HACCP checklist: what inspectors check in 2026.

HACCP is a system of self-control. You decide where in the venue food can become unsafe, how you control it and how you prove it. The obligation comes from Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 on the hygiene of foodstuffs, whose Article 5 requires every food business operator to have procedures based on HACCP principles and to keep documents and records appropriate to the size of the business. In Croatia the Act on Food Hygiene and Microbiological Criteria for Food applies alongside it, and in a hospitality venue the checks are done by the sanitary inspection.

The new Ordinance on the detailed rules for establishing systems and procedures based on HACCP principles (NN 124/2025) has applied since 1 September 2026 and replaces the 2015 ordinance. Under it a restaurant is a higher-risk hospitality establishment (Article 12(1)(3)), and Article 14(3) lists the documentation that must be available on site: from the procedure for receiving raw materials and the cleaning plan to cold chain records and the allergen list.

An inspection checks that documentation and whether the records of your good hygiene practice plan (GHP plan) are kept. The only record required every day is the cold chain record, at least once a day (Article 14(3)). The other records below are good practice or required by your own system.

Every refrigeration unit has its own row in the log: fridges, freezers, display cases and refrigerated salad counters. For each reading you record the time, the measured temperature and the signature of the person who measured. We email you a ready temperature log form for refrigeration units.

Your GHP plan sets the range. The 2025 HOK guide gives fridges up to 8 °C (4 °C recommended) and freezers at -18 °C or lower, and in our Croatian PDF the example for fridges is +1 to +4 °C. The ordinance requires a reading at least once a day, and morning and evening is good practice. If you add a new unit, put it on the list the same day.

Units for frozen food storage

A freezer has its own row in the log and its own range, -18 °C or lower. If it has a defrost cycle, measure outside that cycle or add a note, so a short temperature rise does not look like a fault.

Corrective action

When a temperature leaves the range, the log must show what you did: moved the goods to another unit, checked the products, called the service technician, disposed of what is not safe. A reading out of range with no action shows the problem was seen and nobody acted.

Temperature log form

The fridge temperature log form is weekly, for five units, and explains what to record and which temperatures the 2025 HOK guide gives.

If you still keep records on paper, our starter HACCP pack includes a weekly temperature log for five units, morning and evening, with a signature field. It also includes a goods receiving form and opening and closing checklists.

A freezer holding 620 EUR of stock (frozen salmon, prawns, fries and ice cream) reads -9 °C in the morning. Last night's reading says -19 °C. The fault happened overnight.

With a morning reading you see the fault before prep and have time to act. Without it you find out when the kitchen opens the door at noon, and by then it is usually too late for the whole 620 EUR. What happens to the stock is set by the procedure in your GHP plan. The log must show that the procedure was followed.

In the HACCP module an out-of-range reading cannot be saved without a corrective action, and the record keeps the time and the person who measured. If a venue has no temperature record that day, the owner and the manager get a reminder the same day, in the morning, and once more in the evening only if there is still no record.

Every delivery goes into the log: date and time, supplier, type of goods, temperature on receipt, condition of the packaging and the signature of the person who received it. In our Croatian PDF the example range for chilled goods is 0 to +4 °C, and -18 °C or lower for frozen goods. For individual foods the 2025 HOK guide gives maximum temperatures, unless the product label states otherwise.

Receiving is the only moment you can still send goods back. If a product does not pass, record the return with the reason. Once the goods are in your fridge, the problem is yours.

For dishes that your GHP plan says must reach a certain core temperature, record the dish, the time, the measured temperature and the person. Meat, poultry, minced meat, fish and egg dishes are regularly on the list.

The log is kept per day, with one row for each dish measured. Check the probe thermometer from time to time, because a record taken with a faulty thermometer proves nothing.

The cleaning, washing and disinfection plan covers every zone of the venue: what is cleaned, how often, with which product, by which method and who is responsible. The ordinance requires a restaurant to have that plan and swab analyses that verify it (Article 14(3)). A log of the work is not required for a restaurant, but it is good practice: it shows that the plan is carried out.

Cleaning plan example

The frequencies in the example are a guide. The ones that bind you are those written in your own GHP plan.

What to record in the cleaning log

Date, zone, time and the signature of the person who cleaned. If a task was not done, record why and when it was made up. An empty field with no explanation looks like a task that is not done.

The cleaning plan and cleaning log form has the zones from the example and a monthly log, ready to print on A4. All forms are on the printable HACCP forms page, each with what to record and on what basis.

Opening a shift: temperature check, use-by dates on sensitive products, cleaning supplies and staff equipment. Closing: cleaning the zones, recording remaining stock, checking the equipment. A venue that runs two shifts has checklists for each.

In the Operations overview the shift manager sees on one screen which checklists and HACCP records are done, what is still waiting and who is responsible.

Six mistakes that make a tidy system look like a system nobody follows.

• The log is filled in after the fact, at the end of the week, with the same pen and the same handwriting.
• A temperature out of range is recorded with no corrective action.
• A new unit has run for weeks and is not on the list.
• A cleaning plan exists, but nothing shows that it is carried out. A log of the work is not required, but it is the simplest proof.
• Readings are taken with a thermometer nobody has ever checked.
• Old records are thrown away. Set the retention period in your GHP plan, and the 2025 HOK guide says at least 12 months.

Staff who handle food must complete the food hygiene course before they start work, and the knowledge is renewed every five years. New staff pass a sanitary health check before their first health certificate is issued, and then periodically during employment. Both are set by the Croatian Act on the Protection of the Population from Infectious Diseases.

Keep expiry dates in one place. In the Directory every employee has their health certificate on their profile, with a reminder before it expires, so none runs out unnoticed.

If you want to keep records and certificates on your phone, with the person's name and the time on every record, create an account and set up your units and checklists the same day. Setup is 0 EUR.