WHY Hospitality®

Hospitality glossary · Compliance and safety

What is HACCP?

HACCP stands for Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point. It is a way of keeping food safe by finding the points where things can go wrong and controlling them, and a food business's food safety management system must meet its principles.

Online food safety and compliance courses All 52 terms

In practice

HACCP in a real operation.

Definitions are easy. What matters is how the thing behaves in a real operation, and where it tends to go wrong.

What it looks like in a UK hospitality business

The seven HACCP principles, in plain words. One: find the food hazards you need to avoid, remove or reduce. Two: find the critical control points (CCPs), the steps in your process where you must stop, remove or reduce a hazard. Three: set limits for each CCP. Four: monitor each CCP. Five: put checks in place to make sure the system is working. Six: put things right when there is a problem with a CCP. Seven: keep records of the system, the checks and what you did to put things right. Many small businesses in England and Wales use the Food Standards Agency's Safer Food, Better Business packs, which set out food safety procedures and help them follow food hygiene rules.

The mistake operators make

Owning the folder without training the team. Records are only evidence of a system if the people on shift can say what the critical control points are and what they do when one is breached.

Questions

HACCP, answered.

Something here that doesn’t match what you’re seeing in your own business? That is usually worth a conversation rather than another article.

What does HACCP mean in hospitality?

HACCP stands for Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point. It is a way of keeping food safe by finding the points where things can go wrong and controlling them, and a food business's food safety management system must meet its principles. The seven HACCP principles, in plain words. One: find the food hazards you need to avoid, remove or reduce. Two: find the critical control points (CCPs), the steps in your process where you must stop, remove or reduce a hazard. Three: set limits for each CCP. Four: monitor each CCP. Five: put checks in place to make sure the system is working. Six: put things right when there is a problem with a CCP. Seven: keep records of the system, the checks and what you did to put things right. Many small businesses in England and Wales use the Food Standards Agency's Safer Food, Better Business packs, which set out food safety procedures and help them follow food hygiene rules.

What do operators get wrong about HACCP?

Owning the folder without training the team. Records are only evidence of a system if the people on shift can say what the critical control points are and what they do when one is breached.

Related terms

Worth reading next.

Standard operating procedure (SOP)

A standard operating procedure, or SOP, is a written description of how one specific task is done correctly every time, such as opening the bar, receiving a delivery or handling an allergen order.

Allergen matrix

An allergen matrix is a chart that lists every dish or drink you sell against the 14 regulated allergens. It shows at a glance which allergens each item contains.

First in, first out (FIFO)

First in, first out, or FIFO, is a way of rotating stock so the oldest food and drink is used first. New deliveries go behind or below older stock of the same item.

Back of house

Back of house is every part of a hospitality business the guest does not see: the kitchen, pot wash, cellar, stores, prep areas and the office, and the people who work there.

WHY Hospitality

Knowing the term is not the same as fixing the problem behind it.

Read the retention guide