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

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Mexico: for every food business

Ready for the food inspection. Every day.

In Mexico the app follows the federal hygiene rule NOM-251-SSA1-2009 (its chapters for every food business and for restaurants) under the Ley General de Salud, with the app's own suggestions told apart from the law. Chef Hygiene keeps your daily records; it does not file your aviso de funcionamiento or license you, and it is not approved by COFEPRIS or any state health agency.

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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

Mexico: food hygiene rules

Inspection body
Your state's health agency (its COESPRIS or health secretariat), under agreements with the federal COFEPRIS
Public rating
No
Languages in the app
English

Your inspection

A restaurant does not need a health licence: it files an aviso de funcionamiento (a notice of operation) at least 30 days before opening, with COFEPRIS or the state (Ley General de Salud, art. 200 Bis). Your state's health agency (its COESPRIS or health secretariat, under agreements with the federal COFEPRIS) does the sanitary checks; in some states COFEPRIS's own staff visit too.

The authority can give a warning, a fine, a temporary or permanent closure of all or part of the business, or arrest of up to 36 hours for anyone who stops the inspectors. A breach of the hygiene rules can be fined up to 16,000 times the UMA (about MXN 1,876,960 in 2026, with the UMA at MXN 117.31 a day), and not filing the aviso de funcionamiento up to 2,000 times the UMA (about MXN 234,620); a repeat within a year doubles the fine (Ley General de Salud, arts 417–427). Check the current law.

Hygiene rating

There is no hygiene grade. The Distintivo H is a voluntary badge from the tourism ministry (SECTUR) with the Health Ministry, based on a voluntary standard (NMX-F-605-NORMEX-2018): it is not an inspection result.

“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

  • LawFridges keep food at 7°C at most, and cold food is served at 7°C or colder. Freezers keep food frozen (no number is set). Every fridge and freezer has a working thermometer in a visible place (NOM-251).
  • LawCook until the inside reaches at least 63°C for fish, beef joints and eggs cracked to order, 68°C for pork joints, minced beef, pork or fish and buffet eggs, and 74°C for poultry, stuffings and sausages. Reheat to at least 74°C. Keep hot food above 60°C (NOM-251).
  • LawDeliveries: chilled raw materials and fresh fish at 4°C or colder (live seafood 7°C), frozen food with no sign of thawing, frozen fish at −9°C or colder. Thaw in the fridge, by cooking, in a microwave or under cold running water, never at room temperature, and never refreeze. The day's leftovers may be used again only once, cooked again (NOM-251).
  • Chef Hygiene defaultNOM-251 sets no cooling time: food spends as little time as possible at room temperature. Chef Hygiene aims for 4°C in fridges and −18°C in freezers, and suggests cooling into the fridge within 2 hours: our advice, not the law.

Staff, training and health

  • LawEveryone who works where food is prepared is trained in good hygiene practices at least once a year, on set topics that include NOM-251 itself. Keep proof of each person's training, such as a certificate (constancia): inspectors may ask for it.
  • LawAnyone with a frequent cough, a runny nose, diarrhoea, vomiting, fever, jaundice or a wound on a part that touches food is kept away from food until well. Hair, beard and moustache are covered, nails short and without polish, no jewellery, and staff who handle money use a glove or another barrier (NOM-251).
  • Official guidanceWe found no national health card or medical certificate for food handlers. Ask your state's health agency whether yours asks for one.

Allergens

  • Official guidanceFor packaged food, the label names cereals with gluten, eggs, crustaceans, fish, molluscs, peanuts, soy, milk, tree nuts, and sulphites of 10 mg/kg or more (NOM-051). We found no rule that makes a restaurant show allergens; telling customers what is in each dish is our advice.

Fire safety checks

  • LawNOM-002-STPS-2010 (every workplace): an emergency plan, an evacuation map at the entrances, escape routes and exits kept clear, fire extinguishers checked every month with a record, a yearly programme of checks of the fire equipment and the electrical and gas installations, and fire training every year.
  • LawFire drills at least once a year where the fire risk is ordinary, and at least twice a year where it is high (NOM-002-STPS-2010 sets the risk classes).
  • Chef Hygiene defaultYour state's and city's civil protection (Protección Civil) may ask for more: we did not check their rules, so Chef Hygiene suggests dates you can change.
  • Official guidanceEmergency: 911 for police, fire and ambulance.

Records

  • LawKeep the certificate of every pest control service, showing the provider's health licence number, and, if you use your own water supply, a daily record of free chlorine. NOM-251 sets no period for keeping a restaurant's records: keep them as long as your state's health agency asks.
  • LawRecords may be kept electronically (NOM-251 accepts them). There is no government records app.

Official sources

Checked

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

Mexico: 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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