HACCP plan for alcoholic beverages: a bar's ice, garnishes, draft lines and cocktails

A HACCP plan for alcoholic beverages, at a bar that pours and mixes rather than brews or distills, covers the things that can make a guest ill even though the main product is alcohol: ice, cut fruit and garnishes, dairy and egg ingredients, house infusions and syrups, draft beer and soda lines, and glass and tool sanitizing. Alcohol does not make a drink safe, and most of these items are held at 41°F or below like any other food. Write one process group for each, give it a limit and a log, and keep it to a page per group.

This guide is for a bar, cocktail lounge or pub that serves drinks and perhaps a bar menu. It is not for a brewery, winery or distillery that makes alcohol to sell; those have production plans for fermentation, filling and pasteurizing. If your bar also has a kitchen, this plan sits beside the kitchen plan in HACCP plan for a restaurant. A starting log for the cold items is free from your own menu.

Bar with a kitchen behind it? Print the finished log for your menu, free Cold holding, cooling and reheating sheets, no card.

Does a bar need a HACCP plan?

In most U.S. places, a bar that only pours drinks and serves simple food does not need a formal written HACCP plan under the FDA Food Code. A plan becomes required, or is asked for, when you do a specialized process: some infusions and preservation methods, reduced oxygen packaging, or when your health department, a contract or a licensing condition calls for one. Many bars write one anyway because it turns the rules they must follow into a daily routine. The wider question of who needs a plan is in do restaurants need a HACCP plan, and the same rules apply to a bar. Always ask your local department; local codes differ.

HACCP plan for alcoholic beverages: bar or producer?

Search results for "HACCP plan for alcoholic beverages" mostly describe production: controlling yeast, filtration, pasteurization, filling and sealing. If you ferment, brew or distill for sale, you need a processing plan under the rules that apply to your product, often from a state or federal agency, not just a restaurant plan. If you buy finished product and serve it, as most bars do, the hazards are the ones below.

The bar's process groups

Group what you do by process, as a restaurant groups its menu, and write a row per group:

Ice (made in the machine, bagged, or from a supplier)
Cut fruit and garnish (lemon, lime, orange, cherries, herbs, olives)
Dairy and egg drinks (cream, milk, cream liqueurs, egg white, whole egg)
House syrups, infusions, shrubs and juices
Draft beer, wine on tap and soda lines
Glassware, tools and surfaces
Bar food: whatever you plate at the bar, which follows the kitchen plan

Hazards and limits at a glance

Group	Main hazard	Control and limit	Record
Ice	Mold, bacteria and viruses from a dirty machine, scoops or hands; glass in the bin	Clean and sanitize the machine on a schedule; scoop with a dedicated scoop kept outside the bin; never chill bottles or glasses in ice that will go in a drink	Ice machine cleaning log
Cut garnish	Growth of bacteria on cut produce; cross-contact; bare-hand contact	Hold cut fruit at 41°F or below; prep in small batches; use tongs or gloves; discard at end of shift or on the time you set	Garnish prep and discard log
Dairy and eggs	Growth at room temperature; Salmonella in raw egg	Hold cream and milk at 41°F or below; use pasteurized eggs or egg white products for raw-egg drinks; add a consumer advisory where you serve raw egg	Fridge log, receiving log
Syrups and infusions	Growth of bacteria and mold; botulism risk in some oil or low-acid infusions	Date and label; refrigerate at 41°F or below; follow acidity and time limits; check with the health department on anything you want to keep long	Batch label and date log
Draft and soda lines	Yeast, mold and bacteria build-up in lines; sanitizer left in lines	Clean beer lines on the schedule from the supplier or brewery association; flush well	Line cleaning log
Glassware and tools	Poorly sanitized glasses, shared tools	Wash, rinse, sanitize at the right strength or temperature; air dry	Sanitizer strength log

Ice

The FDA Food Code treats ice as a food. It must come from a potable water source, be made and stored so it is not contaminated, and be handled with a clean scoop or tongs. In a bar, ice is the item most likely to be forgotten in a food safety plan and the one that touches every drink.

Clean the machine on a schedule. Follow the manufacturer's directions, which often mean a descaling and sanitizing cycle at least twice a year and more often for heavy use. Write the date on the log.
Use a scoop with a handle, not a glass. Never scoop with the glass you serve in; glass can chip into the bin, and the rim touches the ice.
Keep the scoop out of the bin. In a holder or a clean container, not lying on the ice.
Do not store things in the ice bin. Bottles, cans, garnish trays and milk do not belong in ice that goes into drinks. Use a separate chilling ice well.
Glass in the ice. If a glass breaks in the bin, stop service from that bin, remove all the ice, and clean and sanitize it. Write it down.
Check the hands. Only washed hands and tongs touch ice; no bare hand in the bin.

Cut fruit and garnish

Lemon, lime and orange wheels, cherries, mint and olives are ready-to-eat food that is not cooked after cutting. Once a lemon is cut, its surface is a good place for bacteria. Cut produce is time and temperature controlled for safety in the Food Code, which means it is kept at 41°F or below.

Wash the whole fruit under running water before you cut. The knife drags whatever is on the rind into the flesh.
Cut in small batches that you will use in one shift.
Keep the garnish tray cold. A small fridge or a chilled tray on the bar, with the temperature checked. Garnish trays sitting at room temperature all night are a common finding.
Use tongs or gloves. No bare-hand contact with ready-to-eat garnish, and no fingers dipped into the tray.
Set a discard time. Write it on the container: "cut 5pm, discard close". Many bars use end of shift or a fixed number of hours; the rule is yours, as long as it is written and followed.
Do not top up old with new. Empty the tray, wash it, refill.

Dairy, cream liqueurs and egg drinks

Milk and cream are held at 41°F or below like in a kitchen; see the cold holding temperature guide for limits and how to check a unit. Do not leave a cream carton on the bar all night; keep it in the under-bar fridge and bring out what you will use.

Egg whites and whole eggs in sours, flips and fizzes are the largest hazard: raw shell egg can carry Salmonella. Options in order of safety are pasteurized liquid egg white or pasteurized shell eggs, then fresh eggs from an approved supplier with a consumer advisory on the menu. Many health departments want a written notice such as "consuming raw or undercooked eggs may increase your risk of foodborne illness" if you serve them. See HACCP plan for eggs for storage, pooling and the advisory. Cream liqueurs can be held per the maker's label; check it, and after opening keep it refrigerated if the label says so.

House syrups, infusions and juices

This is where a bar starts to behave like a kitchen. Simple syrup is low risk if it is high in sugar and kept clean and refrigerated, but fresh juice, cold brew, shrubs, fruit infusions and herb syrups are not. The control is simple: label, date, refrigerate and use within a period you set from the recipe. For anything that goes beyond that, such as infusing garlic or herbs in oil, canning or bottling for sale, or any vacuum packing, talk to your department first; some of these processes need approval and a plan, and a risk of botulism makes them different from a normal bar job. See the vacuum sealing guide and the fermented foods guide.

Alcohol in an infusion slows some growth, but the strength you serve is rarely enough to make a product safe on the shelf. Do not assume a spirit-based infusion is shelf stable because it is "boozy"; verify with your department or a lab.

Draft beer, wine on tap and soda lines

Lines are a closed, wet system that grows yeast, bacteria and mold if left. Clean beer lines on the schedule from your supplier or the brewer; two weeks is a frequently cited interval for beer lines, but check your own. Soda gun nozzles and holsters collect residue and are often missed; wipe and sanitize them nightly. After a line clean, flush with water until sanitizer is gone, and taste or test. Log the date, who did it and the product lines cleaned.

Glassware, tools and surfaces

Three-compartment sink or machine. Wash, rinse, sanitize, air dry. For a machine, check final rinse temperature or sanitizer strength; see the dishwasher log and the sanitizer log.
Bar mats and rails. Remove and wash at close, not just wipe.
Cloths. Store in sanitizer at the right strength and change it on schedule, or use single-use towels.
Shakers, jiggers and spoons. Wash between uses, especially after dairy or egg.
Handwashing sink at the bar. A dedicated sink with soap, towels and warm water, and not used for glass rinsing.

Staff and allergens

Cocktails can hide allergens: egg white, milk, nuts in orgeat, soy, gluten in some beers. Train bartenders to know the allergen content of each drink and to wash tools between drinks. An ill bartender who handles garnish is a hazard as much as an ill cook; the illness policy in your prerequisite programs applies to the bar. See HACCP training for restaurant staff.

A daily bar sheet

One page, filled at opening and again mid-shift:

Under-bar fridge and garnish tray temperature, with time and initials
Cream, milk and egg product dates checked
Garnish cut time and discard time
Ice machine and scoop check: clean, scoop in holder
Sanitizer bucket strength tested
Syrups and infusions labelled and dated
Weekly: line cleaning and ice machine date
Any out-of-limit reading, with what you did

The fridge portion works like the refrigerator temperature log, and a corrective action sheet beside it keeps the "what did you do" answer in one place. To judge whether it works, use the self-audit checklist.

Questions

Does a bar need a HACCP plan?

Not usually as a legal requirement for a pour-and-serve bar in the U.S., but some processes, contracts or local rules call for one. Ask your health department, and write one if you do infusions, food preservation or a lot of food.

What temperature should garnish be kept at?

Cut fruit and other cut produce should be held at 41°F or below. A tray left out for a shift is a common inspection finding.

Is ice a food?

Yes, in the Food Code ice is treated as a food that must be made from safe water and kept free from contamination. Scoop it, do not use glasses.

Is a HACCP plan for alcoholic beverages different from a bar plan?

Yes. A plan for alcoholic beverage production covers making the drink, as at a brewery or winery, while a bar plan covers serving it. Make sure the one you read matches your business.

How often should beer lines be cleaned?

On the schedule from your supplier or brewer; every two weeks is a figure often given, but follow your own source and log each clean.

Do I need a consumer advisory for raw egg cocktails?

Many departments require a written advisory where you serve raw or undercooked animal foods. Using pasteurized egg product reduces the risk and may change what you must say. Ask your department.

Start the cold log for the bar: find your restaurant and print the finished log, free.

Sources

FDA Food Code 2022 (ice, time and temperature control, consumer advisory, specialized processes), U.S. FDA
Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP), U.S. FDA; the seven principles are also set out by the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service