Guide

Food safety plan for restaurants

A food safety plan for a restaurant is the written set of routines that keeps food safe every day: SOPs, logs, training and, where you run a special process, a HACCP plan. The phrase gets used loosely, so let's pin down which kind you're being asked for before you write anything.

Updated October 2026 · Checked against FDA Food Code 2022 · Not legal advice

The numbers

FSMA rule: 21 CFR 117
Restaurants: Exempt from FDA registration
Who enforces: Local health dept.
HACCP plan: Only for special processes

What do people mean by a food safety plan?

Three different things. A landlord, insurer or franchisor usually means your SOP binder. A health inspector who says "plan" usually means a HACCP plan for a specific process, or a plan review for a new build. FDA uses "food safety plan" for the formal document FSMA requires of registered food facilities.

Does a restaurant need an FSMA food safety plan?

Usually not. The preventive controls rule in 21 CFR Part 117 covers facilities that must register with FDA, and retail food establishments, which include restaurants, are exempt from registration. If you also wholesale to other businesses, check with FDA or your state, because that can change the answer.

How is it different from a HACCP plan?

A HACCP plan covers specific processes, sets numeric critical limits and names the records that prove you hit them. The Food Code requires one only for certain processes, such as reduced oxygen packaging and anything needing a variance. A food safety plan is the wider umbrella; the HACCP plan sits inside it. Our guide to when a HACCP plan is required lists the triggers.

What goes in a restaurant food safety plan?

SOPs: handwashing, ill-worker exclusion, cleaning and sanitizing, allergen control, receiving, date marking, pest control and thermometer calibration.
Logs: a temperature log, a cooling log, receiving, cleaning and corrective action records.
Training records: who was trained on what, and when.
A HACCP plan for any process that needs one.
A review date and the name of the person who owns it.

Where do I start?

Start with the logs, because they show whether the SOPs are real. Then write the HACCP section if you need one. The builder drafts the HACCP plan and the matching logs; the SOPs are yours to add.

Questions people ask

Is a food safety plan the same as a HACCP plan?

Not quite. People use “food safety plan” for everything from a binder of SOPs to the formal plan FSMA requires of food factories. A HACCP plan is narrower: it covers specific processes and their critical control points.

Do restaurants need an FSMA food safety plan?

Generally no. FSMA's preventive controls rule (21 CFR Part 117) applies to facilities that must register with FDA, and retail food establishments such as restaurants are exempt from registration. Your local health department enforces the Food Code instead.

What should be in a restaurant food safety plan?

Written SOPs for the everyday basics, the logs that prove you follow them, training records, and a HACCP plan for any special process such as sous vide or vacuum packing.