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Qatar: for every food business

Ready for the food inspection. Every day.

In Qatar the app follows the Ministry of Public Health's Food Service Establishment Guidelines (the Food Safety Code of Practice for Food Services, 2020), which are based on HACCP, under Law No. 8 of 1990 on food control. Registering your business on Watheq, the MoPH's food safety system, stays compulsory: Chef Hygiene keeps your daily records, it does not register you.

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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

Qatar: food hygiene rules

Inspection body
Ministry of Public Health (MoPH), Food Safety Department; the municipalities inspect too
Public rating
Yes
Languages in the app
English

Your inspection

The Ministry of Public Health's Food Safety Department inspects restaurants, caterers and central kitchens; the municipalities inspect too (Law No. 8 of 1990, Art. 7). Inspectors may enter, ask for every book and paper about your food, and take samples (Art. 20). Civil Defence (the Ministry of Interior) checks fire safety.

Ask the inspector what to put right and by when. Under Law No. 8 of 1990, knowingly selling spoilt or unfit food can bring prison, a fine of QAR 7,000 to 15,000 (doubled for a repeat or for harmful food), or both; breaking the food record rules up to a year in prison, a fine of up to QAR 15,000, or both; and the Ministry or the municipality can close the premises for up to 60 days, with an appeal to the minister within 10 days (Art. 24, 26 and 32).

Hygiene rating

The MoPH publishes a six-level food safety rating after its inspections, which you can search on Watheq. We could not confirm the names of the levels, so Chef Hygiene shows no rating card for Qatar.

“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 guidanceChilled food below 4°C (fridges hold it at 4°C or less), frozen food at −18°C or colder (the MoPH Code 6.9.3 and 6.9.4).
  • Official guidanceCooking: the Code's common core times for poultry, chicken liver and minced meat are 75°C for 30 seconds, 70°C for 3 minutes or 65°C for 15 minutes, recorded for each batch; reheating to a core of at least 75°C, once only (the MoPH Code 7.2 and 7.5).
  • Official guidanceHot food above 64°C; hot food below 64°C for more than 2 hours is thrown away. Cooling to 5°C or colder within 2 hours (the MoPH Code 7.6.4 and 7.3).
  • Official guidanceFridges checked and recorded at least twice a day, freezers at least once a day; food on display checked 30 minutes after loading, then every 4 hours (cold) or every 2 hours (hot) (the MoPH Code 6.9 and 7.6).

Staff, training and health

  • Official guidanceA Person in Charge, appointed by the owner, is at the premises during all working hours, checks the records and shows them to the inspector (the MoPH Code and its Person in Charge guide).
  • Official guidanceEvery food handler holds a valid health certificate from the MoPH Medical Commission. Staff report illness, and staff kept off food work come back only once a medical practitioner clears them (the MoPH Code 6.7.6). We could not confirm how long the health certificate lasts.
  • LawThe food handler permit (the MoPH food handler licensing exam, by job, in Arabic or English, with its own exam for the Person in Charge) has been compulsory in Qatar since June 2024 and is valid 3 years (Qatar News Agency, 10 June 2023).

Allergens

  • Official guidanceEvery menu item shows its allergens from the GSO standard's list, with an allergen record and separate storage and utensils (the MoPH Code 7.10).

Fire safety checks

  • LawNo restaurant is licensed before Civil Defence certifies its fire protection (Law No. 25 of 2015, Art. 4), and you go to Civil Defence to renew the certificate at the latest 7 days before the licence ends (its schedule).
  • LawFire systems are maintained regularly, only by technicians Civil Defence licenses, with a record of each maintenance; nothing blocks the escape routes, and exit doors are never locked while people are inside; gas cylinders in a safe place outside the kitchen, in boxes, and at most 5 in a shop (Law No. 25 of 2015, Art. 6 and 9, and its schedule).
  • Chef Hygiene defaultExtinguishers, fire alarm, hood fire suppression and electrics: Chef Hygiene suggests dates you can change. We found no set intervals, no hood suppression rule and no fire drill interval in the law.
  • Official guidanceEmergency: 999 for police, fire and ambulance; 992 for deaf callers (the Ministry of Interior).

Records

  • Official guidanceA food safety management system based on HACCP, with records kept on site, dated, checked and signed (the MoPH Code). The Code's record templates are optional: a business may keep its own.
  • LawRegistering the business and its food handlers on Watheq, the MoPH's food safety system, is compulsory. Registration asks for papers such as a food safety certificate (for example HACCP), a risk analysis, a process flow diagram and a pest control contract. Chef Hygiene keeps your daily records and does not replace Watheq.
  • LawRecords of all the food you hold: amounts, packaging, weights, source, the dates you got it and sold it, and the papers that go with it (Law No. 8 of 1990, Art. 13).
  • Official guidancePest control by a specialised company with a valid contract, a map of the traps and records of pest activity (the MoPH Code 6.4).

Official sources

Checked

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

Qatar: 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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