What is HACCP?
HACCP stands for Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points. It is a systematic, science-based approach to identifying, evaluating, and controlling food safety hazards. It is not a specific set of rules but a framework for thinking about and managing food safety risks in your specific operation.
Under EU Regulation 852/2004 on the hygiene of foodstuffs, every food business in the EU is legally required to have food safety management procedures based on HACCP principles. This applies to all food businesses — from a single-operator café to a large-scale manufacturer. The depth and formality of the HACCP plan should be proportionate to the scale of the operation, but the obligation exists for all.
The seven HACCP principles:
Conduct a hazard analysis
Determine critical control points (CCPs)
Establish critical limits for each CCP
Establish a monitoring system for each CCP
Establish corrective actions for deviations
Establish verification procedures
Establish documentation and record-keeping
Temperature as a critical control point
Temperature is almost always a critical control point in any food business's HACCP plan. This is because temperature controls the two most important biological hazards in food:
- Bacterial growth: Most foodborne pathogens multiply rapidly between 5°C and 63°C — the "danger zone". Keeping food outside this range is the primary control against bacterial growth.
- Pathogen survival: Adequate cooking temperatures destroy most foodborne pathogens. Insufficient cooking allows them to survive. Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella, E. coli O157, Campylobacter, and Staphylococcus aureus are among the most significant pathogens controlled through temperature.
Your HACCP plan should identify the specific temperature control points in your operation (receiving, storage, preparation, cooking, holding, cooling, reheating, service) and establish critical limits, monitoring procedures, and corrective actions for each.
Safe food temperatures
Danger zone
5°C – 63°C
Bacteria multiply rapidly. Minimise time food spends here.
Cold storage (fridge)
≤5°C
Ideally ≤4°C for high-risk items (cooked meats, dairy, RTE foods).
Freezer
≤-18°C
Frozen food in a compliant state.
Hot holding
≥63°C
Must be maintained throughout service, not just at the start.
Safe cooking (most foods)
75°C core
Or 70°C for 2 minutes as equivalent. See poultry and mince above.
Cooling target (Ireland)
63°C → 8°C within 90 min
FSAI guidance. Active cooling required — blast chiller, ice bath, shallow trays.
Reheating
75°C core
All reheated food must reach 75°C before service. Reheat once only.
| Food type | Core temperature |
|---|---|
| Poultry (chicken, turkey, duck) | 75°C |
| Pork and cured pork products | 75°C |
| Mince, burgers, sausages | 75°C |
| Rolled or stuffed joints | 75°C |
| Fish | 63°C |
| Most other meats and foods | 75°C |
How to monitor temperatures
Temperature monitoring should cover every stage where temperature is a critical control point: delivery, storage, preparation, cooking, hot holding, cooling, reheating, and service.
For each monitoring point, your HACCP plan must specify: who monitors, how often, and what they record. At minimum:
- Fridges and freezers: At least once per day, preferably at the same time each day
- Hot holding: At start of service and at regular intervals throughout — every 2 hours is common
- Cooked products: Every product or batch before service
- Cooling: At 30-minute intervals during the cooling period
Each temperature record must include: date and time, product or equipment being measured, temperature reading, name of person who took the measurement, and any corrective action taken.
Corrective actions
A corrective action is what you do when a temperature is outside its critical limit. Your HACCP plan must specify corrective actions for each CCP — you should not be making ad-hoc decisions under pressure.
When in doubt, discard
Food safety is a "fail safe" system. If you cannot be confident that food is safe, it should not be served. The cost of discarding food is always less than the cost of a food safety incident. Document every corrective action — what the deviation was, what decision was made, what was done with the food, and what was done to prevent recurrence.
Record-keeping requirements
Temperature records are legal evidence of your food safety system in operation. They serve three purposes: operational management, regulatory compliance, and legal protection.
The FSAI recommends keeping temperature records for at least 12 months. What matters:
- Records are completed at the time of measurement, not retrospectively
- All required fields are captured (date, time, product/equipment, temperature, name, corrective action)
- Records are stored securely and retrievable on request
- Records are reviewed by a supervisor — simply completing forms without reviewing them defeats the purpose
Thermometer types and calibration
Probe thermometer
Most versatile. Used to measure the core temperature of food. Must be cleaned and sanitised before each use. Requires direct food contact. Correct probe insertion depth is important for accurate core readings.
Infrared (non-contact) thermometer
Quick checks of delivery temperatures or surface temperature of food. Measures surface temperature ONLY — cannot verify core temperature of cooked food. Do not use to confirm cooking.
Fridge/freezer data logger
Continuous temperature monitoring of refrigerated storage. Can generate alerts when temperature goes out of range. Monitors ambient air temperature, not food temperature — must be positioned correctly within the unit.
Oven probe thermometer
Integrated probes in some ovens provide real-time core temperatures during roasting. Fixed position — may not reflect the coldest point of the food. Verify with a probe thermometer.
Calibration method:
- Ice water method: Fill a container with crushed ice and cold water. After 30 seconds, insert the probe. A calibrated thermometer should read 0°C ±1°C.
- Boiling water method: At sea level, boiling water is 100°C. A calibrated thermometer should read 99–101°C.
Calibrate probe thermometers at least weekly during normal use, and after any impact, drop, or suspected reading anomaly. Record calibration checks (date, method, reading, action taken).
Common failures in temperature control
No documented temperature logs
Temperatures may be checked in practice, but nothing is written down. Without records, there is no evidence of compliance and no basis for identifying trends.
Staff take temperatures but don't record them
Temperatures are measured but results are not entered into the log. Often because log sheets are inconveniently located, too complex, or staff have not been trained on why recording matters.
Fridge thermometer not checked or calibrated
The thermometer inside a fridge is relied upon without verifying it against a calibrated probe. It may have been giving incorrect readings for months.
Hot holding monitored at start of service but not throughout
Food is checked at 63°C before service begins, then the record shows no further checks. Food temperature can drop during service, particularly if holding equipment is overloaded.
No documented corrective action when out of range
A temperature deviation is recorded but there is no note of what was done. The record shows only that something went wrong, with no evidence of appropriate action.
Cooling time not monitored
Cooked food is left to cool on the bench with no temperature checks taken during cooling. No evidence that the 90-minute cooling target was met.
Thermometer not cleaned between uses
A probe used to check raw chicken then used to check a ready-to-eat salad can cross-contaminate both microbiologically and allergenically.
Implementation checklist
Use this checklist to verify your temperature control system covers all the key requirements under EU Regulation 852/2004 and FSAI guidance.
HACCP plan identifies temperature as a CCP with documented critical limits
Critical limits documented: ≤5°C cold storage, ≥63°C hot holding, 75°C cooking, 90-min cooling to 8°C, 75°C reheating
Monitoring procedures defined: who monitors, how often, what they record
Temperature log sheets are in use, accessible, and completed daily
Corrective action procedures are documented for each CCP
Corrective actions are recorded when taken
Probe thermometers are calibrated regularly (at least weekly) with calibration records kept
Infrared thermometer is NOT used to verify core temperatures
Fridge and freezer thermometers are verified against a calibrated probe regularly
Temperature records are reviewed by a supervisor, not just filed
Records are retained for at least 12 months
All relevant staff are trained on temperature monitoring and recording procedures
Cooling procedures are documented and include active cooling methods