Food Manager Prep / The HACCP 7 principles, with restaurant examples

The HACCP 7 principles, with restaurant examples

Updated October 2026 · Based on the FDA Food Code 2022 (the edition the exams follow) and the new 2026 edition

HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point) is a system for controlling food safety hazards before they reach the customer, instead of finding them afterwards. The FDA Food Code sets out its seven principles in Annex 4, and the food manager exam expects you to know them in order.

Short answer 1. Hazard analysis. 2. Critical control points. 3. Critical limits. 4. Monitoring. 5. Corrective actions. 6. Verification. 7. Record-keeping. One way to remember the order: you find the hazard, find where to control it, set the number, watch the number, fix it when it slips, check the system, and write it all down.

Two definitions first

Hazard	A biological, chemical or physical property that may cause an unacceptable consumer health risk (1-201.10)
Critical control point (CCP)	A point or procedure in a specific food system where loss of control may result in an unacceptable health risk (1-201.10)

The worked example on this page follows one dish through all seven steps: a restaurant's roast chicken breast, cooked, held hot for lunch, and the leftovers cooled for the next day.

Principle 1: Conduct a hazard analysis

List each step of the recipe and the hazards that could appear at it: biological (pathogens), chemical (sanitizer, allergens), physical (bone fragments, metal).

Example: raw chicken can carry Salmonella; leftovers cooled slowly allow surviving bacteria to multiply; bones are a physical hazard.

Principle 2: Determine critical control points

Find the points where a control step prevents or removes the hazard, and where losing control means real risk.

Example: cooking (kills Salmonella), hot holding (stops growth during service) and cooling (stops growth in leftovers) are CCPs. Receiving and cold storage are also controlled, but cooking is the step that eliminates the hazard.

Principle 3: Establish critical limits

A critical limit is the measurable value that separates safe from unsafe. For temperatures, use the Food Code numbers.

Example: cook to 165F (instantaneous); hot hold at 135F or above; cool from 135F to 70F within 2 hours and to 41F within 6 hours total.

Principle 4: Establish monitoring procedures

Decide who checks the limit, how, and how often.

Example: the line cook checks the thickest part of each batch with a calibrated thermometer at the end of cooking, and checks the hot-holding unit every hour; the closing cook logs the cooling temperature at the 2-hour and 6-hour marks.

Principle 5: Establish corrective actions

Write down in advance what happens when a limit is missed, so nobody improvises.

Example: chicken below 165F goes back in the oven until it reaches 165F; leftovers that miss the cooling limits are handled as the plan specifies (for example, discarded) and the reason is logged.

Principle 6: Establish verification procedures

Verification checks that the plan works and is followed, separate from day-to-day monitoring.

Example: the manager reviews and signs the cooking and cooling logs each week, and checks that the thermometers are calibrated and accurate to plus or minus 2F.

Principle 7: Establish record-keeping and documentation

Keep the plan, the logs, the corrective actions and the verification records, so you can prove control to an inspector.

Example: cooking, holding and cooling logs filed by date, with the corrective actions noted and the manager's weekly review.

When a HACCP plan is required

Not every operation needs a written HACCP plan. The Food Code (8-201.13) requires one:

When the law requires it.
When a variance is required: for example smoking food for preservation, curing, using additives or vinegar to preserve food or make it non-TCS, operating a molluscan shellfish display tank, or sprouting seeds or beans (3-502.11).
When the regulatory authority decides one is needed.
For reduced oxygen packaging done without a variance (3-502.12).

HACCP and active managerial control

The Food Code defines active managerial control as the purposeful incorporation of specific actions or procedures by management to control foodborne illness risk factors. HACCP is one formal way to do it. The 2026 Food Code frames the person in charge's duties as maintaining active managerial control (2-103.11), and adds a new requirement for a food safety management system in some cases (8-201.15).

Exam traps

The order matters: monitoring (4) comes before corrective action (5), verification (6) before records (7).
A critical limit is a number you can measure, not a goal like "cook thoroughly".
Monitoring is done during the process; verification checks the system afterwards.

The numbers behind the critical limits are on the temperature chart.

Frequently asked questions

What are the 7 principles of HACCP?

1. Conduct a hazard analysis. 2. Determine critical control points. 3. Establish critical limits. 4. Establish monitoring procedures. 5. Establish corrective actions. 6. Establish verification procedures. 7. Establish record-keeping and documentation procedures.

What is a critical control point?

The FDA Food Code defines it as a point or procedure in a specific food system where loss of control may result in an unacceptable health risk. Cooking chicken to 165F is a classic example.

When does a restaurant need a HACCP plan?

When the law requires it, when a variance is required (for example for curing, smoking for preservation or reduced oxygen packaging), when the regulatory authority decides, and for reduced oxygen packaging done without a variance (Food Code 8-201.13).

What is the difference between monitoring and verification?

Monitoring is checking the critical limit as it happens, such as taking the temperature of each batch. Verification is checking that the whole system works, such as a manager reviewing the logs and calibrating thermometers.