The 7 HACCP Principles Explained

The 7 HACCP principles are a practical method for managing food safety in real operations. They help you identify what can make food unsafe, decide where control matters most, and document that your routines work over time.

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Short explanation: What are the 7 HACCP principles for?

HACCP is not just “what you do” in the kitchen. It is how you prove you do it consistently. The principles give you a simple system:

• Identify hazards
• Put control in the right steps
• Set clear limits
• Monitor the limits
• Define what happens when things go wrong
• Verify the system
• Document everything in a way you can show during an audit

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Principle 1: Conduct a hazard analysis

What does it mean?

Map what can make food unsafe in your operation.

Typical hazards in hospitality

• Biological: bacteria, viruses, cross-contamination
• Chemical: cleaning chemicals, allergens
• Physical: glass, plastic, metal fragments

What should you document?

• A short hazard overview for each step of your process (receiving, storage, prep, cooking, cooling, hot holding, service)
• Which hazards are most relevant for you, and why

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Principle 2: Identify Critical Control Points (CCPs)

What does it mean?

Find the steps where you must control something to prevent, eliminate, or reduce a hazard to an acceptable level.

Examples of CCPs in practice

• Temperature control during hot holding
• Cooling and reheating (when relevant)
• Cooking core temperature (for high-risk products)
• Allergen control may be a CCP in some operations, depending on your process and risk

What should you document?

• Which CCPs you have chosen, and the reason for each
• Which routine applies to each CCP

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Principle 3: Establish critical limits

What does it mean?

Set clear, measurable limits that separate “safe” from “unsafe”.

Examples

• Minimum cooking temperature (core temperature)
• Maximum cooling time and target temperature
• Required hot holding temperature
• Maximum cold storage temperature (for high-risk items)

What should you document?

• The critical limit for each CCP (specific and measurable)
• Where your limits come from (regulation, guidance, supplier specs, industry standards)

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Principle 4: Set up monitoring procedures

What does it mean?

Define how you will check that you stay within the critical limits.

Examples of monitoring

• Daily temperature checks (manual or sensor-based)
• Regular checks during cooling for selected products
• Verification of allergen information before service
• Visual checks that prevent cross-contamination (workflow, separation, labeling)

What should you document?

• Who checks, how often, and how
• Which log or checklist you use (digital or paper)

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Principle 5: Define corrective actions

What does it mean?

Decide in advance what you will do when monitoring shows you are outside the limits.

Examples

• Discard food, or reprocess safely if allowed by your procedure
• Hold food and investigate before serving
• Stop production if a serious hazard is identified
• Isolate allergen-risk food, inform the team, update labeling or recipe info

What should you document?

• Corrective actions linked to each CCP deviation
• Who is responsible for deciding, acting, and following up

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Principle 6: Verify that the system works

What does it mean?

Check regularly that the system is effective, not just written down.

Examples of verification

• Monthly review of logs and corrective actions
• Spot checks of routines (cleaning, allergens, temperatures)
• Internal audits or checklists
• Scheduled review of your hazard analysis and CCPs (at least annually, and when changes happen)

What should you document?

• A simple plan for review and internal control
• Results of reviews and what you improved

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Principle 7: Documentation and record keeping

What does it mean?

This is your proof that you work systematically with food safety.

Minimum documentation many operations need

• Hazard analysis overview
• List of CCPs
• Critical limits
• Monitoring logs (temperatures, cooling, cleaning, allergens where relevant)
• Corrective actions and deviation records
• Verification records (internal checks, reviews)

Practical tip: Make documentation easy to find. In an inspection, speed and clarity matter. A simple structure often beats a complicated binder.

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How to get started in 1–2 hours

1. Write down 5–10 key processes in your operation (receiving, storage, cooking, cooling, hot holding, allergen handling, cleaning).
2. Choose 2–5 CCPs where control matters most.
3. Set critical limits and decide how you will monitor them.
4. Agree on what to do when something is out of limit.
5. Schedule a monthly 15-minute review of logs and deviations.

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Summary

The 7 HACCP principles make food safety concrete. You identify risks, choose the right control points, set limits, monitor them, act when something goes wrong, verify over time, and document it so you can prove it in practice.

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Sources

https://www.fao.org/fao-who-codexalimentarius/codex-texts/guidelines/en/

https://www.fao.org/fao-who-codexalimentarius/sh-proxy/en/?lnk=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fworkspace.fao.org%2Fsites%2Fcodex%2FStandards%2FCXC%2B1-1969%2FCXC_001e.pdf

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2004/852/oj/eng

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eur/2004/852/contents

https://www.food.gov.uk/business-guidance/hazard-analysis-and-critical-control-point-haccp

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