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The 7 Principles of HACCP, Explained Simply
The seven principles of HACCP sound intimidating written out in full, but every one of them maps to something a working kitchen already does instinctively — HACCP just makes it systematic and provable. Here’s each one, in plain English.
1. Conduct a hazard analysis
Walk through your whole process, from delivery to serving, and identify everywhere something could genuinely go wrong — biological (bacteria, viruses), chemical (cleaning products, allergens) or physical (glass, bone, packaging). This is the foundation everything else is built on.
2. Determine the critical control points (CCPs)
Of all the hazards you identified, which points in the process are where you can actually stop them? Cooking chicken to a safe core temperature is a classic CCP — it’s the specific step that eliminates the hazard, not just reduces it a bit.
3. Establish critical limits
For each CCP, set the exact measurable line between safe and unsafe — a core cooking temperature of 75°C, a chiller running at 8°C or below. A critical limit is a number you can check, not a feeling.
4. Establish monitoring procedures
Decide how, and how often, you’ll actually check that critical limit is being met — a probe check on every batch of chicken, a daily fridge temperature log. Monitoring is what turns a critical limit from a rule into evidence.
5. Establish corrective actions
Decide in advance what happens when a check fails — chicken hasn’t hit 75°C, keep cooking it. A fridge is running warm, move the stock and get it fixed. Corrective actions mean you’re never improvising in the moment.
6. Establish verification procedures
Periodically check that the whole system is actually working as intended — calibrating your probe thermometer, reviewing your temperature logs for patterns, checking staff are genuinely following the procedures on paper.
7. Establish record-keeping and documentation
Write it down. Records are what turn everything above from good practice into due diligence — the proof, if it’s ever needed, that you took food safety seriously as a matter of routine, not just when someone was watching.
Seeing it as one worked example
- Want to see all seven principles applied to a real, simple kitchen task? Read our worked HACCP plan example for a small kitchen.
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Frequently asked questions
Do I need to apply all seven principles to every single hazard I identify?
Only to the hazards that reach the level of a critical control point — not every minor risk needs its own full seven-step process, which is exactly why step 2 (identifying CCPs) matters so much.
Is HACCP only for large food businesses?
No — it’s a legal requirement for every UK food business regardless of size, though small businesses typically apply it through a simplified tool like Safer Food, Better Business rather than a full industrial document.
Who decides what counts as a critical control point in my kitchen?
You do, based on your own hazard analysis — though our HACCP course walks through exactly how to identify them properly, with real examples.