Food Safety Records in Greece: Laws, EFET Inspections and Records

Greek food safety records explained: the law, EFET and health service inspections, the six files inspectors ask for, common failures and digital records.

2026-10-31 · Chef Hygiene

Do food businesses in Greece need food safety records? Yes. Greek food businesses must run procedures based on the 7 HACCP principles, name a person responsible for hygiene, and keep a set of files, including a temperature file. The Ministry of Health ordinance Υ.Δ. 47829/2017 sets this out. EFET (the Hellenic Food Authority) and the regional public health services inspect, and the municipality takes the notification to open. Greece has no public hygiene rating or sticker. This page explains the Greek rules, what inspectors look for, where businesses go wrong, and how digital records help.

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This page covers Greece. Cyprus is a separate country with its own law. Every fact below comes from an official source or an official text, linked in the text and at the end. Where the law sets no number and a number comes from EFET guidance, we say so.

The law: what every Greek 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 Greece
How Chef Hygiene helps
A fair price, on purpose
Less paper
FAQ
Official sources

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

The main laws. EU Regulation 852/2004 on food hygiene, and the Ministry of Health health ordinance Υ.Δ. Υ1γ/Γ.Π/οικ. 47829/2017 (text of the ordinance). It applies to food and drink businesses of all kinds.
Notify before you open. Food service shops are "health-interest premises" (καταστήματα υγειονομικού ενδιαφέροντος). Under Law 4442/2016, article 28, they use the notification system (γνωστοποίηση λειτουργίας). The notification is made through the OPS-ADE information system. The municipality (Δήμος) in whose area the shop will operate follows the notification and passes it to the inspecting authorities (Law 4442/2016, art. 28).
Before you notify, you need a certificate from the municipality that this activity can be set up at this address. The municipality should issue it within 15 days of your application. It is valid for 5 months, and you must notify within that time.
The law also names the municipality or a KEP citizens' service centre as the place to file until OPS-ADE is active. Ask your municipality which route is open.
We could not confirm EFET's own role in opening a restaurant, so we do not give one.
HACCP-based procedures and a hygiene person. Article 5 of the ordinance says the hygiene-responsible people, named by the business, must set up, apply and keep procedures based on the 7 HACCP principles, adapted to the risk and size of the business. All food and drink businesses must follow good hygiene practice and keep one or more permanent procedures based on HACCP. Businesses are sorted into three risk levels by what they do, their size and who they serve.
Temperatures: law and guidance. Regulation 852/2004 gives no numbers. The ordinance has two:
Hot-holding equipment must keep the inside of the food above 60°C (Υ.Δ. 47829/2017, art. 11 and 13).
Cooked food kept cold in retail self-service must be below 4°C (art. 13). The ordinance sets no fridge number for restaurants.
Temperatures from EFET guidance (not law).
Fridges 1 to 5°C; chilled food at 5°C or colder. Freezers -18°C or colder. Never refreeze thawed food.
Cooking: 75°C in the centre, or 70°C for 2 minutes.
Reheating: heat chilled food to over 75°C in the centre, once only, and serve at once.
Food between 5°C and 60°C: up to 2 hours, serve or chill it. From 2 to 4 hours, serve it and never chill it. Over 4 hours, throw it away. This is allowed once only, during service.
Cooling cooked food: 60°C to 21°C within 2 hours, then to 5°C within 2 more hours.
Deliveries: meat, mince, poultry and fish at 5°C or colder; eggs and live shellfish at 7°C or colder; frozen food at -18°C.
Staff hygiene training. Every food handler and cleaner needs EFET's level 1 training certificate. It is a course of at least 8 hours and an EFET online exam (Ministerial Decision ΥΑ 110581/2025). The certificate is valid for 5 years, and old certificates stay valid until 6 May 2030. (EFET: training).
Health certificate. Everyone who handles food or works in a food business needs a health certificate (πιστοποιητικό υγείας), under Υ.Δ. 35797/2012. It is a doctor's exam and a chest X-ray (food handlers also need stool tests), valid for 5 years.
Staff who are ill. Staff must tell their supervisor about stomach or gut illness, sore throat, cough, or discharge from the nose or eyes, and about food poisoning. They must stay out of food areas and come back only with a doctor's note. Wounds, burns and skin infections must be covered with a brightly coloured waterproof dressing (Υ.Δ. 47829/2017, art. 8).
Allergens. Food that is not prepacked must come with information on the 14 EU allergens (Regulation 1169/2011, art. 44, which the ordinance repeats). EFET circular 20303/2014 explains how. It is guidance, not law, and we could not re-read the PDF today because its fonts are broken (EFET circular):
The information can be written (menu, list or signs) or spoken, and must be in Greek. Other languages may be added.
Spoken information is allowed only if a visible sign says where to find it or asks customers to ask staff, a paper or screen copy is on site, and trained staff give it free, before the sale.
For phone and online orders, tell the customer before ordering that the information is available. Update it at once when a recipe changes.

2. Who inspects you, and how often

EFET. The Hellenic Food Authority (Ενιαίος Φορέας Ελέγχου Τροφίμων) works under the Ministry of Rural Development and Food. It checks raw materials, food preparation, premises, equipment, staff hygiene and the HACCP-based system (EFET).
The regional public health services. The health services (υγειονομικές υπηρεσίες) of the regions and regional units inspect food businesses under the Ministry of Health ordinance.
The municipality. It takes the notification to open. It closes a business on the proposal of the health service.
How often. Inspections are risk-based: high-risk businesses come first (art. 15). They can follow a complaint. We could not confirm an official fixed visit schedule, so we do not give one.
After a visit. If something is wrong, the inspector suggests improvements and sets a date for a re-check. A risk to public health, or the same breach again and again, brings sanctions (art. 15 and 16). Food breaches fall under Law 4235/2014. We give no fine amounts, because we have not read them on an official page.

3. No public rating

No rating. Greece has no public hygiene rating, score or sticker for restaurants, and nothing has to be shown at the door.
What EFET publishes. Yearly statistics about its controls, not results for single restaurants.
What this means for you. There is no score to improve. Complete files that show your system works every day are what count.

4. The records inspectors ask for

Article 6 of the ordinance says all food and drink businesses must keep suitable records for their procedures, matching the nature and size of the business. It names six files:

File 1, staff and business. Proof of the notification, floor plans and flow diagrams, the staff list, health certificates and training certificates, and proof that the extraction system is cleaned and maintained where one is needed.
File 2, water. Proof of the water supply and, where needed, sampling results.
File 3, cleaning and disinfection. The cleaning and disinfection programme, including for food delivery vehicles, and the products used with their certificates.
File 4, pest control. The contract with a licensed pest control company, the product approvals, the programme, a map showing bait or monitoring stations, and the treatment records.
File 5, temperatures. Proof that temperatures are monitored at every stage: fridges, freezers, hot cabinets, cooking and so on.
File 6, raw materials and suppliers. Your suppliers, the delivery notes, and what is needed for traceability.

How often and how long. The ordinance sets no daily count for temperature checks and no keeping period. We could not find an official keeping time. Ask your authority.

5. Where businesses go wrong

Common record problems are easy to picture:

Missing files. One of the six files is incomplete, for example no map of bait stations or no pest control contract.
Certificates missing. A health or EFET level 1 certificate is not in the file.
Gaps. Days with no temperature checks written down.
No action recorded. A fridge reading that is too warm with nothing written about what was done.
Allergens only by word of mouth. Spoken information needs all three parts described above: the sign, the copy on site and trained staff.
Food left warm too long. Between 5°C and 60°C for too long, with nothing written about it.

6. By type of business

The same ordinance covers all of these, but the records you keep depend on what you do. The ordinance names restaurants, cafés, bars, bakeries, pastry and ice cream shops, grocers, kiosks, school canteens, nurseries and mobile canteens, among others.

Restaurant: the six files, cooking and hot-holding temperatures, cooling, deliveries, cleaning, and allergen information for every dish.
Takeaway: the same as a restaurant, plus telling customers before they order by phone or online that allergen information is available.
Café: fridges and displays, cleaning, and allergen information for sandwiches and cakes.
Bakery: allergen information for every product, display temperatures for cream and filled items, and labels for goods you pack.
Dessert shop: fridge and freezer temperatures. For retail ice cream the ordinance says a steady -14°C (art. 13). Allergens for toppings and sauces.
Pub / bar / club: the same records as a restaurant for the food you serve. For entertainment venues, article 6 refers to an operating licence instead of the simple notification.
Community hall / venue: the ordinance names indoor and outdoor event spaces. Keep temperature and cleaning records for each event. We could not confirm extra rules, so ask your municipality.
Corner shop / grocery: fridge and freezer checks, delivery checks, and allergen information for loose food you sell or pack yourself. Grocers and kiosks appear in the ordinance's list.
School / nursery kitchen: school canteens and nurseries are named in the ordinance, and article 5 treats pupils and babies as a special population group. Keep temperature and cleaning records, and careful allergen records for every child.
Caterer / food van: the ordinance covers catering, mobile canteens, stalls and street food. Keep temperatures during transport and at the event, and your records with you.
Home kitchen business: we could not find an official Greek page on home food businesses, so we do not give a rule. Ask your municipality and the health service before you start.

7. Why digital records help in Greece

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 Greek page that says the same, so ask your inspector if you are unsure.
No gaps go unnoticed. A missed check shows up the same day, not at the next inspection.
Nothing is lost. No wet, greasy or missing pages.
Ready for the inspector. You can show the temperature file, cleaning and training records 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 Greek rules and EFET 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 temperatures built in, such as the Greek 60°C hot-holding rule and the EFET numbers for fridges, freezers and cooking.
Food safety plan ("safe methods"). About 20 minutes: answer questions, check each method, sign it, set a review date and print it.
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, showing the likely result 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, with allergens in bold.
Staff training records.
Inspector pack. Print all your records as one pack, or share them by secure link.
40 languages, including Greek. The app works in Greek, 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 less waste, and nothing to store in a back office.

11. FAQ

Do I legally need food safety records in Greece?

Yes. Article 5 of Υ.Δ. 47829/2017 requires HACCP-based procedures and a named hygiene person, and article 6 requires records that match the nature and size of the business.

Who inspects restaurants in Greece?

EFET, the Hellenic Food Authority, and the regional public health services under the Ministry of Health ordinance. The municipality takes the notification to open.

Do I have to tell the authorities before I open?

Yes. Food service shops use the notification of operation (Law 4442/2016, art. 28), made through OPS-ADE. You first need a certificate from the municipality that the activity can be set up at that address.

Is there a hygiene rating in Greece?

No. There is no public rating, score or sticker for restaurants.

What happens if an inspector finds a problem?

The inspector suggests improvements and sets a date for a re-check. A risk to public health or repeated breaches bring sanctions, and the municipality closes a business on the health service's proposal.

Are digital food safety records accepted?

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

How long must I keep my records?

We could not find a keeping period in the ordinance. Ask your authority.

What temperature must hot food be kept at?

Above 60°C inside the food (Υ.Δ. 47829/2017, art. 11 and 13).

What temperature must my fridge be?

The ordinance sets no fridge number for restaurants. EFET guidance is 1 to 5°C, and cooked food in retail self-service must be below 4°C by law.

What temperature should I cook food to?

EFET guidance: 75°C in the centre, or 70°C for 2 minutes.

Do my staff need a food hygiene certificate?

Yes. Every food handler and cleaner needs EFET's level 1 certificate: at least 8 hours of training plus an EFET online exam, valid 5 years.

Do my staff need a health certificate?

Yes. Everyone who works in a food business needs one, valid for 5 years (Υ.Δ. 35797/2012).

Can staff work when they are ill?

No. Staff with stomach or gut illness, sore throat, cough or discharge from the nose or eyes must stay out of food areas and return only with a doctor's note.

What allergen information do I need?

Information on the 14 EU allergens for loose food, in Greek. It can be written or spoken. Spoken needs a sign, a copy on site and trained staff (EFET circular 20303/2014).

How much does Chef Hygiene cost in Greece?

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

12. Official sources

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