Food Safety Records in Ireland: Laws, HSE Inspections and Orders

Irish food safety records explained: the law, HSE inspections, FSAI orders, the records inspectors ask for, common failures and how digital records help.

2026-10-31 · Chef Hygiene

Do food businesses in Ireland need food safety records? Yes. Every food business in Ireland must have a food safety system based on HACCP principles, and a HACCP-based system has been a legal requirement since 1998. Environmental Health Officers (EHOs) from the HSE inspect restaurants, takeaways and similar premises, and can check your records. Ireland has no public hygiene rating or sticker, but the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) publishes the businesses that get closure, improvement and prohibition orders. This page explains the Irish rules, what inspectors look for, where businesses go wrong, and how digital records help.

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This page covers the Republic of Ireland. Northern Ireland is part of the UK and has its own page in this guide. Every fact below comes from an official source, linked in the text and at the end. Where the law sets no number and a number comes from FSAI guidance, we say so.

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

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

The main law. EU Regulation 852/2004 on food hygiene, applied in Ireland by S.I. No. 369 of 2006 (European Communities (Hygiene of Foodstuffs) Regulations 2006). The FSAI is legally responsible for enforcing food law.
Notify the HSE first. You must notify the HSE before you start operating. This is required by law, and it covers home-based businesses too. You notify the HSE National Environmental Health Service online at ehonline.hse.ie, with your business type, name, address, premises type (building, stall or vehicle) and start date. The HSE adds you to the food business register and sends an acknowledgement letter. Tell the HSE if your activities change or you close (Notify the HSE about starting a food business, HSE). A fixed payment notice of €250 can apply to some offences, such as failing to register.
A HACCP-based food safety system. You need permanent procedures based on HACCP principles, with records that fit the size of the business, kept for an appropriate period (Regulation 852/2004, Article 5). In catering, the FSAI's Safe Catering Pack is the usual system. It is guidance, not a legal duty to use that pack.
Temperatures: law and guidance. Irish law sets no numeric limits. The legal duty is not to break the cold chain (Regulation 852/2004, Annex II). The numbers come from FSAI guidance (FSAI: temperature control for caterers):
Chilled food: 0 to 5°C. Set fridges to 3 to 4°C.
Frozen food: -18°C or colder.
Cooking: 75°C at the core at once, or an equal time and temperature such as 70°C for 2 minutes.
Reheating: only once, to 70°C or more at the core.
Hot holding: above 63°C. Food not kept above 63°C must be used within 2 hours of cooking.
Cooling: put cooked food in the fridge within 2 hours.
Staff training. No course or certificate is required by law. Food handlers must be supervised and instructed or trained for their work, and whoever runs the HACCP system must be trained in HACCP (Regulation 852/2004, Annex II). The FSAI guide to food safety skills suggests Level 1 in the first month, Level 2 within 3 to 12 months, and Level 3 for managers and supervisors. This is guidance.
Staff who are ill. Anyone with diarrhoea, infected wounds or skin infections must not handle food if there is a risk of contamination, and must report it at once. FSAI guidance says stay off work until 48 hours without symptoms.
Food safety culture. This is a legal duty (Regulation 852/2004, Annex II, Chapter XIa).
Allergens. For food that is not prepacked, written allergen information must be given where the food is presented, sold or supplied (S.I. 489/2014, Regulation 4). It must be easy to find before the sale, visible and legible. It must be in English, or in Irish and English, and clearly linked to the right food (Regulation 5). The FSAI says customers must not have to ask, and a general notice is not enough (FSAI: allergens). For phone and app orders, FSAI guidance is to give the information before the order is completed and at delivery.
Traceability. Keep records until the food can reasonably be assumed to have been eaten. Caterers selling to the public only need to trace one step back, to the supplier.

2. Who inspects you, and how often

The HSE. The HSE National Environmental Health Service inspects restaurants, takeaways and similar premises. Its EHOs work under service contracts with the FSAI.
Unannounced. Inspections are usually not announced. An EHO can come at any reasonable time when you are open, look round, ask questions and check your records.
How often. We could not confirm an official fixed visit schedule, so we do not give one.
What can happen. An EHO can serve an Improvement Notice. The District Court can make an Improvement Order. A Closure Order is for a grave and immediate danger to public health or non-compliance. A Prohibition Order stops the sale of a product or batch.

3. No public rating, but public orders

No rating. Ireland has no public hygiene rating or window sticker for restaurants.
Three kinds of order. Closure Orders, Improvement Orders and Prohibition Orders. The FSAI says it and food inspectors can close a food business, or stop it handling, preparing or selling food, if the premises is unhygienic, is not complying with food law, or is a risk to public health.
They are published. The FSAI says businesses served with these orders are listed on its website. Businesses that have been prosecuted are listed too (FSAI: enforcement orders).
What this means for you. There is no score to improve, but a published order is public. Good records show an inspector that your system works every day, which helps you avoid reaching that point.

4. The records inspectors ask for

The law asks for records that fit your business. The FSAI Safe Catering Pack shows what that usually means:

SC1 Food Delivery Record.
SC2 Fridge, Freezer and Chill Display Temperature Record.
SC3 Cooking, Cooling and Reheating Record.
SC4 Hot Holding and Display Temperature Record.
SC6 Hygiene Training Record.
SC7 Fitness to Work Assessment.
Cleaning records, and any problems with what you did about them.
Pest contractor reports.
Allergen information for every dish.
Supplier records for traceability.
A yearly review. FSAI guidance is to review the food safety plan every year and when operations change, and to show it to an EHO on request.

How long to keep them. Irish law says only "an appropriate period". Traceability records are kept until the food can reasonably be assumed to have been eaten.

5. Where businesses go wrong

Common record problems are easy to picture:

Gaps. Days with no checks written down.
A plan that doesn't match the kitchen. A system on paper that staff do not follow.
No action recorded. A fridge reading above 5°C with nothing written about what was done.
Lost or damaged pages. Paper gets wet, greasy or thrown away.
No review. The plan has not been looked at since it was written.
Training not shown. Staff were trained, but nothing proves it.
Allergens only by word of mouth. In Ireland the FSAI says customers must not have to ask.
Not notifying the HSE. Failing to register is an offence that can bring a €250 fixed payment notice.

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: daily checks, cooking and hot-holding temperatures, cooling, deliveries, cleaning, and written allergen information for every dish.
Takeaway: the same as a restaurant, plus allergen information before the order is completed and at delivery for phone and app orders.
Café: fridges and displays, cleaning, and written allergen information for sandwiches and salads. Food packed on site for direct sale counts as non-prepacked food, so the same written rule applies.
Bakery / cake shop: written allergen records for every product, display temperatures for cream cakes, and labels for goods you pack.
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, and written allergen information for every dish.
Community hall / venue: notify the HSE if you serve food as a business; keep temperature and cleaning records for each event.
Corner shop / grocery: fridge and freezer checks, delivery checks, and allergen information for food you pack yourself.
School / nursery kitchen: temperature and cleaning records, and careful allergen records for every child.
Caterer / food van: notify the HSE (vehicles and stalls count as premises); keep temperatures during transport and at the event, and keep your records with you.
Home kitchen business: notify the HSE like any other food business, and keep the same kind of records.

7. Why digital records help in Ireland

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 separate FSAI page that says the same, so ask your EHO 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.
Ready for the EHO. 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 Irish rules and FSAI guidance, including the Safe Catering Pack. 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 FSAI numbers for chilled food, hot holding and cooking.
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.
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.

9. A fair price, on purpose

Chef Hygiene costs €2.99 a month per site in Ireland, and €1.99 a month per site for bakeries, dessert shops and corner shops. Staff are unlimited, there is no contract, and there is a 14-day free trial. The exact price in your currency is shown in your app store.

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 stay out of trouble at inspection.

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 Ireland?

Yes. You need a system based on HACCP principles, with records that fit the size of your business (Regulation 852/2004, Article 5). It has been a legal requirement since 1998.

Who inspects restaurants in Ireland?

HSE Environmental Health Officers, under service contracts with the FSAI, which is legally responsible for enforcing food law.

Do I have to tell the HSE before I open?

Yes. You must notify the HSE before you start operating, online at ehonline.hse.ie. This includes home businesses.

Are inspections announced?

Usually not. An EHO can come at any reasonable time when you are open.

Is there a hygiene rating in Ireland?

No. There is no public rating or sticker for restaurants. The FSAI publishes closure, improvement and prohibition orders.

What is a closure order?

An order that closes a food business. The FSAI says it can be used if premises are unhygienic, not complying with food law, or a risk to public health. Served businesses are listed on the FSAI website.

Do I have to use the Safe Catering Pack?

No, it is guidance, but it is the FSAI's catering system and the usual starting point.

Are digital food safety records accepted?

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

How long must I keep my records?

The law says "an appropriate period". Traceability records are kept until the food can reasonably be assumed to have been eaten.

What temperature must my fridge be?

Irish law sets no number. FSAI guidance is 0 to 5°C for chilled food, with fridges set to 3 to 4°C.

What temperature must hot food be kept at?

FSAI guidance: above 63°C. Food not kept above 63°C must be used within 2 hours of cooking.

What temperature should I cook food to?

FSAI guidance: 75°C at the core at once, or an equal time and temperature such as 70°C for 2 minutes.

Do my staff need a food hygiene certificate?

No law requires one. Staff must be supervised and instructed or trained for their work. FSAI guidance suggests Level 1 in the first month.

What allergen information do I need?

Written information for food that is not prepacked, easy to find before the sale, in English or Irish and English (S.I. 489/2014). Customers must not have to ask.

Does the allergen rule apply to phone and app orders?

FSAI guidance is to give the information before the order is completed and at delivery, in writing at least once.

Can staff work when they are ill?

Not if they have diarrhoea, infected wounds or skin infections and there is a risk of contamination. FSAI guidance is 48 hours without symptoms.

Do I need to register a food van or home business?

Yes. Notify the HSE like any other food business.

How much does Chef Hygiene cost in Ireland?

€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 in your currency is shown in your app store.

What about Northern Ireland?

It is part of the UK and has its own page in this guide.

12. Official sources

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