Food Safety Records in Moldova: Laws, ANSA and Records

Moldova food safety records explained: the law, ANSA inspections, the records inspectors ask for, common failures and how digital records help.

2026-10-31 · Chef Hygiene

Do food businesses in Moldova need food safety records? Yes. Moldovan law requires food businesses to control food safety with HACCP principles, and catering has its own sanitary rules in Government Decision 206/2023, which set temperatures in law. The National Food Safety Agency (ANSA) inspects, and inspectors can ask to see your records. Moldova has no public hygiene rating or sticker. This page explains the Moldovan 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. Where we could not confirm something, we say so and suggest you ask ANSA. The Moldovan state language is Romanian, and Chef Hygiene works in Romanian and Russian, so your staff can use it in the language they know best.

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

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

The main laws. Law 306/2018 on food safety, Law 296/2017 on general food hygiene requirements, and Government Decision (HG) 206/2023, which contains the sanitary regulation for public catering units (annex 5). Fines are in the Contravention Code 218/2008. The texts are in the state register at legis.md.
Permission before you open. A food business needs either a sanitary-veterinary operating authorisation or a food safety registration certificate from ANSA (Law 306/2018, art. 7; Law 221/2007, art. 18; Law 50/2013, art. 23¹). You also file a trade notification with the local authority (Law 231/2010 on internal trade). Official ANSA material gives different processing times for registration (5 or 15 days), so ask your ANSA office. See the public service page.
HACCP. The operator must control food safety across the whole chain, including by applying HACCP principles (Law 306/2018, art. 7(1)(c)). We could not confirm any special exemption for small catering businesses, so plan on HACCP-based procedures.
Temperatures are in law. Unlike most countries, Moldova sets catering temperatures in HG 206/2023, annex 5:
Raw animal-origin food: 0 to +4°C. Vegetables, fruit and greens: +2 to +6°C.
Cooled dishes: +4°C or colder, for at most 5 days.
Frozen food: -18°C or colder.
Self-service: cold food below +4°C, hot food above +60°C.
Reheating: the centre must reach at least +75°C. Leftovers are never reheated or re-chilled.
Thawing: in the fridge at 0 to +4°C, in running water up to +21°C for at most 4 hours, or in a microwave. Thawed prepared products stay at +4°C for at most 24 hours and are never refrozen.
Thermometers: every cold space needs one, and its accuracy is checked at least once a year.
Cooking and cooling: we found no core temperature or cooling time in the adopted text, so we give none.
Staff training. Every food handler gets hygiene instruction on terms set by the Ministry of Health (HG 206/2023, annex 5). The law we read sets no interval for repeating it. Hiring staff without hygiene instruction is a fine (see section 2).
Medical exam. Workers handling unpackaged food, including in public catering, have a medical exam at hiring and every year (HG 1079/2023, annex 2).
Staff who are ill. Staff with fever, diarrhoea, nose, throat or skin infections, infected wounds, or who are carriers of food-borne germs must tell the manager and stay out of food work. They may return only with medical approval.
Pest control. A continuous pest-control programme with records is required. The law sets no visit interval.
Allergens. The 14 EU allergens are listed in annex 1 of Law 279/2017 on food information for consumers. For food that is not prepacked, and for food sold to catering, the allergen information is given "on a poster, a notice or in any other form" (Law 279/2017, art. 37). The law does not name oral information in that article. The allergen must be clearly set off from the other text (art. 19). Food information is given in Romanian (art. 13), as we read it.
Distance orders. For orders by phone or online, the law says the information comes before purchase and at delivery (art. 12). Loose food follows the same rule.
Traceability. Traceability records are required (Law 296/2017, art. 13¹). We did not find a fixed number of years, and ANSA's catering guide says keeping time depends on the record and the shelf life of the food.

2. Who inspects you, and how often

ANSA. The National Food Safety Agency is the central food authority, with territorial offices (Law 306/2018, art. 24). The Ministry of Health supervises hygiene instruction and staff medical exams (art. 25). See ansa.gov.md.
How often. Visits are risk-based. ANSA's control plan for 2023 to 2026 sets, per year: highest risk 4 visits, high risk 3, medium risk 2, low risk 1. Minimum-risk businesses are visited only without warning. Restaurants, cafés, fast food and canteens are in the plan.
After a visit. The inspector writes a control record (proces-verbal) and, if there are faults, a prescription (prescripție) with deadlines. If health is in danger, the activity can be suspended.
Fines. Set in the Contravention Code 218/2008. One conventional unit is 50 lei. For a company:
Art. 80, breaking sanitary rules: 42 to 60 units in general; 90 to 120 units in the food sector (4,500 to 6,000 lei); 150 to 240 units for not following a prescription in time (up to 12,000 lei).
Art. 81, hiring food staff without a medical exam or hygiene instruction: 120 to 150 units (6,000 to 7,500 lei).
Art. 84, dangerous food: 210 to 300 units (10,500 to 15,000 lei), plus a ban on the activity of 3 months to 1 year.

3. No public rating

No rating or sticker. Moldova has no public hygiene rating, score or sticker, and nothing has to be displayed in the window.
What counts. There is no score to raise. The aim is a visit with no prescription, no fine and no suspension.
What this means for you. Good records show an inspector that your system works every day.

4. The records inspectors ask for

The law asks for HACCP-based control and a number of specific records:

Temperature records for fridges, freezers, hot holding and reheating, with thermometers checked at least once a year.
Cleaning and disinfection records.
Pest control programme and records.
Staff hygiene instruction records, and medical exam records for each worker. ANSA checks the staff medical files and hygiene training.
Sick staff reports and medical approval to return.
Delivery and supplier records for traceability.
Allergen information for every dish.
Your authorisation or registration certificate and trade notification.
Your HACCP plan.

How long to keep them. We could not confirm one national period. ANSA's catering guide says it depends on the record and the shelf life of the food, so ask your ANSA office.

5. Where businesses go wrong

Common problems are easy to picture:

Gaps. Days with no temperature checks written down.
No action recorded. A reading outside the legal range with nothing written about what was done.
Staff without paperwork. No hygiene instruction or yearly medical exam on file (a fine under art. 81).
A prescription not carried out. Missing the inspector's deadline is a separate, higher fine under art. 80.
Lost or damaged pages. Paper gets wet, greasy or thrown away.
Allergens only by word of mouth. The law points to a poster, notice or other form.
Missing permission. Operating without ANSA authorisation or registration and the trade notification.
Thermometers never checked. The law asks for a yearly accuracy check.

6. By type of business

The rules are the same for every food business, but the records you keep depend on what you do. We could not confirm separate rules for each business type, so the points below apply the general law.

Restaurant: temperature checks, reheating to +75°C at the centre, cleaning, deliveries and allergen information for every dish.
Takeaway: the same as a restaurant, plus allergen information before the order and at delivery for phone and online orders.
Café: fridges and displays, cleaning, and allergen information for sandwiches and salads.
Bakery / cake shop: fridge records for cream cakes, allergen information for every product, and labels for goods you pack for direct sale.
Dessert shop: fridge and freezer records (-18°C or colder for frozen food) and allergens for toppings and sauces.
Pub / bar / club: the same records as a restaurant for the food you serve.
Community hall / venue: if you serve food as a business, you need the same permission and 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, cleaning and staff health records, and careful allergen records for every child.
Caterer / food van: keep temperature records during transport and at the event, and keep your authorisation with you.
Home kitchen business: we could not confirm a special home-kitchen route. Ask ANSA which authorisation or registration applies to you.

7. Why digital records help in Moldova

Digital records: not confirmed. We could not find an official ANSA or legis.md text that says electronic records are accepted or not. Ask your ANSA office 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 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 Romanian or Russian.

8. How Chef Hygiene helps

Chef Hygiene follows the Moldovan rules, including the temperatures in HG 206/2023. 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, such as the legal temperatures for chilled, frozen, self-service and reheated food.
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 inspector.
Practice inspection. A free walk round of about 10 minutes, with questions for your type of business and a "Put it right" list, showing the likely result for Moldova (no visible rating, so the aim is a visit with no prescription).
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 Romanian and Russian.

9. A fair price, on purpose

Chef Hygiene costs about €2.99 a month per site (about €1.99 for bakeries, dessert shops and corner shops), shown in your local currency 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 Moldova?

Yes. The operator must control food safety, including by applying HACCP principles (Law 306/2018, art. 7(1)(c)), and catering rules require temperature control, pest-control records and staff health checks.

Who inspects restaurants in Moldova?

ANSA, the National Food Safety Agency, through its territorial offices. The Ministry of Health supervises hygiene instruction and staff medical exams.

Do I need permission before I open?

Yes. You need a sanitary-veterinary operating authorisation or a food safety registration certificate from ANSA, and a trade notification to the local authority.

How often are inspections?

It depends on risk. ANSA's plan sets 4 visits a year for the highest risk, 3 for high, 2 for medium and 1 for low risk. Minimum-risk businesses are visited only unannounced.

Is there a hygiene rating in Moldova?

No. There is no public rating, score or sticker, and nothing has to be displayed.

What happens after an inspection?

The inspector writes a control record and, if needed, a prescription with deadlines. If health is in danger, the activity can be suspended.

What are the fines?

Under the Contravention Code, a company in the food sector faces 90 to 120 conventional units (4,500 to 6,000 lei) for breaking sanitary rules, and 150 to 240 units for ignoring a prescription. One unit is 50 lei.

What temperature must my fridge be?

For raw animal-origin food, 0 to +4°C. For vegetables, fruit and greens, +2 to +6°C (HG 206/2023, annex 5). Frozen food must be -18°C or colder.

What temperature must hot food be kept at?

In self-service, hot food must be above +60°C and cold food below +4°C.

What temperature must I reheat food to?

The centre must reach at least +75°C. Leftovers are never reheated or re-chilled.

Does the law give a cooking or cooling temperature?

We found no core cooking temperature or cooling time in the adopted text of HG 206/2023.

Do my staff need a medical exam?

Yes. Workers handling unpackaged food, including in public catering, need one at hiring and every year (HG 1079/2023).

Do staff need hygiene training?

Yes. Every food handler gets hygiene instruction on terms set by the Ministry of Health. Hiring staff without it can bring a fine of 120 to 150 units for a company.

Can staff work when they are ill?

Not with fever, diarrhoea, nose, throat or skin infections or infected wounds. They return only with medical approval.

What allergen information do I need?

The 14 EU allergens must be given for food that is not prepacked, on a poster, a notice or in another form (Law 279/2017, art. 37). Oral information is not named in that article.

Do allergen rules apply to phone and online orders?

Yes. The information is given before purchase and at delivery (art. 12).

Are digital food safety records accepted?

We could not confirm an official statement either way. Ask your ANSA office.

How long must I keep my records?

We could not confirm one national period. ANSA's catering guide says it depends on the record and the shelf life of the food.

Does Chef Hygiene work in Romanian and Russian?

Yes. The app works in Romanian and Russian, and in 40 languages in all.

How much does Chef Hygiene cost in Moldova?

About €2.99 a month per site (about €1.99 for bakeries, dessert shops and corner shops), shown in your local currency in your app store; unlimited staff, no contract, 14-day free trial.

12. Official sources

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