Food Safety Records in France: Laws, Inspections and Alim’confiance

French food safety records: the PMS, DDPP inspections, Alim’confiance results, the records inspectors ask for and how digital records help.

2026-10-31 · Chef Hygiene

Do food businesses in France need food safety records? Yes. Every food business except primary production needs a food safety plan, the Plan de Maîtrise Sanitaire (PMS), based on HACCP principles and good hygiene practice. The Direction Départementale de la Protection des Populations (DDPP) inspects restaurants and can ask to see your records. France also has a public scheme, Alim'confiance, which publishes every official inspection result online. This page explains the French rules, what inspectors look for, where businesses go wrong, and how digital records help.

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This page covers metropolitan France. Every fact below comes from an official source, linked in the text and at the end. Where French law sets no number and a number comes from guidance, we say so. Where we could not confirm something, we say that too.

The law: what every French food business must do
Who inspects you, and how often
Alim'confiance: public inspection results
The records inspectors ask for
Where businesses go wrong
By type of business
Why digital records help in France
How Chef Hygiene helps
A fair price, on purpose
Less paper
FAQ
Official sources

1. The law: what every French food business must do

The main laws. EU Regulation 852/2004 on food hygiene, the arrêté of 21 December 2009 on food temperatures, and Décret 2011-731 on food hygiene training in commercial catering.
Declare before you open. Any activity that handles food of animal origin sold directly to consumers must send a health declaration to the DDPP before opening, online or by post. Service-Public cites form R17520 for this (Service-Public Entreprendre). If you sell animal-origin food to other professionals, you need an approval (agrément) instead.
A food safety plan (PMS). The plan is based on HACCP principles and good hygiene practice. Sector hygiene guides (guides de bonnes pratiques d'hygiène, GBPH) exist to help you write it. Using a guide is voluntary, but it is the usual way to build the plan.
Temperatures from the arrêté of 21 December 2009.
Dishes prepared in advance: +3°C or colder.
Raw poultry and meat preparations: +4°C or colder.
Minced meat and fresh fish products: +2°C or colder.
Ice cream and frozen minced meat and fish: -18°C or colder. Other frozen food: -12°C or colder.
Dishes served or delivered hot: +63°C or hotter.
Cooling from +63°C to below +10°C in under 2 hours. The arrêté makes this law in collective catering. In commercial restaurants it is good practice from the hygiene guides.
French law sets no core cooking temperature.
Staff training: 14 hours. Commercial restaurants, cafeterias, self-service and fast-food places need at least one person with 14 hours of food hygiene training (Décret 2011-731 and the arrêté of 5 October 2011). Service-Public says the training has no expiry or renewal. You do not need the course if you have 3 years of experience managing or running a food business, or a recognised food hygiene diploma issued after 1 January 2006. All other food handlers must be supervised and instructed or trained for their work, with no set content or length.
Staff who are ill. A worker with a disease carried by food, an infected wound, a skin infection or diarrhoea must not handle food, and must tell the operator at once (Regulation 852/2004). French law sets no fixed time off. The operator judges each case.
Allergens. The 14 EU allergens must be declared (Regulation 1169/2011). For food that is not prepacked, the information must be in writing (Décret 2015-447, now Code de la consommation R.112-11 to R.112-15). It must be on or right next to the food so there is no doubt which dish has which allergen. In restaurants, it must be written, legible and visible where the public is admitted, or you must show how the customer can reach the written information directly and freely (Légifrance). Food packed on request, or prepacked for immediate sale, is treated the same way.

2. Who inspects you, and how often

The DDPP. It carries out official controls in restaurants. In some departments the local body is the DDETSPP. The DGAL (Direction Générale de l'Alimentation) sets national inspection policy.
Unannounced. Inspections happen without prior notice, during opening hours.
How often. Inspections follow risk. Higher-risk places are inspected more often. About 52,000 inspections a year are made in commercial restaurants (Ministry of Agriculture).
What can happen. A small fault brings a warning letter. A bigger fault brings an official report (procès-verbal), a deadline for corrective measures and a re-inspection. If public health is at serious risk, the DDPP can order closure, withdraw an approval or suspend operations.
Fines. We could not confirm exact fine amounts on the official pages we read, so we do not give any. Ask your DDPP.

3. Alim'confiance: public inspection results

Public and free. Alim'confiance publishes every official inspection result online, free for the public.
Four levels. Très satisfaisant, Satisfaisant, À améliorer, and À corriger de manière urgente.
How long it shows. A result stays visible for 1 year (Alim'confiance, Ministry of Agriculture).
What this means for you. Customers can look up your last result. Good, complete records show an inspector that your plan works every day.

4. The records inspectors ask for

The PMS covers the records below. The list is from Service-Public and the French records guidance:

Cleaning and disinfection logs, signed by the operator.
Pest control logs.
Goods-in forms with delivery receipts and temperatures.
Fridge and cold room temperatures, and cooking temperatures.
Equipment maintenance, including the extraction hood and frying oil checks.
Staff training documents.
Laboratory reports, where you have tests done.
Problems and fixes: non-conformities and the corrective actions you took.
Allergen information for every dish.

How long to keep them. DGAL guidance is to keep verification and trend records for at least 3 years, and food safety control records for the product's shelf life plus 6 months. This is guidance, not a number in the law. For collective catering, allergen records are kept 3 years after the last meal (R.112-14).

5. Where businesses go wrong

Gaps. Days with no temperature or cleaning checks written down.
A plan that doesn't match the kitchen. A PMS on paper that staff do not follow.
No action recorded. A reading out of range with nothing written about what was done.
Lost or damaged pages. Paper gets wet, greasy or thrown away.
Training not shown. The 14-hour training exists, but no certificate can be found.
Allergens only by word of mouth. The rule asks for written information, visible and next to the food.
Not declaring to the DDPP. The health declaration must be made before opening.

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 14-hour trained person, daily temperature and cleaning checks, cooling and hot holding, goods-in, and written allergen information for each dish.
Takeaway: the same as a restaurant. Fast-food places also need the 14-hour trained person. Keep hot food at +63°C or hotter when delivered.
Café: fridge and display temperatures, cleaning, and written allergen information for food made on site. Cafeterias need the 14-hour trained person.
Bakery: allergen information for every product, display temperatures for cream cakes, and cleaning records. We could not confirm a separate training rule for bakeries.
Dessert shop: fridge and freezer temperatures (ice cream -18°C or colder) and allergens for toppings and sauces.
Pub / bar / club: the same records for the food you serve. We could not confirm whether the 14-hour rule applies to every bar, so ask your DDPP.
Community hall / venue: if you serve food as a business, declare it to the DDPP and keep temperature and cleaning records for each event.
Corner shop: fridge and freezer checks, goods-in checks, and allergen information for food you pack yourself.
School / nursery kitchen: this is collective catering, where the cooling limit of the arrêté is law. Allergen records can be kept through a system where consumers say beforehand which ingredients they refuse (R.112-14).
Caterer / food van: declare to the DDPP, keep temperatures during transport and at the event, and keep your records with you.
Home kitchen business: we could not confirm a separate French rule for home kitchens. Ask your DDPP what applies to you.

7. Why digital records help in France

Accepted in the EU. The European Commission's guidance on HACCP flexibility (notice 2022/C 355/01) supports records in the form that suits the business. We could not find a French official page that names digital records directly, so ask your DDPP if you are unsure.
No gaps go unnoticed. A missed check shows up the same day.
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.
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 French rules, including the arrêté of 21 December 2009. 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 +3°C for dishes made in advance and +63°C for hot food.
Food safety plan. 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, a likely result in Alim'confiance's four levels, and a "Put it right" list.
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.
Staff training records.
Inspector pack. Print all your records as one pack, or share them by secure link.
40 languages. The app works in French, and 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 nothing to store in a back office.

11. FAQ

Do I legally need food safety records in France?

Yes. You need a Plan de Maîtrise Sanitaire based on HACCP principles and good hygiene practice, and inspectors can ask to see your records.

Who inspects restaurants in France?

The DDPP (in some departments the DDETSPP). The DGAL sets national policy.

Do I have to declare before I open?

Yes, if you handle animal-origin food sold to consumers. Send the health declaration to the DDPP before opening.

Are inspections announced?

No. They happen without notice during opening hours.

What is Alim'confiance?

The public scheme that publishes official inspection results online, free, in four levels.

How long does a result stay public?

1 year.

What are the four levels?

Très satisfaisant, Satisfaisant, À améliorer, À corriger de manière urgente.

What is the PMS?

The Plan de Maîtrise Sanitaire, your written food safety plan based on HACCP and good hygiene practice.

Do I have to use a hygiene guide (GBPH)?

It is voluntary, but it is the usual way to build the plan.

Do my staff need training?

One person in a commercial restaurant, cafeteria, self-service or fast-food place needs 14 hours of food hygiene training. It has no expiry. Other staff must be supervised and instructed or trained.

Can I skip the 14-hour course?

Yes, with 3 years of experience running a food business, or a recognised diploma issued after 1 January 2006.

What temperature must my fridge be?

Dishes made in advance: +3°C or colder. Raw poultry and meat preparations +4°C, minced meat and fresh fish products +2°C.

What temperature must hot food be?

+63°C or hotter when served or delivered.

What must my freezer be?

Ice cream and frozen minced meat and fish: -18°C or colder. Other frozen food: -12°C or colder.

Is there a legal cooking temperature?

No. French law sets no core cooking temperature.

What allergen information do I need?

The 14 EU allergens, in writing, on or next to the food (Décret 2015-447, R.112-11 to R.112-15).

How long must I keep records?

DGAL guidance: verification and trend records at least 3 years; control records shelf life plus 6 months. This is guidance.

Can staff work when they are ill?

Not with diarrhoea, an infected wound, a skin infection or a food-borne disease. French law sets no fixed time off.

How much does Chef Hygiene cost in France?

€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 French food safety records ready for every inspection: