07Chapter 7 of 8 · 5 min
Deviations: what first, what next
You know what happens first when something deviates, what comes next and why it is written down.
Legal basis: HACCP principle 5 · Reg. 852/2004 Art. 5
In the morning, the cold room shows 11 °C. Put the steps in the right order.
- Inform your manager, call a technician
- Move the goods into a working cooling unit
- Measure the temperature and write it down
- Decide what happens to the goods and write it down
Background reading
What applies, and where it comes from
Every food business needs a permanent own-check system based on HACCP (Regulation 852/2004). Principle 5 requires you to decide in advance what happens when a critical point is not under control. In practice this means: secure the goods, fix the cause, decide, write it down. If the core temperature is not reached, keep cooking or discard.
Every food business puts in place and maintains a permanent procedure based on the HACCP principles.1
The fifth principle: what happens when monitoring shows that a critical control point is not under control is set in advance. That is the corrective action.2
This includes records that suit the nature and size of the business. They show that the system works.3
AT — applies in AustriaAustria’s food law (LMSVG) requires own checks and, where necessary, measures to remedy shortcomings.4
AT — applies in AustriaThe Austrian Economic Chamber (WKO) gives examples: if the core temperature is not reached during cooking, cooking continues or the food is discarded. If a cooling unit is too warm, you react immediately, with a technician and by moving the goods. Frozen food that has started to thaw is not refrozen unless it is processed straight away.567
DE — applies in GermanyFor minced meat and meat preparations, the Tier-LMHV expressly states: do not refreeze after thawing.8
AT — applies in AustriaIf staff keep making hygiene mistakes, the WKO recommends refresher training that is documented.9
Sources
We read every source in the original on the date shown and checked it against the text: EU law in its German-language version, the links lead to the English one. All sources and what has changed (in German)
- 1Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 on the hygiene of foodstuffs, Art. 5(1) · checked 23 September 2026
- 2Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 on the hygiene of foodstuffs, Art. 5(2)(e) · checked 23 September 2026
- 3Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 on the hygiene of foodstuffs, Art. 5(2)(g) · checked 23 September 2026
- 4AT — applies in AustriaLebensmittelsicherheits- und Verbraucherschutzgesetz (LMSVG), the Food Safety and Consumer Protection Act, Austria, § 21 · in German, checked 23 September 2026
- 5AT — applies in AustriaAustrian Economic Chamber (WKO), handbook on hygiene in hospitality (as of July 2025), Austria, pp. 59–62 (documentation, corrective actions) · in German, checked 23 September 2026
- 6AT — applies in AustriaAustrian Economic Chamber (WKO), handbook on hygiene in hospitality (as of July 2025), Austria, pp. 45–46 (incoming goods, cooling) · in German, checked 23 September 2026
- 7AT — applies in AustriaAustrian Economic Chamber (WKO), handbook on hygiene in hospitality (as of July 2025), Austria, pp. 52–53 (cooling, hot holding, waste) · in German, checked 23 September 2026
- 8DE — applies in GermanyTierische Lebensmittel-Hygieneverordnung (Tier-LMHV), the hygiene ordinance for food of animal origin, Germany, Annex 5, Chapter I, point 2.2 and Chapter II, points 3.3, 3.4 · in German, checked 23 September 2026
- 9AT — applies in AustriaAustrian Economic Chamber (WKO), handbook on hygiene in hospitality (as of July 2025), Austria, pp. 34–35 (training) · in German, checked 23 September 2026