Food Safety Records by Country: Laws and Inspections in 66 Countries

Do food businesses need food safety records in every country? Almost everywhere, yes. The words change from country to country, but the idea is the same: a kitchen must know where its food hazards are, check them, and be able to show an inspector what it did. This guide has one page for each of the 66 countries and regions Chef Hygiene works in. Each page explains that country's own law, who inspects, which records officers ask for, common failures, and how digital records help.

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Why every country has its own page

Food safety rules are not the same everywhere. The 27 EU countries share one basic regulation, but each country adds its own national law, its own inspection body and often its own rating scheme. The UK, Switzerland, Norway, the USA, Canada, India, the Gulf states and others write their own rules. Some countries publish inspection results as a score on the door; others keep them private. Some ask for a named food safety supervisor; others ask for a training certificate for every food handler.

So a general article about "food safety records" can only take you part of the way. The country pages below go further: each one is written for the businesses of that country, using that country's official sources, and linked to them so you can check every fact yourself.

What almost every country asks for

Even with different laws, inspectors in most countries look for the same kinds of proof:

• Hazard control based on HACCP. A written plan, or a simpler system for small kitchens, that shows where things can go wrong and how you stop them.
• Temperature checks. Fridges, freezers, cooking, cooling, hot holding and deliveries.
• Cleaning records. What was cleaned, when, and by whom.
• Allergen information. Which dishes contain which allergens, and how you tell customers.
• Staff training and health. Who was trained, and who must stay away from food when ill.
• Suppliers and traceability. Where food came from, so a problem can be traced.
• Pest control. Checks, visits and actions taken.

Where a country's law is different, its own page says so.

Paper or digital?

In the countries we checked, the law asks for records that are accurate, kept up to date and shown on request. Each country page says what that country's official texts say about the format.

Digital records help in simple ways. Every check has a time and a name. Nothing gets lost, wet or torn. A missed check shows up the same day, not at the next inspection. And when the inspector arrives, the manager can show months of records in a few taps.

Why Chef Hygiene costs so little

Chef Hygiene costs £2.99 a month per site for restaurants, takeaways, cafés and pubs, and £1.99 for bakeries, dessert shops and corner shops, with 14 days free to start. We keep the price low on purpose: we want to help as many food businesses as possible, including small family kitchens that cannot pay for expensive software or consultants. Good food safety should not depend on the size of the business.

Less paper, fewer trees

A kitchen that keeps its daily checks on paper can use thousands of sheets a year. Moving those records to a phone or tablet means less paper bought, printed and thrown away, so fewer trees are cut for record sheets that are read once and filed. Each business only saves a little, but many kitchens together make a real difference.

How to use this guide

Choose your country below. Each page opens in English and, where the website has it, in the country's own language. Laws change, so every page links to the official texts; if anything looks out of date, please tell us at info@chefhygiene.com and we will check it.

Countries