𝗛𝗔𝗖𝗖𝗣 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗽𝗼𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻, 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝗶𝘁.

HACCP is hailed as the gold standard of food safety management. But here’s a harsh reality: in many catering kitchens, HACCP exists more on paper than in practice. Chefs and managers will diligently follow safe cooking and storage practices – yet the moment production pressure kicks in, the paperwork suffers. Temperature logs, cleaning checklists, and other HACCP records often take a back seat to getting dishes out the door. In fact, verification and record-keeping “often gets forgotten by businesses”. Teams scramble to fill in logs right before an audit, a ritual panic that signals a deeper issue in how we manage food safety.

In most professional kitchens, especially in high-volume catering, HACCP is respected in theory — but diminished in practice.

Chefs care about hygiene and Food Safety matters but production always comes first. And HACCP documentation? It’s something we catch up on the day before an audit.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗡𝗲𝗲𝗱𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲?

This is not a call to abandon HACCP — far from it.

It’s a call to realign food safety systems more tightly matched to operational realities.

1. 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼𝗼𝗹𝘀.

2. 𝗥𝗲𝗱𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗛𝗔𝗖𝗖𝗣 𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗲𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴.

3. 𝗛𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺𝘀, not just team members and results.

Implementing COPEX is the solution. Until then, HACCP will remain what it too often is today: a box-ticking exercise to survive audits, rather than a daily discipline that protects our customers, our teams, and our reputations.

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