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Restaurants, caterers and markets with a special process

What food and process need the plan?

Describe the project and attach what you have. ePlan drafts the special-process HACCP plan and finds the rest.

How it works

From the first chat to the finished special-process HACCP plan.

A chat: the project and an attached file, and ePlan's answer with the project's context and the documents it can draft.

The special-process HACCP plan as a draft, section by section, with highlights to check, pick and fill in.

A six-week plan: the tasks, which are done, and when each one is due.

The people the project is shared with, a comment thread on one section, and recent changes.

What you get

Special-process HACCP plan, section by section

An example draft. In yours, ePlan fills in what your files and public data say, and highlights the rest.

  • Check: a fact to confirm3
  • Pick one: choose from the options1
  • Fill in: a detail only you have8
Draft 1

Special-process HACCP plan

Project: !sous vide short rib and pork belly, held up to 7 days

Prepared by ✎preparer · ✎date

Business, address and person in charge

✎Name, role and phone is responsible for this special-process HACCP plan and keeps it current. Contractors and subcontractors are listed in the appendix.

Foods covered, by category

The criteria in FDA Food Code 2026 turn on one question. How will you check temperatures and pH? ?Probe thermometer and a paper log.

Flow diagram for each food, with critical control points marked

These measures apply for the whole project: ✎each measure, who carries it out and when. They follow FDA Food Code 2026.

Ingredients, recipes and equipment

Materials and equipment on site are listed with quantities and storage places: ✎each item, quantity and location.

Critical control points: hazards, critical limits, monitoring and corrective actions

Where a measure depends on the site, the plan says where it applies: !locations shown on the site map.

How the person in charge verifies the checks

Roles are assigned by name, with a backup for each: ✎each role, person and backup.

Records kept, and blank log forms

Records are kept for !the retention period the rules require and are available to inspectors on request.

Employee and supervisor training plan

Everyone on site completes ✎the training and how often before starting work. Attendance records are kept with this special-process HACCP plan.

Supporting data the health department may ask for

Attached: the maps and plans, the public data cited in the text, and ✎other attachments the office asks for.

Modeled on FDA Food Code 2026, 3-502.11, 3-502.12 and 8-201.14, and the county's own special-process checklist

7 daysis the longest sous vide or cook-chill food held at 41°F may be kept before it is eaten or thrown out, unless it was chilled to 34°F or frozen FDA Food Code 2026, 3-502.12(D)(2)(e)

Questions

HACCP Plan for Restaurants: questions

When does a restaurant need a HACCP plan?

When it uses a special process. Curing, smoking to preserve, acidifying food so it can be held without temperature control, and sprouting seeds need a variance and a HACCP plan. Vacuum packing, sous vide and cook-chill under 3-502.12 need only the plan, and not even that if the food is labeled, kept at 41°F and unpacked within 48 hours.

Source: fda.gov

Can I cook sous vide without a variance?

Yes, if you give the health department a HACCP plan first, seal the bag before cooking or before the food drops below 135°F, keep the food within your business, cool it to 41°F in the bag, and use it within 7 days at 41°F or 30 days at 34°F, or freeze it. Fish must stay frozen, or needs a variance.

Source: fda.gov

What pH does sushi rice need?

4.2 or less. Acidifying cooked rice so it can be held without temperature control is a special process, so it needs a variance and a HACCP plan with pH as the critical limit. Vinegar added only for flavor, with pH not monitored, is not a special process, and that rice stays under temperature control.

Source: fda.gov

Will every restaurant need a written food safety plan?

Where a state or county adopts the 2026 FDA Food Code, yes: within four years of adoption, food establishments must keep a written food safety management system of procedures, training plans and monitoring records. The health department can exempt low-risk operations. Until your jurisdiction adopts the 2026 edition, the rule does not apply.

Source: fda.gov

I sell food wholesale. Is this the same plan?

No. An FDA-registered food facility needs a food safety plan under 21 CFR 117, prepared or overseen by a preventive controls qualified individual. Seafood and juice processors follow FDA's HACCP rules in 21 CFR 123 and 120, and meat and poultry plants follow USDA's in 9 CFR 417.

Source: ecfr.gov

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What food and process need the plan?