safety training?
HACCP is the system a food business runs to keep food safe. Food safety training, at Levels 1, 2 and 3, teaches the people in the business how to work within that system, from washing hands correctly to writing the HACCP plan itself.
Does a small café need a full HACCP plan?
Every food business needs procedures based on the HACCP principles, but the regulation allows them to be proportionate. A small café's system is usually a short set of written procedures and daily records, not a manufacturing-scale plan.
Who should hold Level 3?
The person responsible for the HACCP system: the owner, manager, supervisor or head chef who writes the procedures, checks the records and trains the staff.
How do I get my staff trained quickly?
The HACCP Level 1 & 2 course takes about 160 minutes online and issues the certificate the moment they pass. For a group of up to 12, a Guardian trainer can come to your premises. See group pricing.
Get HACCP certified today.
Level 1 & 2 online in about 160 minutes, certificate the moment you pass.