Available now in 62 countries, following each country’s own food hygiene rules.

Chef Hygiene
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Brazil: for every food business

Ready for the food inspection. Every day.

In Brazil the app follows ANVISA's Good Practices rule for food services, RDC 216/2004, the federal minimum for restaurants, cafés, bakeries, snack bars and every other food service. Each state's and city's health surveillance (vigilância sanitária) applies it and may add stricter rules, so you choose your state when you sign up. Chef Hygiene keeps your daily records; it does not license your business, and it is not approved by ANVISA, any state or city health surveillance, or any fire brigade.

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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

Brazil: food hygiene rules

Inspection body
The health surveillance (vigilância sanitária, VISA) of your state or city, under ANVISA's Good Practices rule for food services (RDC 216/2004)
Public rating
No
Languages in the app
English

Your inspection

The health surveillance (vigilância sanitária, VISA) of your state or city inspects food businesses and issues the local health licence (alvará or licença sanitária): ask your city. ANVISA, the national health surveillance agency, writes the federal rule.

Inspectors check RDC 216/2004: the Manual de Boas Práticas and the 4 POPs (cleaning of the premises, equipment and furniture; pest control; cleaning of the water tank; staff hygiene and health), approved, dated and signed by the person responsible; the records; the temperatures; the person responsible's course and the staff's training. Breaking it is a sanitary offence under Lei 6.437/1977: a warning, seizure of food, closing the business, cancelling its licence, or a fine from R$ 2,000 (light) up to R$ 75,000, R$ 200,000 (serious) and R$ 1,500,000 (very serious), doubled for a repeat offence. States and cities may fine under their own health codes too; we did not confirm those amounts.

Hygiene rating

There is no national grade or score for restaurants.

“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

  • LawPrepared food kept below 5°C after cooling (5°C itself is too warm); at 4°C or colder it keeps 5 days at most, labelled with its name, the day it was made and its use-by date. Frozen food at −18°C or colder. Thawing in the fridge, below 5°C (RDC 216/2004, 4.8.13–4.8.18).
  • LawCooking until every part of the food reaches at least 70°C; a lower temperature only with a time and temperature shown to be safe. Frying oil no hotter than 180°C, changed when its smell or taste changes, it foams or it smokes (RDC 216/2004, 4.8.8–4.8.11).
  • LawHot food kept above 60°C, for 6 hours at most. Cooling from 60°C to 10°C within 2 hours, then below 5°C or frozen at −18°C or colder (RDC 216/2004, 4.8.15–4.8.16).
  • Chef Hygiene defaultReheating: RDC 216/2004 sets no separate number, so Chef Hygiene uses its general heat rule, every part at least 70°C. São Paulo's new state rule (Portaria CVS 3/2026) asks for 75°C for cooking and reheating; we read it only in an unofficial copy, and its start may have moved to 1 February 2027 (not confirmed).
  • Chef Hygiene defaultChef Hygiene asks for fridge checks at opening and closing, and aims for 4°C or colder.

Staff, training and health

  • LawA person responsible for food handling (the owner or a named employee) with proof of a course on food contaminants, foodborne illness, hygienic handling and Good Practices. Every food handler is trained regularly, and the training is written down. The rule sets no hours and no renewal (RDC 216/2004, 4.6.7 and 4.12).
  • LawEach worker's occupational health exam and certificate (ASO): before starting, then every 2 years, or every year for staff exposed to work risks or with a chronic illness, as the company's occupational doctor (PCMSO) sets (NR-7). Staff who are ill or have wounds that could contaminate food are kept away from food (RDC 216/2004, 4.6).
  • Official guidanceSão Paulo's new state rule (Portaria CVS 3/2026, read only in an unofficial copy; its start may have moved to 1 February 2027, not confirmed) also asks for an 8-hour Good Practices course and yearly stool tests for food handlers.

Allergens

  • LawPackaged food carries allergen warnings for 18 items (RDC 727/2022): wheat, rye, barley and oats, crustaceans, eggs, fish, peanut, soy, milk of all mammals, almond, hazelnut, cashew, Brazil nut, macadamia, walnut, pecan, pistachio, pine nut, chestnut and natural latex. No sesame or mustard. Food packed in the shop that sells it, or at the customer's request, is exempt.
  • Official guidanceNo federal rule makes a restaurant list allergens on its menu; customers have the right to clear information on what is in their food (Consumer Defence Code, Lei 8.078/1990, art. 6). Chef Hygiene keeps an allergen chart for every dish, to give when asked.

Fire safety checks

  • Official guidanceFire safety is each state's own law, set and checked by the state's fire brigade (Corpo de Bombeiros). We read only São Paulo's rules; ask your state's fire brigade what your building needs.
  • LawSão Paulo: the fire brigade's licence is the AVCB (after an inspection) or the CLCB (issued on documents), kept valid. A restaurant up to 750 m² and 12 m high always has exits, emergency signs and fire extinguishers; emergency lighting with more than 50 people or more than 2 floors; a fire brigade only with more than 250 people, which then holds a drill at least every 12 months with written minutes (Decreto 69.118/2024; IT 17/2025). A bigger or taller building needs more.
  • Chef Hygiene defaultExtinguisher, alarm, emergency lighting and hood suppression services, and drills elsewhere: Chef Hygiene suggests dates you can change.
  • Official guidanceEmergency: 193 fire brigade, 192 ambulance (SAMU), 190 police, 199 civil defence.

Records

  • LawRecords are a sheet or document with the date and the name of the employee responsible, kept at least 30 days from the day the food was made: temperatures of stored prepared food, staff health, training, the pest control company's certificate and the water tank cleaning certificate (at least every 6 months) (RDC 216/2004, 2.14 and 4.11). São Paulo's new state rule (Portaria CVS 3/2026) asks for 180 days (read only in an unofficial copy; its start may have moved to 1 February 2027, not confirmed).
  • Official guidanceThere is no government records app or set form, and we found no rule against electronic records. HACCP is not required for food services.

Official sources

Checked

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

Brazil: 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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