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Poland: for restaurants and takeaways

Ready for the food inspection. Every day.

In Poland the app follows the food safety act, EU Regulation 852/2004 and the guidance of the Chief Sanitary Inspectorate (GIS); the district sanitary inspector (Sanepid) inspects.

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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

Poland: food hygiene rules

Inspection body
State Sanitary Inspection (Państwowa Inspekcja Sanitarna, “Sanepid”)
Public rating
No
Languages in the app
Polski, English

Your inspection

The State Sanitary Inspection (Sanepid) inspects restaurants. The district inspector (PPIS, working through the PSSE) approves, registers and inspects them. The provincial inspector hears appeals and sets money fines, and GIS is the national body.

Visits are based on risk, and official food controls may be unannounced. Every business keeps an inspection book (książka kontroli) and shows it at the start of each inspection. A decision orders faults to be fixed by a set date. Where life or health is in direct danger, the inspector can close the premises at once, and fines can follow.

Hygiene rating

Poland has no public hygiene rating or sticker, and results for single restaurants are not published. Nothing about the inspection has to be displayed at the premises.

“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

  • Official guidanceNo Polish law sets fridge, hot-holding, cooling or reheating numbers for restaurants. GIS says each business sets them in its own HACCP procedure. The numbers below are official consumer guidance (GIS, Sanepid, and the WHO five keys that GIS recommends).
  • Official guidanceChilled food: below 4°C (Sanepid guidance), preferably below 5°C (WHO). A temperature on the label or from the maker applies.
  • LawQuick-frozen food: −18°C or colder. A rise of up to 3°C is allowed only while loading and unloading and in shop cabinets (regulation of 19 September 2003, § 3).
  • Official guidanceHot food: above 60°C just before serving (Sanepid, WHO). Cooked food stays out of the fridge no longer than 2 hours at room temperature (GIS).
  • Official guidanceCooling: put cooked food in the fridge within 2 hours, preferably below 5°C (GIS, Sanepid). No temperature stages are given.
  • Official guidanceReheating: heat food to 70°C (Sanepid guidance). Chef Hygiene warns on a lower reading.
  • Official guidanceCooking: cook food to above 70°C (GIS guidance).
  • Chef Hygiene defaultDeliveries: Chef Hygiene checks chilled food against 5°C when the label gives nothing. Frozen food must arrive at −18°C, with a 3°C rise allowed only while unloading.

Staff, training and health

  • LawEveryone who works in contact with food needs a medical certificate for sanitary-epidemiological purposes (orzeczenie do celów sanitarno-epidemiologicznych). The employer sends the person for the tests. It has no expiry date in law (food safety act art. 59; infections act).
  • Official guidanceGIS advises new tests after diarrhoea, a long cough, contact with infected people, or return after an infectious disease. Keep the certificate in the personnel file, with a copy at work.
  • LawFood hygiene training or instruction for all food staff and for the people running HACCP must be documented. The law sets no certificate, hours or renewal (food safety act art. 59).
  • LawSafety-at-work (BHP) training is a separate duty: before starting work, then every 3 years for manual jobs and every 5 years for managers.
  • LawSick staff: nobody with a disease that can pass through food, infected wounds, skin infections or diarrhoea may handle food. Staff must tell the manager at once, and the employer must take them off this work (EU Regulation 852/2004; infections act art. 10).

Allergens

  • LawThe 14 EU allergens: cereals with gluten, crustaceans, eggs, fish, peanuts, soybeans, milk, tree nuts, celery, mustard, sesame, sulphites, lupin and molluscs.
  • LawFor restaurant dishes, give the dish name and the full list of ingredients with the allergens shown. Give it in writing, where guests see it before ordering: a menu, board, notice or screen (MRiRW regulation of 23 December 2014, § 19).
  • LawThe trade inspection authority (UOKiK) decided that staff answering questions does not replace the written information (decision DIH-1/57/2016).
  • LawMenus and allergen information must be in Polish. Other languages may be added. Drinks over 1.2% alcohol need no ingredient list, but their allergens must still be given.

Fire safety checks

  • LawPortable fire extinguishers are inspected and maintained at least once a year, as the maker and Polish Standards say. Where there is cooking oil, you need class F. The nearest extinguisher is at most 30 m away (MSWiA fire regulation).
  • LawFlue ducts from catering hearths are cleaned at least monthly, unless local rules differ. Ventilation ducts are cleaned at least every year, by people with chimney-sweep qualifications (MSWiA fire regulation § 34).
  • LawGas installations and chimney, flue and ventilation ducts are checked at least once a year, with a written protocol. This is a duty of the building owner or manager (building law art. 62).
  • LawElectrical and lightning installations are tested at least every 5 years, as part of the whole-building check (building law art. 62).
  • LawSince 30 June 2026 a room in commercial premises where fuel is burned needs a carbon monoxide detector. It is not needed for gas cooking appliances or closed-chamber appliances.

Records

  • LawHACCP-based procedures are mandatory for all food businesses (EU Regulation 852/2004 art. 5; food safety act art. 59).
  • Official guidanceGIS says food law sets no detailed rules for a kitchen’s own checks. The business sets them, and inspectors may ask for proof that they work but cannot impose specific solutions.
  • LawKeep training documents and medical certificates in the personnel files, with a copy at the place of work, and show them on request (food safety act art. 59).
  • LawKeep an inspection book (książka kontroli), on paper or electronic, and show it at the start of each inspection (Entrepreneurs’ Law art. 57).

Official sources

Checked

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

Poland: 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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