A blank, fillable HACCP plan — cover, product description, hazard analysis, and CCP summary — laid out to FDA's five preliminary tasks and seven principles for you to complete for one product or process.
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This is a blank HACCP plan you fill in for one product or one process — not a generic form to file and forget. Reach for it when you are writing your first plan, reworking one an auditor flagged, or finally putting a process you run every day onto paper.
The layout follows FDA's HACCP Principles and Application Guidelines (the NACMCF method, verified July 2026). The five preliminary tasks come first — assemble the team, describe the food and its distribution, describe the intended use, draw the flow diagram, and verify it on the floor — and then the seven principles land in the two tables: the hazard analysis and the CCP summary.
Two terms carry the tables. A is the step you commit to controlling; its is the line it must not cross.
One plan covers one product or process; a facility with several product lines keeps several plans. Fill every blank cell, replace the example rows with your own, and reassess the whole plan at least once a year and whenever an ingredient, process, supplier, or rule changes. Download a blank copy of this template to fill in offline.
| Field | Entry |
|---|---|
| Facility name | |
| Facility address | |
| Product or product line this plan covers | |
| Plan number and version | |
| Date issued | |
| Next scheduled review |
Everyone who owns a piece of the plan. The team should be multidisciplinary — production, sanitation, quality, and people who actually run the line.
| Name | Role on the team | Title or department |
|---|---|---|
| (example) Dana Ruiz | HACCP coordinator | Quality assurance |
Preliminary tasks two and three: what the food is, how it moves, who eats it.
| Field | Entry |
|---|---|
| Product name | |
| Description (ingredients, structure, key characteristics) | |
| Food-safety characteristics (pH, water activity, preservatives) | |
| Packaging | |
| Shelf life and storage conditions | |
| Method of distribution (frozen, refrigerated, ambient) | |
| Intended use and any preparation by the customer | |
| Intended consumers (note any sensitive populations) | |
| Labeling for safe handling and allergens |
Sketch or attach the flow diagram, then walk the floor to confirm it matches what actually happens. List every step in order, from receiving through shipping.
Flow diagram verified on the floor by: ____ Date: ____
Principle 1. At each step, list every hazard that could be introduced, increased, or controlled there, decide whether it is significant, and name the control.
| Process step | Potential hazard — B / C / P | Significant? (Y/N) | Basis for the decision | Control measure | CCP? (Y/N) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (example) Cook | B — pathogen survival (e.g., Salmonella) | Y | Reasonably likely to cause illness with no later kill step | Cook to a validated time and temperature | Y |
| (example) Weigh and mix | C — undeclared allergen (one of the Big 9) | Y | Allergen-containing products share the line | Allergen control program; label reconciliation | N |
| (example) Metal detection | P — metal fragment | Y | Equipment wear can shed metal | Functional metal detector on the line | Y |
Hazards fall into three families — biological (B), chemical (C), which includes allergens and chemical residues, and physical (P). A hazard is significant when it is reasonably likely to cause injury or illness if it is not controlled — FDA's own test for what belongs in the plan.
Allergens are the Big 9: milk, egg, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans, and sesame. Sesame became the ninth major food allergen on January 1, 2023 under the FASTER Act (verified July 2026) — check every product against nine, not eight.
Principles 2 through 7, one row per CCP. These are the columns from FDA's HACCP Plan Summary Table.
| CCP | Critical limit(s) | Monitoring (what / how / frequency / who) | Corrective action | Verification | Records |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (example) Cook step | Internal temp ≥ ____°F held ≥ ____ min | Probe every batch, recorded by the line lead | Hold or reprocess the affected batch; find and fix the cause | Daily record review; probe calibrated on a set schedule | Cook log; calibration log |
The plan is not in force until the people accountable for it sign. Reassess and re-sign at least once a year and after any change to the product, process, ingredients, suppliers, or rules that govern it.
| Role | Name | Signature | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| HACCP coordinator | |||
| Operations or plant manager | |||
| Quality assurance |