Food Safety Records in Croatia: Laws, Inspections and HACCP

Croatia food safety records explained: the law, State Inspectorate checks, HACCP rulebook, the records inspectors ask for, common faults and digital records.

2026-10-31 · Chef Hygiene

Do food businesses in Croatia need food safety records? Yes. Every food business must set up and run a food safety system based on HACCP principles (Food Hygiene Act NN 83/22, Article 9), and the HACCP rulebook NN 124/2025 lists the documents a restaurant must keep on the premises. The State Inspectorate (Državni inspektorat, DIRH) inspects, and it can ban work and seal premises. Croatia has no public hygiene rating or sticker. This page explains the Croatian rules, what inspectors look for, where businesses go wrong, and how digital records help.

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Every fact below comes from an official source, linked in the text and at the end. The law sets no temperature numbers for restaurants; where a number comes from the national catering guide, we say it is guidance. Chef Hygiene works in Croatian, and in 39 other languages, so staff can use it in their own language.

## Contents

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

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

The main laws. EU Regulation 852/2004 on food hygiene, and the Food Hygiene Act NN 83/22 (Zakon o higijeni hrane, Narodne novine). Article 9 of the Act requires every food business to set up, run and maintain a system based on HACCP principles.
The HACCP rulebook. Rulebook NN 124/2025 gives the detailed rules (NN 124/2025). It replaces the earlier rulebook NN 68/15 and, according to Article 31, came into force on 1 September 2026. For catering, the HACCP system may rest on prerequisite programmes (basic hygiene rules). A full hazard analysis is needed only for processes over 72 hours or special diets such as gluten-free.
Registration. Food premises must be entered in an official register. We could not confirm which register holds restaurants: two registries exist (one at the State Inspectorate, one at the Ministry of Agriculture), and we could not open the text to see which one covers catering. Ask your inspectorate office. The State Inspectorate page on registration says to report changes within 30 days and closure within 8 (DIRH).
Temperatures: guidance, not law. No Croatian law sets restaurant fridge, hot-holding or cooling numbers. The numbers below come from the national catering guide of the Croatian Chamber of Trades and Crafts (HOK, 2nd edition 2025) (HOK guide):
Fridge: cooked dishes and poultry 4°C, minced meat 2°C, offal 3°C, other meat 7°C, vegetables 8°C. Any fridge must stay at 8°C or colder.
Freezer: -18°C or colder.
Cooking: 73°C for 30 seconds in the thickest part.
Hot holding: 65°C or hotter, checked every 2 hours.
Cooling: at most 30 minutes at room temperature, then 4°C within 6 hours in all.
Reheating: 73°C for 30 seconds, and only once.
Staff training. Everyone who touches, prepares or serves food needs the food hygiene course certificate before starting work, renewed every 5 years. The kitchen and serving staff course is 15 teaching hours at a county public health institute, and the employer pays (Act on protection of the population from infectious diseases, Articles 37 and 39; rulebook NN 116/2018). A shorter "basic" programme exists only for places such as drinks-only bars and shops with non-perishable food. Separately, the business must train the HACCP team and every worker whose job affects food safety, check the training worked, and keep records (NN 124/2025, Article 6).
Health checks and sick staff. Staff in direct contact with unpacked food need a medical exam before starting and then every year, including stool tests. The result goes in the sanitary card (sanitarna iskaznica), which the employer keeps. People with an infectious disease that food can carry, or an infected skin disease, must not work with food (Act on protection from infectious diseases; rulebook NN 116/2018).
Allergens. The rulebook on information for non-prepacked food (NN 144/2014) sets the rules. See the next list.

Allergens for loose food (Rulebook NN 144/2014)

In writing, next to the food. Information on the 14 EU allergens must be in writing, easy to see and legible, next to the food (Article 8). It is free, and available before the sale.
Oral information. Allowed only if a visible notice says where the information is, or invites guests to ask staff, and the full information is also available in print or electronic form on the premises for guests and inspectors.
Delivery and distance orders. Give the information before the sale and at delivery (Article 10). It must be in Croatian, Latin script; other languages may be added.
A list for every dish. The HACCP rulebook (Article 14) also expects a list of the allergens in every dish.
One exception. Article 6(3): the information is not needed where special dietary needs are recorded in advance and meals are adapted, such as hospitals, care homes, nurseries and canteens.
Other label rules. Catering businesses (except pastry shops) are exempt from the other Article 7 items such as the ingredient list, but not from allergens (NN 144/2014).

## 2. Who inspects you, and how often

The State Inspectorate. The sanitary inspection (sanitarna inspekcija) of the State Inspectorate checks food hygiene, HACCP and staff health. It works from five regional offices: Zagreb, Osijek, Rijeka, Split and Varaždin (DIRH).
Other inspectors. DIRH tourism, market and labour inspectors also visit catering premises.
How often. We could not confirm an official fixed visit schedule, so we do not give one. DIRH's annual report for 2025 counted 7,740 food safety inspections inland, and listed the most common faults: no hygiene course or health exam, no swab tests or food sampling, no HACCP system, unhygienic preparation, and no traceability.
What an inspector can do. Ban the use of rooms, equipment or products, ban a person from food work, and seal the premises. Appeals do not stop an order.

## 3. No public rating, but real powers

No rating. Croatia has no national hygiene rating, sticker or smiley, and no duty to display an inspection result. We found no rule to publish single results; DIRH publishes totals.
Sealing. According to the State Inspectorate Act, an inspector can seal premises for 1 to 15 days the first time, and for 30 days if the same fault returns within 3 years.
Fines for companies. Under the Food Hygiene Act, a company with no HACCP system where one is required can be fined EUR 6,630 to 13,270 (Article 23). Not running the system fully, or failing to keep records for the required time, can be fined EUR 660 to 1,990 (Article 24). Other amounts apply to sole traders.

## 4. The records inspectors ask for

NN 124/2025, Article 14, lists what a restaurant keeps on the premises (the last item, fire safety, comes from separate fire and electrical rulebooks):

Goods-in rules. How you check deliveries.
Cleaning plan. What is cleaned, with what, by whom and how.
Swab test results.
Cold-chain record. At least once a day.
Storage and shelf-life instructions for prepared dishes.
Pest control plan and certificates.
Allergen list for every dish.
Training records. Names, dates, subject, trainer, length and result.
Fire safety records. Extinguisher checks every 3 months and a yearly service, kitchen duct cleaning every 3 months, emergency lighting checks twice a year, and an electrical inspection at least every 4 years (rulebooks NN 101/11, NN 100/99, NN 5/2010).

How long to keep them. Corrective-action records are kept for 1 year after the shelf-life date. If food has no date: 3 years from production if it is not perishable, and 6 months from production if it is perishable (NN 124/2025, Article 22). For other records, the business sets the time.

## 5. Where businesses go wrong

The State Inspectorate's own list of common faults shows where businesses lose out:

No hygiene course or health exam. Staff start work without the certificate or the sanitary card.
No swab tests or food sampling. Missing the 6-month tests.
No HACCP system. Or a system on paper that staff do not follow.
Gaps in the cold-chain record. The rulebook expects at least a daily record.
Allergens only by word of mouth. Oral information needs a visible notice and a full written copy on the premises.
Lost or damaged pages. Paper gets wet, greasy or thrown away.

## 6. By type of business

The same food law applies to every business. The records you keep depend on what you do. We could not confirm separate Croatian rules for each type of business, so each line below applies the rules above.

Restaurant: the NN 124/2025 documents, a daily cold-chain record, swab tests every 6 months, and an allergen list for every dish.
Takeaway: the same as a restaurant, plus allergen information before the sale and at delivery for orders by phone or app.
Café: fridge and display records, cleaning, and allergen information next to sandwiches and salads.
Bakery / cake shop: allergen information for every product. Pastry shops are not exempt from the other loose-food information rules in Article 7.
Dessert shop: fridge and freezer records, and allergens for toppings and sauces.
Pub / bar / club: staff need the hygiene course. A shorter basic programme exists for drinks-only bars; food service needs the full one. Keep the same records for any food you serve.
Community hall / venue: if you serve food as a business, the food hygiene rules apply. Keep temperature and cleaning records for each event.
Corner shop / grocery: staff handling only packed food are exempt from the medical exam. Keep fridge and delivery records, and swab and pest records as the rulebook asks.
School / nursery kitchen: the allergen exception in Article 6(3) can apply where dietary needs are recorded in advance and meals adapted. Keep temperature and cleaning records.
Caterer / food van: the national catering guide says vans carry food at 4°C at most (guidance). Keep records with you.
Home kitchen business: we could not confirm separate Croatian rules for home businesses, so ask the State Inspectorate how to register.

## 7. Why digital records help in Croatia

Accepted by the rulebook. NN 124/2025 allows electronic records if data are logged in real time, each later change shows who made it, when and why, and staff authorised by the business sign off the records (Article 25).
No gaps go unnoticed. A missed daily 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.
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 Croatian rules, and shows the national catering guide numbers as guidance. 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 rules built in, including the HOK catering guide temperatures as guidance.
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. It shows a likely result in your country's own scheme.
Allergen chart and labels. Every dish against the 14 allergens, a staff view on the kitchen tablet, and labels for food prepacked for direct sale, with allergens in bold.
Staff training records.
Inspector pack. Print all your records as one pack, or share them by secure link.
40 languages. Staff can use the app in their own language, including Croatian.

## 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 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 Croatia?

Yes. You must run a system based on HACCP principles (Food Hygiene Act NN 83/22, Article 9), and NN 124/2025 lists documents a restaurant keeps on the premises.

### Who inspects restaurants in Croatia?

The sanitary inspection of the State Inspectorate (DIRH). Tourism, market and labour inspectors also visit.

### Is there a hygiene rating in Croatia?

No. There is no national rating, sticker or smiley, and no duty to display an inspection result.

### Can an inspector close my business?

An inspector can ban rooms, equipment, products or a person's work, and can seal premises for 1 to 15 days the first time, and 30 days if the same fault returns within 3 years.

### Where do I register a restaurant?

We could not confirm which register holds restaurants, because two registries exist. Ask the State Inspectorate office for your area.

### Is the HACCP rulebook NN 124/2025 in force?

Yes. Its Article 31 says it came into force on 1 September 2026, replacing NN 68/15.

### Are digital food safety records accepted?

Yes. NN 124/2025 allows electronic records if data are logged in real time, changes show who, when and why, and authorised staff sign off.

### How long must I keep my records?

Corrective-action records: 1 year after the shelf-life date. Without a date: 3 years from production if not perishable, 6 months if perishable.

### What temperature must my fridge be?

Croatian law sets no number. The national catering guide (guidance) says cooked dishes and poultry 4°C, and any fridge 8°C or colder.

### What temperature should I cook food to?

The catering guide (guidance) says 73°C for 30 seconds in the thickest part.

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

The catering guide (guidance) says 65°C or hotter, checked every 2 hours.

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

Yes. Everyone who touches, prepares or serves food needs the hygiene course certificate before starting, renewed every 5 years. The employer pays.

### What is the sanitary card?

The card where the result of the medical exam is recorded for staff in contact with unpacked food. The employer keeps it. The exam is before starting and then every year.

### What allergen information do I need?

Written information on the 14 allergens next to loose food. Oral information is allowed with a visible notice and a full written copy on the premises.

### Does the allergen rule apply to delivery orders?

Yes. Give the information before the sale and at delivery, in Croatian (other languages may be added).

### Are there exceptions for hospitals and nurseries?

Yes. Article 6(3) of the allergen rulebook: no information is needed where special dietary needs are recorded in advance and meals adapted.

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

€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 Croatian food safety records ready for every inspection:

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