Master HACCP traceability to ensure food safety!

Summary

• What is HACCP traceability?
• The regulatory side
• Traceability labels: what to keep, how and for how long?

Ensuring HACCP traceability means being able to track a food’s journey from farm 🧑‍🌾 to plate 🍽️!

What is HACCP traceability? 🔍

For restaurant owners, traceability must be ensured upstream, internally, and downstream:

• 📦 I identify my suppliers and the goods delivered: this is upstream traceability,
• 🥘 I identify the raw materials used during production and the ingredients in my recipes: this is internal traceability,
• 👨‍🍳 If I deliver to other professionals (satellite restaurants, caterers, etc.), I must be able to identify the products delivered to my clients: this is downstream traceability.

From a regulatory perspective ⚖️

All restaurants are required to ensure HACCP traceability. This obligation is governed by Regulation (EC) No. 178/2002 of January 28, 2002, which establishes procedures related to food safety. Food traceability is the 7th and final pillar of the Sanitary Control Plan (SCP).

🍽️ Ensuring food traceability means being able to track, through all stages of production, processing, and distribution, the path of a foodstuff, animal feed, an animal producing foodstuffs, or a substance intended to be or likely to be incorporated into a foodstuff or animal feed.

Traceability labels: what should you keep, how, and for how long? ⏱

In the event of a Foodborne Outbreak (TIAC) or an inspection by the Departmental Directorate for the Protection of Populations (DDPP), the restaurant owner must be able to immediately present:

Mandatory information:

• For suppliers: name and address of suppliers, delivery dates, and type of products received,
• For professional clients: name and address of clients, delivery dates, and type of products delivered.

Recommended information:

• Product batch numbers,
• Volumes and quantities,
• Product description (pre-packaged or not).

How to store my traceability labels?

You can cut out ✂ your traceability labels and store them in a notebook or folders, and write down ✏:

• The products,
• The batch numbers,
• The quantities in a notebook,
• or simply take a photo 📸 of the label with your phone or tablet.

How long should I keep my traceability labels?

The retention period depends on the product category: perishable or non-perishable.

• 6 months for perishable products (use-by date under 3 months)
• 5 years for other products

And there you go — you’re now a traceability champion! 🏆🍽️

Get trained with our guide on traceability.

Want to learn more about the basics of the HACCP method? Read our article explaining HACCP in simple terms.

Want to save time ?🏃‍♂️ and stop cutting out labels? Discover the traceability solutions of the Octopus HACCP software.