What HACCP is
Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (APPCC in Spanish). It is the system a restaurant uses to identify what could make food unsafe and how it controls it. Regulation (EC) 852/2004 requires every food business to have procedures based on its principles.
The seven principles
- Analyse the hazards (biological, chemical, physical and allergens) at each stage.
- Identify the critical control points.
- Set critical limits, for example the temperature of a cold room.
- Monitor those points.
- Define what to do when something goes beyond the limit.
- Check that the system works.
- Document it and keep the records.
The plans that support it
HACCP is built on general hygiene plans: cleaning and disinfection, pest control, water, equipment maintenance, suppliers and traceability, staff training and allergen management.
Daily records
- Fridge and freezer temperatures.
- Goods received: temperature, condition and batch.
- Cleaning: what, who and when.
- Frying oil checks.
- Incidents and corrective actions.
Team training
Since 2010 Spain no longer has an official food handler's card: Royal Decree 109/2010 makes the business responsible for training its team in food hygiene according to their role. That training should be certified and recorded.
Allergens
Regulation (EU) 1169/2011 and Spanish Royal Decree 126/2015 require information on the 14 allergens for unpackaged food too, in other words on your menu. The information must be available before the customer orders.
How to keep it without binders
The hard part of HACCP isn't setting it up, it's keeping it going every day. With records on your phone, every task is signed off with a time and a name, and anything left undone sends an alert.
→ This guide is for information only: each venue's plan must be adapted to its activity.