Hygiene and HACCP · EU · AT · DE
HACCP plan
A HACCP plan is the permanent procedure you use to identify food safety hazards in your business, monitor them at the points that matter and act when something deviates. The obligation is in Article 5 of EU Hygiene Regulation 852/2004 and applies equally in Austria and Germany. Scope and documentation depend on the nature and size of your business.
Legal basis
- EU — applies in Austria and Germany
- Reg. (EC) 852/2004 Art. 5: put in place, implement and maintain one or more permanent procedures based on the seven HACCP principles; review and adapt them when the product or the process changes.12
- EU — applies in Austria and Germany
- Documents and records must be commensurate with the nature and size of the business; the Regulation expressly aims to keep the requirements workable in small businesses too.34
- AT — Austria
- No separate HACCP law; the EU Regulation applies directly. § 21 LMSVG also requires you to check compliance through own checks and to remedy shortcomings.5
- DE — Germany
- No separate HACCP rule; Art. 5 of Reg. 852/2004 applies directly. The LMHV covers definitions, general hygiene and training.16
- Retention
- No fixed period: keep documents up to date at all times and keep records “for an appropriate period”.7
What the inspector wants to see
- Are there HACCP-based procedures, and how do good hygiene practice and HACCP work together?8
- Are the documents up to date, including after changes to dishes, equipment or processes?27
- Which documents and electronic records can you show?9
- Which hazards have you identified, and why is good hygiene practice enough at steps without a critical control point?10
Common mistakes
Practise, read, print
The guide is in German for now.
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), second subparagraph · checked 23 September 2026
- 3Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 on the hygiene of foodstuffs, Art. 5(2)(g) · checked 23 September 2026
- 4Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 on the hygiene of foodstuffs, recital 15 (2004 version) · checked 23 September 2026
- 5AT — applies in AustriaLebensmittelsicherheits- und Verbraucherschutzgesetz (LMSVG), the Food Safety and Consumer Protection Act, Austria, § 21 · in German, checked 23 September 2026
- 6DE — applies in GermanyLebensmittelhygiene-Verordnung (LMHV), the Food Hygiene Ordinance, Germany, § 3 · in German, checked 23 September 2026
- 7Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 on the hygiene of foodstuffs, Art. 5(4)(a)–(c) · checked 23 September 2026
- 8Regulation (EU) 2017/625 on official controls, Art. 14(a)–(d) · checked 23 September 2026
- 9Regulation (EU) 2017/625 on official controls, Art. 15(1) · checked 23 September 2026
- 10Commission Notice 2022/C 355/01 on good hygiene practice and HACCP (guidance, not law), Annex II, points 3.1 and 3.2 (flexibility) · checked 23 September 2026
- 11AT — 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
- 12Commission Notice 2022/C 355/01 on good hygiene practice and HACCP (guidance, not law), Annex II, point 11 (documentation) · checked 23 September 2026
Something out of date or missing? Write to us and we will check it against the source.