Food safety hazards are four kinds, and a HACCP plan is a list of where each enters the kitchen and where it is controlled. Biological: bacteria growing in the danger zone, surviving undercooking, crossing from raw to ready-to-eat. Chemical: cleaning products, pest baits, contaminated ingredients. Physical: glass, metal, plastic, bone. Allergenic: one of the 14 in a dish it should not be in. The FDA's HACCP principles and application guidelines, cited below, describe HACCP as a systematic approach to the identification, evaluation and control of food safety hazards based on seven principles. The HACCP plan template on this site prints the hazard analysis from your processes, free.
Biological
The largest group and the one the temperature records exist for. The Food Standards Agency's cooking-your-food guidance, cited below, gives the danger zone as between 8 and 63°C, where bacterial growth occurs, and says leftovers must be cooled and put in the fridge within two hours and eaten within 48 hours. The same guidance gives the cooking standard as 70°C for 2 minutes, or the equivalents it lists, 75°C for 30 seconds among them. The hazard enters at receiving, grows in storage and holding, survives undercooking and crosses at preparation; the critical control points are cooking, cooling, reheating and holding.
Chemical and physical
Chemical hazards enter with cleaning, pest control and contaminated supply; the controls are storage away from food, correct dilution and the traceability record. Physical hazards enter with packaging, breakage and equipment wear; the controls are inspection at receiving, glass and brittle plastic policies and equipment checks.
Allergenic
The Food Standards Agency's allergen guidance, cited below, says only the 14 allergens are required to be declared as allergens by food law: celery, cereals containing gluten, crustaceans, eggs, fish, lupin, milk, molluscs, mustard, peanuts, sesame, soybeans, sulphur dioxide and sulphites at more than ten parts per million, and tree nuts. The hazard enters with the recipe, the supplier change and the cross-contact on the bench; the control is the allergen matrix on this site, current and dated, and the separation in preparation.
From hazards to the plan
The hazard analysis is the first HACCP principle, and the plan is what follows: which steps are critical, what limit applies, who monitors and records. ProbeLedger Pro keeps the records; the free template prints the plan.
Questions people ask about food safety hazards
Which hazard causes most illness?
Biological hazards, which is why the temperature records are the core of the system.
Do I need a separate plan for allergens?
The allergen hazard belongs in the HACCP plan with its own control, the matrix, and its own training.
Is the template free?
Yes, without an account.