HACCP Plan: An Example You Can Use (for Restaurants & Kitchens)

Writing a HACCP plan from a blank page is hard. Staring at the seven principles and trying to turn them into something that actually fits your kitchen? That’s where most people get stuck.

So we’ve done the heavy lifting for you. Below you can download a complete, worked HACCP plan example, built around a typical restaurant kitchen, that you can open, read, and adapt to your own business.

Who This Example Is For

This example is for anyone who needs to put a HACCP plan in writing and wants a real, finished one to work from rather than a blank template.

It’s especially useful if you run or manage a:

• Restaurant, café, bistro or gastropub
• Takeaway, street food unit or catering business
• Care home, school or pub kitchen

It’s also handy if you’re a chef, kitchen manager or owner preparing for an EHO inspection, or refreshing a HACCP plan that’s gone out of date.

One quick note: if you run a very small or low-risk catering business, you may not need a full HACCP plan at all. The FSA’s Safer Food, Better Business (SFBB) pack covers your obligations in plainer language. For everyone else, this example is a solid starting point.

What’s Inside the Example

The download is a single Excel workbook, built around all seven HACCP principles. It’s organised into tabs that follow the same order you’d build a real plan in:

• Read Me – a quick overview of the seven principles, the risk scoring, and how to use the workbook.
• 1. HACCP Team – who’s responsible for the plan, plus a sign-off and version-control section.
• 2. Product & Scope – what the kitchen makes, who eats it, and shelf life (the bit most people forget).
• 3. Process Flow – a simple step-by-step diagram of how food moves through the kitchen.
• 4. Prerequisites (PRPs) – the good-hygiene foundations like cleaning, pest control and training.
• 5. Hazard Analysis – every step scored for biological, chemical and physical hazards.
• 6. CCP Decision Tree – the four questions used to decide which steps are Critical Control Points.
• 7. HACCP Plan – the heart of it: critical limits, monitoring, corrective actions, verification and records for each CCP.
• 8. Validation – a checklist to confirm the plan actually works before you use it.
• 9. Verification & Review – how to keep checking it’s working, and when to update it.
• Blank templates – empty versions of the hazard analysis and HACCP plan, ready for your own details.

The worked example uses a restaurant kitchen serving freshly cooked meals, and identifies six Critical Control Points: delivery, chilled storage, cooking, hot holding, cooling and reheating. All the temperatures follow UK FSA guidance.

How to Use It

You don’t need to read it cover to cover. Here’s the quickest way to get value from it:

1. Read the example tabs first. Tabs marked “(Example)” are fully filled in. Read these to see what a finished HACCP plan looks like.
2. Compare it to your own kitchen. The process flow and hazard analysis are based on a fairly standard cook-serve operation. Note where your menu or equipment differs.
3. Fill in the blank templates. Use the “(BLANK)” tabs to build your own version, copying the structure from the example. The dropdown menus keep things consistent.
4. Set your critical limits. Use the example’s temperatures as a guide, but check they’re right for your dishes and processes.
5. Validate before you use it. Work through the validation checklist on Tab 8 to confirm your plan will actually control the hazards.
6. Keep it alive. Use Tab 9 to verify it’s working day to day, and review it whenever your menu, equipment or the law changes.

One important reminder: this is a generic example, not a finished plan for your business. Every kitchen is different. You must adapt it to your own menu, equipment, suppliers and processes, that’s what makes it your HACCP plan rather than ours.