Guide · Records · Training

Food hygiene training: requirements, intervals and records

6 October 202612 min read

Facts checked on 3 October 2026 in the German original — all sources at the end of the guide were retrieved on that day and read word for word; if the rules change, this guide is updated.

In Austria at least once a year, and also when someone joins or their duties change; the record is kept for at least three years (the Ministry of Health's hygiene guideline). In Germany the public health office instructs before the first working day, then the employer every two years (§ 43 IfSG).

Hygiene training is the part of a business's own checks that slips most easily: it does no harm as long as nobody asks — and then the inspection asks. This guide separates cleanly what applies in Austria and what in Germany, backs every statement with its legal source and shows what a training record looks like that holds up at an inspection.

How often, how long: at a glance

Austria sets the intervals in the Ministry of Health's hygiene guideline, Germany in two laws. Each row says where the period comes from and whether it is law or guideline.

Austria: hygiene guideline

at least once a year
Hygiene training for everyone who handles food, and also when someone joins and when their duties change
Guideline · ATHygiene guideline, appendix 10 no. 3
EU Regulation 852/2004 itself sets no interval. The WKO handbook "Hygiene in hospitality" says the same as the guideline.
on joining, then once a year
Instruction on conditions that prevent work, such as infectious diseases, given orally and in writing with a form
Guideline · ATHygiene guideline, appendix 9 no. 2.1
In its own words: this instruction "does not replace the regular hygiene training of staff".
at least 3 years
Training record: a list with place, date, time, topic, duration and trainer, every attendance signed
Guideline · ATHygiene guideline, appendix 10 no. 5

Germany: IfSG and LMHV

before the first working day
Initial instruction by the public health office or a doctor it has appointed; the certificate may be at most three months old when work starts
Law · DE§ 43(1) IfSG
after starting work, then every 2 years
Follow-up instruction by the employer on the prohibitions on working, with attendance documented
Law · DE§ 43(4) IfSG
Applies accordingly to the self-employed (§ 43(6) IfSG).
no fixed interval
Hygiene training: expertise in handling highly perishable food, to be proven if the authority asks
Law · DE§ 4(1) LMHV
After relevant vocational training, the person is presumed to be trained (§ 4(2) LMHV).
at the premises, no period in years
Certificate of the initial instruction and the latest record of the follow-up instruction, to be shown if the authority asks
Law · DE§ 43(5) IfSG

Austria: the duty to train from the EU regulation

The basis is Annex II, Chapter XII of Regulation (EC) 852/2004, which applies directly in Austria: food business operators must ensure that food handlers are supervised and instructed or trained in food hygiene matters commensurate with their work — and that the person responsible for developing and maintaining the HACCP procedure has received adequate training in applying the HACCP principles. The LMSVG, Austria's Food Safety and Consumer Protection Act, sets the national framework: among other things it governs the operator's own checks and the official controls at which the records can be requested.

It becomes concrete in the hygiene guideline for retail businesses published by the Ministry of Health. Under the EU law definition it also covers restaurants and canteens; what businesses with an extensive menu need in addition is in its appendix 1b. A guideline is not a law but, in its own words, a model for putting the duties into practice.

Who is trained

Everyone who handles food — matched to the work: the kitchen needs different knowledge from the service team, and management also needs the HACCP principles.

How often

The EU regulation sets no interval. The guideline requires at least once a year — and also when someone joins and when their duties change (appendix 10 no. 3).

Instruction as well

Separate from the hygiene training: the instruction on conditions that prevent work (such as infectious diseases) — on joining and every year after that, orally and in writing. It does not replace the training (appendix 9 no. 2.1).

The business may train its staff itself — in-house through those responsible for food safety, area managers or the owner, or through external trainers; whoever trains in-house must have the expertise and be able to pass it on (appendix 10 no. 4). The guideline also considers it sensible to always plan a second date (no. 1), so that shifts, holidays and sick leave don't leave anyone out of the training.

Germany: three duties side by side

In Germany three strands run in parallel, and day to day they are easily mixed up. Keeping them apart gets you through the part of the inspection where most complaints arise: missing or expired instructions.

1. Initial instruction (§ 43 IfSG)

Before working with food for the first time: instruction by the public health office (Gesundheitsamt) or a doctor it has appointed. The certificate may be at most 3 months old when work starts — without it, the person may neither work nor be employed.

2. Follow-up instruction (§ 43(4) IfSG)

The employer instructs after work starts and then every 2 years on the prohibitions on working — and must document attendance. This duty also applies accordingly to the self-employed.

3. Hygiene training (LMHV)

Anyone who produces, handles or places highly perishable food on the market needs expertise under § 4 LMHV, the German food hygiene ordinance — to be proven if the authority asks. Relevant vocational training establishes the presumption of this expertise.

Where the records are kept is fixed by law: the certificate of the initial instruction and the latest record of the follow-up instruction are kept by the employer and available at the premises — the authority may ask for them at any time (§ 43(5) IfSG). More on this instruction in the glossary: § 43 IfSG instruction.

Austria and Germany compared

Topic	Austria	Germany
Legal basis	Regulation (EC) 852/2004, Annex II, Chapter XII (directly applicable); in practice: the Ministry of Health's hygiene guideline; framework: LMSVG (own checks, official controls)	Regulation (EC) 852/2004 + § 4 LMHV (expertise) + § 43 IfSG (instruction)
Before the first day	No instruction by an authority; training and instruction on conditions that prevent work on joining, by the business (hygiene guideline, appendices 9 and 10)	Initial instruction under § 43 IfSG by the public health office or an appointed doctor — the certificate may be at most 3 months old when work starts
Refresher	The EU regulation sets no interval; the hygiene guideline requires at least once a year and when someone joins or changes duties (appendix 10 no. 3)	Follow-up instruction by the employer after starting work, then every 2 years (§ 43(4) IfSG); for the hygiene training itself the LMHV sets no fixed interval
Who trains	The business — in-house by those responsible, or externally; whoever trains in-house needs the expertise for it (hygiene guideline, appendix 10 no. 4)	Initial instruction: only the public health office or an appointed doctor; follow-up instruction: the employer; hygiene training: the business, in-house or externally
Record	A list per training session with place, date, time, topic, duration, trainer and signatures; kept for at least 3 years (hygiene guideline, appendix 10 no. 5)	Attendance at the instruction is documented; the certificate and the latest instruction record are kept available at the premises (§ 43(4) and (5) IfSG)

All statements from the sources linked at the end of the guide, checked on 3 October 2026. What binds the individual business remains its own HACCP plan — and where in doubt, the authority's answer.

What a training record looks like that holds up at an inspection

"We do train" counts for nothing at an inspection — what counts is what is documented. The Austrian guideline describes the record for each session precisely (appendix 10 no. 5), and the German IfSG instructions call for the same discipline: attendance documented, retrievable at the premises.

When and what

Place, date, time and duration of the session — plus topic and learning goal: what should the participants know and be able to do afterwards?

Who

Who gave the session and who attended; each person confirms attendance with a signature. Only the person on the entry turns the list into a record.

Retrievable

Kept (AT: at least 3 years; DE: available at the premises) and at hand straight away at an inspection — not in the previous manager's folder.

The guideline requires a list with signatures; whether it is made on paper or on screen it does not say. If you keep it digitally, record person and time for each entry and, where in doubt, ask your own food inspection authority. The difference only shows after two years anyway — when the inspection asks who was trained in March, and nobody can find the paper. And: the guideline provides for checking the effectiveness of the training regularly and retraining where needed (appendix 10 no. 6); that retraining has to be documented too.

Intervals under control — without reminder notes

The real risk is not the training but forgetting it: a year is long, two years are longer, and the note "next instruction in autumn" rarely survives a change of staff. In Venheim the training tracker keeps each type of training with its legal basis in the catalogue; for each person it shows what was completed when, and the due date is calculated from that — including the business's own types of training.

To be honest: where an interval is not certain — because it depends on an official decision, the guideline or the business's own plan — Venheim does not pre-fill one. The business enters its own period; an invented interval would be more dangerous than an empty field.

Recorded is recorded

Every training entered carries person and time; record data is never deleted, only corrected with a reason. At an inspection, the question "who was trained in what, and when?" takes a glance, not a search.

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Wiederkehrende Prüfungen für Betriebsanlage, Technik und Hygiene — jede Vorlage stellt zuerst die Frage, ob sie für diesen Standort überhaupt gilt.

Folgetermine werden gerechnet, nicht gespeichert — ein überfälliger Termin rollt NICHT weiter, er bleibt stehen, bis er abgehakt ist. Termine werden nie gelöscht, nur abgelegt; abgehakte Nachweise storniert nur die Leitung, immer mit Grund.

Training due dates sit next to inspection and maintenance dates in one calendar — an overdue entry does not roll on silently, it stays until it is done.Demo data from the sample business Cafe Sunshine, app shown in German

Run your training instead of chasing it

The signature list fulfils the duty — until it disappears when the folder moves, or the follow-up instruction deadline passes without anyone noticing. In Venheim every training session is in the tracker with date, type and person, the due dates appear in the calendar, and at an inspection the record is a glance instead of a search. Start free, no payment details.

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Try Premium for 30 days, no payment details. After that your business carries on free on the Start plan; records stay readable and exportable.

The sign-up form is in German for now. Inside the app, everyone picks their own language — nine languages, English included.

Food hygiene training to practiseEight short chapters with situations from the shift, every statement with a source. Free, no account, with a certificate of attendance.Training record form (in German)All the fields a record needs and twelve lines for signatures. A4, to print.HACCP records, digitalTraining is one part of your own checks — temperatures, cleaning and best-before dates together make the monthly record.HACCP checklistStaff hygiene and training records are two of seven inspection areas — here are all the checkpoints to tick off.

Frequently asked questions

How often does food hygiene training have to be repeated?

EU Regulation 852/2004 requires training "commensurate with their work activity" but sets no interval — neither for Austria nor for Germany. In Austria, the Ministry of Health's hygiene guideline requires at least one training session a year, and also when someone joins and when their duties change (appendix 10 no. 3); the WKO hygiene handbook says the same. In Germany, only the IfSG follow-up instruction by the employer is fixed by law: after starting work and then every two years (§ 43(4) IfSG). What binds the individual business is the interval in its own HACCP plan.

Is a certificate from an online course enough?

It depends on what it is meant to replace. For hygiene training under Regulation 852/2004 or the LMHV, the law prescribes no format — it may take place in-house, externally and online, as long as the content fits the work and has demonstrably been understood; a certificate that shows neither topic, nor relation to the work, nor date carries little weight at an inspection. The German initial instruction under § 43 IfSG, on the other hand, can never be replaced by a private online course: only the public health office or a doctor it has appointed issues that certificate.

Who trains the owner?

The duty to train falls on the food business — and Regulation 852/2004 expressly requires that the person responsible for developing and maintaining the HACCP procedure has received adequate training in applying the HACCP principles: in small businesses that is the owner. Since 2021 the regulation also holds management responsible: it must ensure "that personnel are adequately trained and supervised" (Annex II, Chapter XIa, point 2). The owner can gain the knowledge through external courses or relevant vocational training; in Germany, completed vocational training in the food sector establishes the presumption of expertise under § 4(2) LMHV. The IfSG duties also apply to the self-employed — they need the initial instruction just the same.

Is there a German-style "instruction by the public health office" in Austria too?

No. § 43 IfSG is German law — Austria has no instruction by an authority before the first working day in this form. There, both run through the business: the hygiene training under the EU regulation, and the instruction on conditions that prevent work (such as infectious diseases), which according to the hygiene guideline is given orally and in writing when work starts and once a year after that (appendix 9 no. 2.1). Anyone running sites in both countries therefore needs two separate processes — the same notice for everyone would be wrong in one of the two countries.

How long do training records have to be kept?

In Austria, the Ministry of Health's hygiene guideline gives at least 3 years for the training record (appendix 10 no. 5), as does the WKO handbook. In Germany, § 43(5) IfSG requires the employer to keep the public health office's certificate and the latest record of the follow-up instruction and to keep them available at the premises; the law names no explicit period for LMHV training records. Our recommendation, not the law: keep records as long as the person works in the business, but at least three years — and file them so that they are at hand straight away at an inspection.

Does the training have to be held in German?

No — it has to be understood. The hygiene guideline requires training "according to the work of the staff and in an understandable language" (appendix 10 no. 4), and the WKO handbook points to training materials in many foreign languages; with a multilingual team it makes sense to train in the language that really gets through, and to make sure the content has been understood. The record itself is best kept in German for the authority and the inspection — it has to be readable where it is checked.

Sources

About Venheim

Venheim is operations software for hospitality, studios and retail — built inside a real business and used there every day. Every feature and every guide comes from that daily work and is tested against it. More about Venheim. Not legal advice — where in doubt, the authority, the chamber or a law firm has the final word.

Important: not legal advice

This guide gives a general overview and is expressly not legal advice. Which training and instructions are binding for your business depends on the work, the country and your own HACCP plan — where in doubt, the food inspection authority, the public health office, the chamber or a law firm has the final word.