In-house control of food business activities

Necessary measures to control risks are determined, as well as critical limits and corrective actions taken if a critical limit is exceeded. Observations, actions and corrections made as part of in-house control must also be recorded. In the event of a deviation, it is essential to record the corrective actions. The own-check plan and related instructions must be kept up to date, i.e., updated as necessary.

The operator must store the in-house control records for at least one year from the product's expiry, ‘best before’ date or the processing of the foodstuffs. The operator must also keep the latest results of any tests that have been carried out. The records must be made available to the control authority.

If requested, the own-check plan and related materials must be presented to the food control authority during the inspection. During the inspection, records that prove compliance with the own-check plan and its application in practice must also be presented to the inspector.

• The company's contact information
• A description of the activities
• Premises and equipment in use as well as equipment maintenance
• Products that are sold/prepared/served and the number of servings and customer seats
• Number of staff (total number and number of employees in one shift)

• The places of purchase or suppliers
• Organisation of refrigerated transport if the operator itself picks up perishable foodstuffs
• Label checks at the time of purchase or when receiving a delivery
• Organoleptic evaluation of food quality when receiving a delivery
• Determining the required temperatures for products, measurements and frequency of recording food temperatures when receiving deliveries of refrigerated or hot food
• Corrective actions if the products received do not meet the quality requirements

• Monitoring product rotation, protection and placement of stored products
• Determining storage temperatures for different foodstuffs
• Determining the frequency of measuring and recording temperatures and the critical limits
• Corrective actions if the critical limit is not achieved

• Instructions on how to separate cooked and raw foods to prevent cross-contamination
• Determining cooking temperatures (min. + 70 ˚C and for poultry meat min. + 75 ˚C)
• Determining the frequency of measuring and recording temperatures and the critical limits
• Corrective actions if the temperature is not within the acceptable limits

Cooling

• If cooling is carried out regularly, a cooling cabinet must be used for this purpose
• Food must be cooled quickly enough (to below + 6 ˚C within four hours)
• Monitoring the cooling process by measuring and recording temperatures
• Instructions on which containers to use and how to label them (containers that are shallow enough, date of preparation)
• Corrective measures if the product isn’t cooled quickly enough

Freezing

• The devices used to freeze the products
• Instructions on which containers to use and how to label them (containers that aren’t too large, date of preparation and freezing)
• Monitoring of the frozen products
• Instructions for defrosting

Reheating

• The reheating of products (temperature must be above 70 °C)
• Measuring and recording temperatures

• What kind of foods for special dietary use are prepared, served or packaged
• Instructions for storing ingredients that cause allergies and intolerances separate from other ingredients and for preventing cross-contamination in the reception, storage (containers and places) and preparation (tools, preparation process, cleaning) of food 
• Labelling of foods for special dietary use (ingredients, intermediate products, non-prepacked foods)
• Prevention of cross-contamination when displaying and selling products

• Serving time for hot foods (max. 4 hours)
• Determining the temperature at which the products are served (hot foods at 60 °C or hotter and perishable foods at 12 °C or colder, the products must be discarded after serving)
• Temperature monitoring and recording frequency
• Corrective actions if the required temperature is not reached

• Storage and cleaning of crates and containers
• Instructions for packing food
• Measuring and recording the temperature of the food before transport
• A separate cleaning plan for the transport vehicle (if the transport vehicle is the operator’s own)

• Instructions regarding working practices and hygiene (hand washing instructions, use of gloves, clothing)
• Organisation of occupational health care, possible salmonella testing and medical certificates
• Hygiene proficiency requirements and information regarding hygiene passports
• Onboarding new employees and employees that have worked for less than 3 months

• Instructions on how to deal with food complaints and suspected food poisoning (withdrawal)
• Instructions on what information is to be recorded in the event of a food complaint or suspected food poisoning
• Contact details of the authority and instructions for notifying the authority
• Sampling instructions for complaints/suspected food poisoning

• The person responsible for cleaning
• Cleaning plan (e.g. daily and weekly)
• Description of the cleaning methods and cleaning products for different purposes
• Storage of cleaning products and safety data sheets
• Assessing the quality of cleaning (organoleptic evaluation or surface sampling)
• Monitoring the dishwasher's washing results and the water temperature during the washing and rinsing phase

Waste management plan

• Possible instructions for preventive pest control
• A contract with a pest control company or the contact details of a pest control company
• Instructions for handling problems

What samples are analysed, how often and in which laboratory

• Persons responsible for in-house control
• Plan review dates and what was reviewed
• Location of the plan