Does the system really work?
A plan on paper proves nothing. The sixth principle, verification, checks that the HACCP-based procedures work effectively. Article 5(2) says verification procedures must be carried out regularly.
Two ideas are easily confused.
- Validation asks: is the plan right? Do the chosen control measures and critical limits really control the hazard? It is done when the plan is first made and when it changes. Evidence comes from official guidance, science, or tests.
- Verification asks: is the plan being followed and does it work in daily life? It is done regularly while the business runs.
Examples of verification
- A manager reads the records each week and signs them off.
- A supervisor watches a cook probing food and recording the result.
- Probes and thermometers are checked for accuracy.
- Swabs or lab tests of food or surfaces, where the business uses them.
- A calibration check of fridge displays against a reference thermometer.
- An internal audit by someone who does not do the job day to day.
- A check of complaints, and a look at pest and cleaning records.
- An outside audit, such as a visit by a consultant or a customer.
Verification should be done by someone with enough knowledge, ideally not the person who did the original task. A cook should not be the only person to check the cook's own records.
When to review the plan
Article 5 says the procedure must be reviewed and changed when there is a modification in the product, process or any step. Reviews are triggered by:
- a new menu item or new ingredient
- a new supplier
- new equipment, such as a new oven or blast chiller
- a change in the process, for example starting to cook sous vide or cook-chill
- a change in layout or premises
- a food poisoning incident, a complaint, or an enforcement visit that finds a problem
- new law or new official guidance
- a failure that keeps happening
Even if nothing changes, a good plan is reviewed at set intervals, for example once a year, and the review is recorded.
What review looks like
A review asks: do the flow diagram, hazards, CCPs, limits and corrective actions still match what is really happening? Staff often notice the gaps first. A cook who says "the plan says one thing but we do another" is giving the business a verification finding. Raising it is part of your job.
Verification finds problems: what next?
If verification shows a problem, the business investigates, takes corrective action and records it. If the same problem returns, the plan itself may be wrong. That is the point to go back to validation.
Key points
- Validation = is the plan right? Verification = is it working and followed?
- Verification is done regularly and by someone with the right knowledge.
- Review the plan whenever a product, process or step changes.
- Tell your supervisor when the plan and real practice do not match.
In practice
A restaurant installs a new combi oven. The chef notices that the old cooking times in the plan no longer fit. Before the first service, the team probes test batches in the new oven, confirms that the core reaches the limit, updates the cooking times in the plan and records the change and the date. That is review and validation, done before the change reached the customer.