Food Safety Records in Austria: Laws, Land Food Control and Inspections

Austrian food safety records explained: LMSVG, Land food control, no public rating, allergen rules, the records inspectors ask for and digital records.

2026-10-31 · Chef Hygiene

Do food businesses in Austria need food safety records? Yes. Every food business in Austria must run its own checks based on HACCP principles (EU Regulation 852/2004), and the law on food safety (LMSVG) lets the food control of your federal state inspect you. Austria has no public hygiene rating or sticker. The health ministry's hygiene guideline for restaurants says what records to keep, but it is a guideline, not a law. This page explains the Austrian rules, what inspectors look for, where businesses go wrong, and how digital records help.

Download on the App Store

Get it on Google Play

Get it from Microsoft

Use it in your browser

Every fact below comes from an official source, linked in the text and at the end. Where a number comes from the ministry's guideline and not from a law, we say so. Where we could not confirm something, we say that too and suggest you ask your authority.

## Contents

The law: what every Austrian food business must do
Who inspects you, and how often
No public rating
The records inspectors ask for
Where businesses go wrong
By type of business
Why digital records help in Austria
How Chef Hygiene helps
A fair price, on purpose
Less paper
FAQ
Official sources

## 1. The law: what every Austrian food business must do

The main laws. The Food Safety and Consumer Protection Act (LMSVG), EU Regulation 852/2004 on food hygiene, and the Allergen Information Regulation (Allergeninformationsverordnung, BGBl. II 175/2014). You can read Austrian laws at ris.bka.gv.at.
Report your business. All activities with food must be reported to the authority for registration (Article 6 of Regulation 852/2004). Private use is exempt: handling or storing food at home for private consumption does not need registration (Land Upper Austria: registration and approval). We read this on the Upper Austria page; the other federal states were not checked, so ask your own Land.
Approval for animal products. Businesses that make or process animal-origin products covered by Regulation 853/2004 need approval and may start only after an on-site check by the official vet. You apply in writing to the Landeshauptmann through the district authority (Bezirkshauptmannschaft).
Own checks based on HACCP. You need a system based on HACCP principles (Regulation 852/2004). The ministry's hygiene guideline for restaurants says normal restaurant cooking needs no critical control points if good hygiene practice controls the hazards (health ministry: hygiene guidelines).
Temperatures: guideline, not law. No Austrian law sets restaurant temperatures. The numbers below come from the ministry's guideline for restaurants:
Chilled food: 0 to 4°C, with a tolerance up to 6°C.
Recommended maximum for restaurants: poultry, rabbit and raw mince 4°C, other meat 7°C, offal 3°C. Raw fish at melting-ice temperature.
Frozen food: -18°C, with a tolerance up to -15°C.
Hot food: as hot as possible, in any case above 70°C. A short drop is tolerated if the food stays safe.
Cooling: food not eaten at once is cooled quickly to 0 to 4°C (6°C at most), if possible within 2 hours.
Reheating: a core temperature of at least 75°C for several minutes.
Cooking: hot dishes with raw egg reach 75°C in the core. For mince, poultry and fish the guideline says "well heated through" and gives no number.
Salads on a buffet for more than 2 hours must be kept chilled.
Deliveries: refuse frozen food above -15°C, and chilled food more than 3°C above the product's own set temperature.
Staff training. Food workers must be supervised and trained in food hygiene for their work (Regulation 852/2004). Austrian law sets no certificate, hours or renewal. The guideline asks for training at least once a year, at hiring and when tasks change, in a language the worker understands. It also asks for a health instruction (Belehrung) at the start and once a year.
Staff who are ill. The guideline says no food work with diarrhoea or vomiting, infected wounds, or skin disease that cannot be covered. Stay away at least 48 hours after symptoms end, unless an infection is ruled out. Staff must tell you at once.
Allergens. The 14 EU allergens apply. For food that is not prepacked, the Allergen Information Regulation (§ 3) says the information must be easy to reach and given to the customer without being asked. It also counts as met if a clearly visible notice says staff give the information by word of mouth on request. Word-of-mouth information may only come from trained staff, and the training must be documented. The information must always be based on written records, such as recipes and supplier labels (§ 4). The Austrian Food Code uses letter codes A to R for the allergens. You may use them only with a legend headed "Allergeninformation gemäß Codex-Empfehlung" (health ministry: allergen FAQ).

## 2. Who inspects you, and how often

Land food control. Food control is the task of the governor (Landeshauptmann) of each of the 9 federal states. The Land's trained food inspectors (Lebensmittelaufsicht) do the visits. In Vienna this is the Market Office (Marktamt), MA 59 (City of Vienna: food control).
AGES. The Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety (AGES) tests official samples (ages.at).
Risk-based. Controls follow risk, under a 3-year national control plan. We could not confirm an official fixed visit schedule for restaurants, so we do not give one.
What can happen after a visit. The inspector can ask in writing for faults to be fixed by a deadline (LMSVG § 39), or issue a formal order. Orders can go as far as closing all or part of the business. Fines are up to €35,000, and up to €70,000 for repeat cases (LMSVG § 90).

## 3. No public rating

No rating. Austria has no public hygiene rating or sticker for restaurants.
What this means for you. There is no score to improve, but the inspector can order repairs, set a deadline or close a business.

## 4. The records inspectors ask for

The law asks for own checks based on HACCP. The ministry's guideline shows what that usually means:

Fridge and freezer temperatures every working day, if possible at the start of work. Write down faults and what you did about them. The guideline says to keep this record for 2 months past the food's shelf life, and at least 1 year.
Goods-in checks of chilled and frozen deliveries.
Cleaning plan, with a deep clean at least once a year.
Pest checks, documented at least every 3 months.
Training records. Place, date, topic, length, trainer and signatures. Keep them for 3 years (guideline).
Health instruction with a signed form (guideline).
HACCP review every year, and at the latest every 2 years (guideline).
Allergen records. Written documentation for every dish, and proof of training for staff who give allergen information by word of mouth (law).

## 5. Where businesses go wrong

Common record problems are easy to picture:

Gaps. Days with no temperature checks written down.
No action recorded. A fridge reading above 6°C with nothing written about what was done.
Allergen information with no written base. Staff answer by word of mouth, but there are no recipes or labels to back it up.
No allergen training proof. The law asks for documented training for word-of-mouth information.
No notice. Allergens given by word of mouth, but no clear notice that says so.
Lost or damaged pages. Paper gets wet, greasy or thrown away.
No review. The HACCP plan has not been looked at since it was written.
Not reporting the business. All food activities must be reported for registration.

## 6. By type of business

The rules are the same for every food business, but the records you keep depend on what you do.

Restaurant: the ministry's restaurant guideline applies. Daily fridge checks, cooking and hot-holding temperatures, cooling, deliveries, cleaning, and allergen information for every dish.
Takeaway: the same as a restaurant. For orders by phone or app, EU rules require allergen information before the purchase is completed and at delivery (Regulation 1169/2011, Article 14). We could not confirm a separate Austrian rule for this.
Café: fridges and displays, cleaning, and allergen information for cakes, sandwiches and salads, as non-prepacked food.
Bakery / cake shop: allergen records for every product, display temperatures for cream cakes, and labels for goods you pack. Private home-made cakes at fire-brigade or charity festivals are exempt from the allergen rule (health ministry FAQ).
Dessert shop: fridge and freezer temperatures for desserts and ice cream, and allergens for toppings and sauces.
Pub / bar / club: the same records as a restaurant for the food you serve. We found no separate official rule for pubs.
Community hall / venue: report your food activity if you serve food. Private home-made cakes at charity festivals are exempt from the allergen rule. We could not confirm other rules for halls, so ask your authority.
Corner shop / grocery: fridge and freezer checks, delivery checks, and allergen information for loose food and food you pack yourself.
School / nursery kitchen: the Allergen Information Regulation also covers schools and kindergartens that give out unpackaged food (health ministry FAQ). Keep temperature and cleaning records.
Caterer / food van: report your food activity. Caterers that give out unpackaged food are covered by the allergen rule. We could not confirm a separate Austrian page for food vans, so ask your authority.
Home kitchen business: handling food at home only for private use is exempt from registration. Selling food from home is different. We could not confirm the exact rule, so ask your Land food control before you start.

## 7. Why digital records help in Austria

Records can be kept in a form that suits the business. EU guidance on HACCP flexibility (notice 2022/C 355/01) supports this. We could not find an Austrian page that says the same, so ask your food inspector if you are unsure.
No gaps go unnoticed. A missed check shows up the same day, not at the next inspection.
Problems come with their fix. When a reading is out of range, the record can ask what you did about it.
Nothing is lost. No wet, greasy or missing pages, and keeping a record for a year or more is easy.
Ready for the inspector. You can show everything at once, instead of looking for folders.
Every staff member can take part. Staff can record checks on a phone or tablet, in their own language.

## 8. How Chef Hygiene helps

Chef Hygiene follows the Austrian rules and the ministry's guideline. What it does:

Daily checks for fridges, freezers, cooking, hot holding, cooling, cleaning and deliveries, with the time, the staff member's name and photos. Saved records cannot be changed; corrections are added as new records.
Your country's temperatures built in, such as the ministry's numbers for chilled food, frozen food and hot holding.
Food safety plan ("safe methods"). About 20 minutes: answer questions, check each method, sign it, set a review date and print it. Earlier versions are kept.
Ready for inspection? Checks your last 4 weeks of records the way an inspector would and shows how many are ready.
Inspector's visits log. Write down each visit: date, type and officer.
Practice inspection. A free walk round of about 10 minutes, with questions for your type of business and a "Put it right" list. Austria has no public rating, so it shows how ready you are, not a score.
Allergen chart and labels. Every dish against the 14 allergens, a staff view on the kitchen tablet, and labels for prepacked food.
Staff training records.
Inspector pack. Print all your records as one pack, or share them by secure link.
40 languages. The app works in German and in other languages, so staff can use it in their own language.

## 9. A fair price, on purpose

Chef Hygiene costs €2.99 a month per site (€1.99 for bakeries, dessert shops and corner shops); the exact price is shown in your app store; unlimited staff, no contract, 14-day free trial.

We keep the price low on purpose. We want as many food businesses as possible, from a single food van to a busy restaurant, to keep good records and pass their inspections.

## 10. Less paper

A paper diary means printed sheets every day. One daily sheet per kitchen is 365 sheets a year, before you count delivery forms, cleaning rotas and training records. Digital records mean no record books to buy and fewer printed forms to throw away. That is less paper and less waste, and nothing to store in a back office.

## 11. FAQ

### Do I legally need food safety records in Austria?

You need own checks based on HACCP principles (Regulation 852/2004). The ministry's guideline for restaurants says what records to keep, such as daily fridge checks.

### Who inspects restaurants in Austria?

The food control (Lebensmittelaufsicht) of your federal state. In Vienna it is the Market Office, MA 59. AGES tests official samples.

### Do I have to report my business before I open?

Yes. All activities with food must be reported to the authority for registration (Article 6 of Regulation 852/2004). Animal-product businesses also need approval.

### Are inspections announced?

We could not confirm an official rule on this, so we do not say. Controls are risk-based.

### Is there a hygiene rating in Austria?

No. There is no public rating or sticker, and results are not published for each business.

### What can an inspector do after a visit?

Ask in writing for faults to be fixed by a deadline, or issue a formal order, up to closing all or part of the business. Fines are up to €35,000, or €70,000 for repeat cases.

### Is the guideline for restaurants a law?

No. It is the health ministry's guideline. It is the official guide to good practice, but it is not a law.

### Are digital food safety records accepted?

EU guidance supports records in a form that suits the business. We could not find an Austrian page that says so directly, so ask your food inspector if you are unsure.

### How long must I keep my records?

The guideline says to keep temperature fault records for 2 months past the food's shelf life, and at least 1 year. Training records are kept for 3 years.

### What temperature must my fridge be?

No Austrian law sets a number. Guideline: 0 to 4°C, with a tolerance up to 6°C.

### What temperature must hot food be kept at?

Guideline: as hot as possible, in any case above 70°C.

### What temperature should I cook or reheat food to?

Guideline: hot dishes with raw egg reach 75°C in the core, and reheating needs at least 75°C for several minutes.

### Do my staff need a food hygiene certificate?

No law requires one. Staff must be supervised and trained for their work. The guideline asks for training at least once a year.

### What allergen information do I need?

For loose food: information given without being asked, or a clearly visible notice that staff give it by word of mouth. Word-of-mouth information needs trained staff, documented training, and written records behind it.

### What are the letter codes A to R?

The Austrian Food Code uses letter codes for the 14 allergens. You may use them only with a legend headed "Allergeninformation gemäß Codex-Empfehlung".

### Do home-made cakes at a charity festival need allergen information?

No. Private home-made cakes at fire-brigade or charity festivals are exempt from the allergen rule.

### Can staff work when they are ill?

Guideline: not with diarrhoea or vomiting, infected wounds, or skin disease that cannot be covered. Stay away at least 48 hours after symptoms end, unless an infection is ruled out.

### Do I need to register a home kitchen?

Handling food at home only for private use is exempt. For selling food from home we could not confirm the rule, so ask your Land food control.

### What language does the app work in?

German, English and many other languages, so staff can record checks in the language they understand.

### How much does Chef Hygiene cost in Austria?

€2.99 a month per site (€1.99 for bakeries, dessert shops and corner shops); the exact price is shown in your app store; unlimited staff, no contract, 14-day free trial.

## 12. Official sources

Chef Hygiene keeps your Austrian food safety records ready for every inspection:

Download on the App Store

Get it on Google Play

Get it from Microsoft

Use it in your browser