HACCP plan format: the sections, tables and layout of a restaurant plan
A restaurant HACCP plan has a standard format: a short front section (scope, team, menu), a flow chart for each process, a hazard analysis table, a table of critical control points with limits, monitoring, corrective actions and records, then verification and appendices. Keep it to the pages your menu needs, in a file you can edit and print, with a version date on every page.
There is no single legal template for a restaurant, so "format" really means "what a health inspector or auditor expects to find, in an order they can follow". This guide sets that order, lists the columns each table needs, and shows how to lay it out so cooks can use it. If you want the contents filled in rather than the shell, see a worked HACCP plan example, or start from the free logs built from your own menu.
Skip the layout work for the logs. Print the finished log for your menu, free Your menu, the limits and the corrective action sheet already in place.
The format in one view
Most plans that regulators and auditors accept follow the same skeleton, which comes from the Codex and FDA method of preliminary steps followed by seven principles. In a restaurant it looks like this:
| # | Section | What goes in it | Typical length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cover and control page | Restaurant name, address, plan version and date, who wrote it, who approved it | 1 page |
| 2 | Scope and team | What the plan covers (which kitchen, which processes), the HACCP team with roles | 1 page |
| 3 | Menu and product groups | Every item grouped by process: no-cook, cook-and-serve, cook-chill-reheat, raw or undercooked, specialized | 1 to 2 pages |
| 4 | Process flow diagrams | One box-and-arrow chart per process group, receiving to service | 1 page each |
| 5 | Hazard analysis | The table of hazards at each step and the controls | 2 to 5 pages |
| 6 | Critical control points | The CCP table: limit, monitoring, corrective action, verification, records | 1 to 3 pages |
| 7 | Prerequisite programs | Handwashing, cleaning, pest control, receiving, allergens, illness policy | 2 to 4 pages |
| 8 | Verification and review | How and when the plan is audited and reviewed | 1 page |
| 9 | Records and appendices | The blank log sheets, corrective action sheet, training sign-in, supplier list | As needed |
A small single-site restaurant usually lands between 10 and 25 pages with the blank logs included. A larger or more varied menu, or one with specialized processes, runs longer. If yours is 60 pages, ask whether anybody will open it on a Friday night; see the fill-in order in our HACCP plan template guide.
Section by section
1. Cover and control page
This is the page that stops a plan from drifting. Put on it: the name and address, a version number (v1, v2), the date of the last review, the person who wrote or reviewed it, and a change list ("v2, 2026-06: added the brunch menu and the bag-chill process"). Repeat the version in the footer of every page. When an inspector asks "is this current?", the answer is on the front.
2. Scope and team
One short paragraph says what the plan covers ("hot and cold food prepared and served at the restaurant at this address, including takeout and catering up to 100 portions"). Then a short list of the team with roles: owner, head cook, manager. A one-person kitchen puts one name in all three; that is fine. The point is that someone is named as responsible.
3. Menu and product groups
Do not write a hazard analysis for every dish. Group them. A typical grouping by process:
- No cook: salads, cut fruit, deli sandwiches, desserts from the fridge
- Same-day cook and serve: grilled chicken, burgers, fried foods
- Cook, cool, reheat: soups, stocks, braises, rice, cooked sauces
- Raw or undercooked: raw oysters, tartare, soft eggs (with a consumer advisory)
- Specialized: sous vide, vacuum packing, curing and smoking; these usually need their own sheet and sometimes approval, as in the sous vide guide
Under each group list the dishes. When a new dish arrives, you only decide which group it belongs to, and if none fit, you add a group.
4. Process flow diagrams
For each group, draw the steps in order: receiving, cold storage, prep, cooking, hot or cold holding, cooling, reheating, service. A plain list of boxes joined by arrows is enough; a whiteboard photo is not. Number each step so the hazard table can refer to it. Keep every diagram to one page and verify it against what actually happens in the kitchen by walking it once. Steps the cooks skip or add are the most common error.
5. Hazard analysis table
The columns, left to right:
| Column | What to write |
|---|---|
| Step | The numbered step from the flow chart |
| Hazard | Biological, chemical, physical; name the specific one, e.g. Salmonella in raw poultry |
| Is it significant? | Yes or no, with the reason (likelihood and severity) |
| Control measure | What prevents or reduces it: cooking to a temperature, cold storage, supplier approval |
| CCP? | Yes or no; if yes, it moves to section 6 |
A row might read: "Step 4 cook chicken; Salmonella survives; significant, common and serious; cook to 165°F internal; CCP yes." For how to decide the last column, the critical control points examples include the decision tree.
6. Critical control point table
One row per CCP, with these columns:
| Column | Example for cooking chicken |
|---|---|
| CCP and hazard | CCP 1, cook: Salmonella |
| Critical limit | 165°F internal for 15 seconds (FDA Food Code limit for poultry) |
| Monitoring: what, how, how often, who | Internal temperature, probe thermometer, every batch, the cook on that station |
| Corrective action | Keep cooking until 165°F; if held below limit past the time allowed, discard |
| Verification | Weekly manager review of the log; thermometer calibrated weekly |
| Records | Cook log, corrective action sheet |
These columns are the seven principles in table form: hazard analysis, CCPs, limits, monitoring, corrective actions, verification and record keeping. The FDA and the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service both publish them. Other rows come from holding (41°F cold, 135°F hot), cooling (down from 135°F to 70°F within two hours and to 41°F within six total) and reheating (165°F within a time limit). Each of those has its own guide, linked from our food safety guides.
7. Prerequisite programs
These are the basics that sit under the plan: handwashing, employee illness policy, cleaning and sanitizing, pest control, receiving, allergen handling, thermometer calibration. Write each as half a page: who, what, how often, which record. Many plans fail not at CCPs but because this section is missing.
8. Verification and review
Say who checks the records weekly, how often the plan is audited, and what triggers a review (a menu change, new equipment, an incident). A monthly and yearly pattern is in our HACCP audit checklist.
9. Records and appendices
Put a blank copy of every log the plan refers to at the back, along with the corrective action sheet. In the plan, each CCP names its log. Records themselves, once filled, live elsewhere; see HACCP record keeping for retention and storage.
Word, Excel or PDF: which file type?
- Word (or Google Docs) suits the narrative sections: scope, prerequisite programs, review. Easy to edit, easy to version.
- Excel (or Google Sheets) suits the hazard and CCP tables, because columns and long cells are awkward in a document. Set the page to landscape and fit to one page wide when printing.
- PDF is for the issued copy: export the approved version, print it and keep the editable file separately. Do not hand cooks an editable file that anyone can change.
Whichever you pick, the logs must be on paper at the station unless you use a digital system that works without a phone in a steamy kitchen. Compare both in the temperature log app guide.
Layout that people actually use
- Put the one-page summary first. A single sheet per process: steps, the limit at each CCP, and the action to take. Cooks read this, not the 20 pages.
- Use the same words everywhere. If the table says "walk-in cooler", the log should not say "box".
- Numbers in bold, short sentences. "Hold at 135°F or above" beats a paragraph.
- Landscape for tables, portrait for text. Mixing the two in one file is fine if each section has a clear start.
- One owner per page. Add an "owner" and "reviewed" line at the foot of the prerequisite pages.
- Large type on the station sheets. 12 pt minimum, laminated if wet.
HACCP plan form vs plan: which one are you looking for?
People search for "HACCP plan form", "format" and "template" for different jobs. A form is usually one blank sheet (a log or a hazard table). A format is the structure above. A template is a format with blanks or pre-filled text. If you only need a form, you want a log; if you need to know what the plan should contain, you want this format; if you want something to fill in, see the free template guide and the HACCP plan generator guide, which lists what to check in any output.
Common format mistakes
- Copying a factory format. Plans written for a processor have lot codes, scheduled processes and recall sections that a restaurant does not need, and miss the dish-by-dish menu mapping a restaurant does.
- No version date. An inspector cannot tell the plan is current.
- Limits missing from the table. "Cook thoroughly" is not a limit.
- Everything critical. If every step is a CCP, nothing is; keep CCPs to the steps where one failure reaches the guest.
- Not matching the logs. The CCP table names a "cook log" that does not exist. Every record the plan names must exist at the station.
Questions
Is there a required HACCP plan format?
Not one fixed format for restaurants. Regulators expect the seven principles to be visible and the plan to match your operation. Where a specialized process needs approval, your health department may give its own form.
How long should a HACCP plan be?
As long as your menu requires. A small restaurant can do it in 10 to 25 pages with logs. Length is not a quality sign; a plan nobody reads is worse than a short one the crew follows.
Can I use a table instead of paragraphs?
Yes, and you should for the hazard analysis and CCPs. Tables make gaps obvious: an empty cell is an unanswered question.
Should the HACCP plan be in Word or Excel?
Narrative in Word, tables in Excel or a sheet, and a PDF for the approved copy. Keep one master and number the versions.
Where do I keep the plan?
One printed copy in the kitchen, ideally by the logs, and a master file backed up. Keep the version your inspector would see on the premises.
Does a food truck or café use the same format?
Yes, with fewer processes. See the food truck guide and the café guide for the groups they use.
Start with the record: find your restaurant and print the finished log, free.
Sources
- Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP), U.S. FDA; the seven principles and the preliminary steps are also set out by the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service
- FDA Food Code 2022 (holding, cooling, reheating, specialized processes), U.S. FDA
Related: all food safety guides, restaurant food safety plan template.