What HACCP is
HACCP stands for Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points. It is the systematic food safety plan that identifies where things can go wrong and the controls that keep food safe. Paddl builds and maintains yours, and keeps it linked to what is actually happening day to day.
Create a plan with Paddy
Go to Food Safety > HACCP Plans
Click Create HACCP plan and choose Draft with Paddy
Paddy asks only what it cannot already see, such as the products you serve, your cooking methods and any high-risk foods, then writes the plan in the background, covering all seven HACCP principles
Check the draft and adjust the process steps, hazards, and limits to match how you really work
The same button offers Upload existing, which turns a plan you already have into one here with the file kept as its source, and Create manually to build it yourself step by step. Paddy is a fast starting point, not a black box, so everything it produces is editable.
Your allergen matrix, menu, and COSHH chemicals feed into the draft. Paddy reads the allergens and may-contain risks on your menu items and the hazard statements on your chemicals, so the allergen and chemical control points reflect what is actually in your kitchen. After you import a menu, Paddy suggests building or reviewing your HACCP plan as a next step.
Update an existing plan instead of creating a new one
Paddy will not draft a second plan for a site that already has one. Ask for a plan there and it offers to review the plan you have instead, which keeps its history, version, and staff sign-offs. Use Create manually only if you genuinely need a separate plan for a new production area.
Organisation and location plans
Paddl supports a two-tier structure. You can hold a master food safety system at organisation level and have location-specific plans underneath it, so a group keeps one consistent standard while each site documents its own kitchen. Single-site businesses just have the one plan.
Critical Control Points
A CCP is a step where control is essential to prevent or reduce a hazard, such as cooking to a core temperature. Each CCP records its hazard, critical limits, how it is monitored, and the corrective action if a limit is breached. A CCP usually looks like this:
CCP | Hazard | Critical limit | Monitoring | Corrective action |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Cooking | Survival of pathogens | Core 75°C, or 70°C for 2 minutes | Probe each batch | Continue cooking, re-probe, record |
Chilled storage | Bacterial growth | 0°C to 5°C | Twice-daily fridge check | Move stock, assess food, repair unit |
Hot holding | Bacterial growth | 63°C or above | Check during service | Reheat to 75°C or discard |
You can link a CCP to the equipment it relies on and to the monitoring routine that proves it is being checked. The plan then shows a live monitoring rate from those routines, so you can see at a glance whether your controls are actually being followed.
Corrective actions
When a limit is breached, record a corrective action against the CCP. Capture what happened, the root cause, a photo if useful, what you did, and who did it. This builds the due-diligence trail inspectors and insurers look for.
Reviews and staff sign-off
Set a review frequency so Paddl reminds you when the plan is due a review
Require staff sign-off so your team confirms they have read it; sign-off records who signed, when, and which version
When you change the plan, previous sign-offs are invalidated so staff re-acknowledge the new version
Review your plan with Paddy
Open a plan and click Review with Paddy, in the plan's header or in its Verification & Reviews section. Paddy checks the plan against your current menu, allergens, COSHH chemicals, equipment, routines and recent activity, then sets out its suggested changes in the Paddy panel, such as a new chemical that needs a control point or an allergen that is not yet covered.
Each suggestion explains why it is there. Click Accept on the ones you want and Dismiss on the rest; nothing changes until you do
Click Apply changes to make the changes you accepted. They go through the normal route, so version history and staff sign-off are handled for you
To record a formal review, use Complete Review in the Verification & Reviews section with your notes
Run it whenever something material changes, such as a new menu, supplier, or cleaning chemical, and again at your scheduled review.
Editing and exporting
Open a plan from Food Safety > HACCP Plans. While a plan is a draft or under review, each section has its own Edit button for the scope, process steps, policies, review frequency, or sign-off setting. A plan in force is changed by clicking Revise Plan first, which moves it to Under Review. Choose More > Export PDF to download the full plan, including CCPs, reviews, corrective actions, and signatures, ready to print or hand to an inspector.