Hygiene and HACCP · EU · AT · DE

Verification

Verification means checking at regular intervals whether your HACCP system actually works, for example whether records are complete, thermometers measure correctly and corrective actions took effect. Article 5 of the EU Hygiene Regulation requires it. Unlike ongoing monitoring, verification is a check after the fact, ideally by another person.

Legal basis

EU — applies in Austria and Germany: Reg. (EC) 852/2004 Art. 5(2)(f): establish regular verification procedures to confirm that principles (a) to (e) are being complied with.1
EU — applies in Austria and Germany: According to the Commission’s guidance, verification complements monitoring and is carried out periodically: calibration of instruments, records, deviations, ideally by a person other than the one taking the measurements.123
AT — Austria: No separate provision. The WKO handbook recommends reviewing the plan every year, at the latest every two years and after every change (recommendation, not law).14
DE — Germany: No separate provision; Art. 5 of Reg. 852/2004 applies directly.1

What the inspector wants to see

When did you last review your system, and with what result?14
Who cross-checks the records, other than the person keeping them?3
How do you check thermometers?35
What results have your own checks produced?6

Common mistakes

Monitoring confused with verification: measurements are taken, but nobody checks whether measuring and responding work.2
The same person measures and checks their own work.3
The system not reviewed after weaknesses came to light.3

Practise, read, print

The guide is in German for now.

Practise · 5 minWhat inspectors want to see GuideHACCP-Konzept erstellen – Aufbau und Vorlage

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(2)(f) · checked 23 September 2026
2Commission Notice 2022/C 355/01 on good hygiene practice and HACCP (guidance, not law), section 3 (definitions) · checked 23 September 2026
3Commission Notice 2022/C 355/01 on good hygiene practice and HACCP (guidance, not law), Annex II, point 10 (verification) · checked 23 September 2026
4AT — 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
5Commission Notice 2022/C 355/01 on good hygiene practice and HACCP (guidance, not law), Annex I, point 3.5 (maintenance, calibration) · checked 23 September 2026
6Regulation (EU) 2017/625 on official controls, Art. 14(a)–(d) · checked 23 September 2026

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