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Belgium: for restaurants and takeaways

Ready for the food inspection. Every day.

In Belgium, Chef Hygiene follows the royal decree of 13 July 2014 on food hygiene, the FAVV guides G-023 and G-044 and EU rules, and the FAVV inspects restaurants and publishes a Food Hygiene Rating.

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The Chef Hygiene app on a computer: the home screen of a kitchen with its daily checksThe Chef Hygiene app on a phone: the home screen of a kitchen with its daily checks

Belgium: food hygiene rules

Inspection body
Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain (Federaal Agentschap voor de Veiligheid van de Voedselketen, FAVV; Agence fédérale pour la Sécurité de la Chaîne alimentaire, AFSCA)
Public rating
Yes
Languages in the app
Nederlands, Français, English

Your inspection

One federal agency, the FAVV (AFSCA in French), inspects food businesses in the whole country through its provincial control units. It works in Dutch, French, German and English.

Inspections follow risk, and the FAVV sets a frequency for each activity. An unfavourable result can bring a warning or an official report (proces-verbaal), then a re-inspection. If public health is at serious risk, the FAVV can order temporary closure. Non-compliant food is seized.

Hygiene rating

Yes. The Food Hygiene Rating (fhr.favv-afsca.be, website and app, since 4 November 2025) has six classes from Excellent to To be improved, plus No recent inspection. It uses a Smiley and blue forks. You do not have to display your result, but you must display the FAVV authorisation poster, visible from outside.

“Law” is a binding rule. “Official guidance” is not law, but inspectors expect it. “Chef Hygiene default” is a value the app checks against where no rule gives a number.

Temperatures

  • LawChilled red meat, meat products, potato, vegetable, rice and pasta dishes, dairy and cream desserts: 7°C or colder (royal decree of 13 July 2014, Annex IV).
  • LawChilled raw poultry, offal, minced meat, meat preparations and processed fish: 4°C or colder. A mixed dish follows its strictest ingredient. Chef Hygiene aims for 4°C.
  • LawFresh fish: near melting ice, at most 4°C. A short rise of up to 3°C while handling is allowed for other food, never for fresh fish.
  • LawFrozen food: −18°C or colder, with a short rise to −15°C allowed (art. 22/1).
  • LawHot food kept hot: 60°C or hotter (art. 23 §1). Guide G-044: food at 55 to 60°C must be reheated at once, and food below 55°C is thrown away.
  • LawCooling: from 60°C to 10°C within 2 hours at most (art. 23 §2).
  • LawReheating: as quickly as possible to 60°C or hotter (art. 23 §1). Guide G-023: from 10°C to 60°C in under 1 hour, and eat it the same day.
  • Official guidanceBelgian law sets no core cooking temperature. Guide G-023 says “well heated” means at least 2 minutes at 70°C in the centre.
  • Official guidanceCooled dishes are kept 3 to 4 days at most, labelled with the dish, the cooling date and the use-by date (G-023).

Staff, training and health

  • LawBelgian law sets no food hygiene certificate, number of hours or renewal. Staff must be supervised and trained to suit their work (EU Regulation 852/2004, Annex II, Chapter XII).
  • Official guidanceThe FAVV checklist for hospitality asks for at least a short training when someone is hired and a regular reminder, and you must be able to prove it. Keep a training log.
  • LawThe medical certificate for food handlers was abolished on 11 August 2018.
  • Official guidanceStaff who are ill or carry germs that can contaminate food, such as gastro-enteritis or diarrhoea, must tell the person in charge. Measures follow a medical examination (G-044). Cuts are dressed at once.

Allergens

  • LawThe 14 EU allergens must be declared: gluten cereals, crustaceans, eggs, fish, peanuts, soya, milk, tree nuts, celery, mustard, sesame, sulphites, lupin and molluscs (Regulation 1169/2011).
  • LawFor food that is not prepacked, written information is the rule (royal decree of 17 July 2014, art. 3). Show it on paper or a screen where the food is sold, easy to read before buying.
  • LawSpoken information is allowed only if it is given at once and free of charge. A written procedure must exist at the point of sale, and staff must be trained on it.
  • LawYou must always show a clear written notice that says where to find or ask for allergen information and that recipes can change.

Fire safety checks

  • LawFire extinguishers and other fire equipment: checked at least once a year (Codex over het welzijn op het werk, art. III.3-22 §1). Keep the dates and findings.
  • LawEvacuation drill for staff: at least once a year (Codex, art. III.3-26 §2).
  • LawLow-voltage electrical installations are inspected every 5 years by an accredited inspection body (AREI/RGIE).
  • LawGas, heating and electrical installations must be checked periodically (Codex, art. III.3-22 §2). There is no national interval for gas. The town or fire zone sets it.
  • Official guidanceHood and ducts have no national cleaning interval. In Brussels, operators must have them cleaned regularly by a specialist firm and be able to prove it.

Records

  • LawEvery food business except primary production needs a self-check system (autocontrole) based on HACCP principles and good hygiene practice (Royal Decree of 14 November 2003).
  • Official guidanceSmall businesses can use the relaxations in the FAVV guide G-044 (version 2, 25 October 2024) or the hospitality guide G-023.
  • Official guidanceCheck fridges and freezers every day and write the temperatures down. Every cold unit needs a thermometer accurate to 1°C (art. 21).
  • Official guidanceKeep self-check records 6 months after the product’s shelf life with the relaxations, or 2 years otherwise. Keep traceability records 2 years (G-044).

Official sources

Checked

This page is general information, not legal advice. Check with your local authority.

Belgium: the Chef Hygiene app

The app loads these rules for your kitchen, checks your records against them and keeps proof for the inspector.

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