HACCP plan for catering: transport, holding and the event log

A catering HACCP plan is the same plan as a restaurant's, with three extra control points: packing and transport, holding at a site you do not control, and what happens to leftovers. Hot food must stay at 135°F or above and cold food at 41°F or below from the kitchen to the last guest, or you must use the 4-hour time limit with a written procedure and discard what is left when it ends. This page walks the catering day in order, gives worked plan rows and a per-event log, and says what to do when the van is late or the buffet runs warm.

If you want blank sheets first, the free temperature logs are on the logs page. The limits below are from the FDA Food Code; your health department's adopted code may differ in small ways.

Do caterers need a HACCP plan?

A caterer is a food establishment, so the full Food Code applies to your kitchen, vehicles and event service. A written HACCP plan is not required for ordinary catering in most places. It is required when you do specialized processes (vacuum packing, curing, sous vide) or when your health department asks for it as a condition of a license, often for large events, off-premises banquets and commissary kitchens. A plan is also the quickest answer to an inspector who asks, "How do you keep this hot for three hours at a wedding?"

The difference from a restaurant plan is that your most dangerous hours happen away from your own equipment. You cannot rely on a walk-in cooler or a hot line you know; so the plan puts the control into the packing, the carriers and the people on site. For the general way to write the plan, see the HACCP plan for a restaurant guide. The catering-specific points follow.

The catering flow, step by step

Write the plan in the order the food moves. For each step name the hazard, the limit, how you monitor it, what you do if it fails and where you record it.

1. Receiving and storage of ingredients
2. Preparation and cooking
3. Cooling and storage before the event
4. Packing and loading
5. Transport
6. Set-up and holding at the event
7. Service
8. Take-down and leftovers

Step 1 and 2: receiving and cooking

These match the restaurant rules: cold deliveries at 41°F or below, hot at 135°F or above, frozen solid, then cooking to the Food Code temperatures [1]:

The cooking step is where catering differs most: batches are large. Probe the thickest part of several pieces, not one, and log the lowest. A tray of 60 chicken thighs cooks unevenly in a crowded oven. For chicken-specific rows see the HACCP plan for chicken.

Step 3: cooling and storing food made ahead

Caterers cook a day or two ahead, which makes cooling the most common failure. Cooked TCS food (time/temperature control for safety) must go from 135°F to 70°F within 2 hours and to 41°F within 4 more, 6 in total [1]. Divide soups, rice, braises and sauces into shallow pans before cooling, and log each batch. The details and a filled-in sheet are in the cooling log guide. Food cooled and held cold overnight is then either served cold or reheated to 165°F within 2 hours for hot service [1].

Step 4: packing and loading

Carriers do not make food hot or cold; they only slow the change. That makes the starting temperature the control.

• Hot food: pack at 165°F or hotter if it was reheated, at 135°F or above in all cases. Preheat insulated carriers with hot water or a heat source for 20 minutes. Fill pans, cover, and load.
• Cold food: pack at 41°F or below in pans on or beside ice or frozen gel packs, in a cooler or a refrigerated unit. Ice that is separate from food only helps if it touches the container's sides and the lid is closed.
• Raw and ready-to-eat: raw meat in its own cooler or bottom of the stack; ready-to-eat food on top.
• Record: the temperature of each hot and cold item at loading, with the time and initials. This is the first number an investigator asks for.

Step 5: transport

A food-safe van keeps the loaded temperature, but it will not rescue food that left the kitchen warm.

• Use a clean, enclosed vehicle. Food does not ride in the open bed of a truck or in a hot trunk.
• Load food last in, first out so it comes off first at the venue.
• Give the driver a thermometer and a rule: if the trip is longer than your carriers are tested for, stop and check.
• A long drive on a warm day is a risk for cold food. Test your own carriers by placing a probe in a full pan and reading it after the typical trip; if hot food falls from 160°F to under 135°F in a 90-minute drive, you need better packing or a stop to reheat.
• Record arrival: time and temperature for each item. This reading decides whether the food can go on the buffet or must be discarded.

Step 6: holding on site

This is the step with no kitchen. Your plan sets which tools you bring, and who owns them.

• Hot: chafing dishes with fuel, electric warmers or hot boxes. Chafing fuel keeps already-hot food hot; it does not reheat cold food. Start with food at 135°F or above, and check every 2 hours at least; every hour is better at a long event.
• Cold: pans nested in ice up to the level of the food, or a refrigerated table. Check every 2 hours. Replace melted ice. Salads, cut melon, deli meats, dairy and sauces count here.
• Handwashing: a portable sink with warm water, soap, towels and a waste bucket, set up before food is uncovered.
• Utensils: a clean serving utensil for every dish, changed or washed on a schedule.
• Thermometer: a probe thermometer, a sanitizer wipe and a calibrated stem. Test the thermometer in ice water before you leave the kitchen.

The 4-hour rule: when you cannot hold temperature

If food will not be held at 135°F or 41°F, the Food Code allows a written procedure that uses time alone as the control [1]. Under it:

1. The food is marked or tracked so the time it came out of temperature control is known (a start time written on a label or on the log).
2. It is served, or discarded, within 4 hours of that start time.
3. Food that began at 41°F or below and never rose above 70°F can be used for up to 6 hours.
4. Leftovers are discarded at the end of the period. They do not go back in the cooler.

This is not a loophole; it needs the written procedure and the labels. Many caterers use it for appetizers and desserts on a passed tray, where the food is on the table for an hour and then gone. Ask your health department whether it allows the 4-hour procedure and which form it wants.

Step 7 and 8: service, take-down and leftovers

• Servers who handle food use gloves or tongs for ready-to-eat items, wash hands between tasks and stay home if they have vomiting or diarrhea.
• Do not top up an old pan with new food. Replace the whole pan.
• At the end, discard food that has been on the table. Hot food that stayed at 135°F or above in a closed carrier, untouched by guests, may be cooled and kept under the cooling rule if your plan says so; most caterers choose not to.
• Do not send guests home with leftover buffet food unless it was never served and was kept at temperature, and say it needs to be refrigerated or reheated.
• Take thermometers, carriers and pans back to be washed and sanitized, not rinsed in the venue's kitchen sink.

Worked plan rows for catering

The "under 2 hours, reheat to 165°F" line follows the Food Code's reheating rule for food that has dropped out of the safe zone; confirm it matches your health department before you copy it.

A per-event log

One sheet per event, filled in as you go:

The figures are an example to show how a row reads, not a record of a real event. Add the event date, venue, lead and the thermometer calibration. Keep the sheets with your other temperature records; where a plan is required, the Food Code asks for at least 90 days, and many caterers keep a year [1].

Commissary, licenses and what changes by place

Many caterers cook in a licensed commissary kitchen. The commissary's inspection covers the kitchen; the vehicle and the event site have their own rules, and some counties require a temporary food permit for the event or a copy of your license on site. The plan should say who is the person in charge on site, where the paperwork lives, and which health department you call. A catering plan for a food truck-style service has different hazards; see the food truck HACCP plan, and for a small counter service the cafe plan.

Questions

What temperature must catered hot food stay at?

135°F or above, from the kitchen through service, unless you use a written 4-hour time procedure.

How often should I check temperatures at an event?

At least every 2 hours; every hour for long events or hot weather.

Can chafing fuel reheat food?

No. It keeps hot food hot. Reheat in an oven or on a stove to 165°F first.

How long can food sit out at a buffet?

If it is not held hot or cold, 4 hours at most with a written procedure, or 6 hours if it began at 41°F and stayed under 70°F; then discard.

Can I reuse leftover buffet food?

Not food that guests had access to. Discard it.

Do I need a thermometer on site?

Yes. A calibrated probe thermometer is the one tool the whole plan depends on.

Where do I get event logs?

Start with the free sheets on our logs page and add the loading, arrival and check columns above.

Sources

1. FDA Food Code 2022 (3-401.11 cooking, 3-501.14 cooling, 3-501.16 holding, 3-501.19 time as a public health control, 8-201 records), U.S. Food and Drug Administration
2. Keep food safe: the danger zone, USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service
3. Food safety prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Related: all food safety guides.