Are digital HACCP records accepted in Ireland?
Yes. Irish and EU food law asks for records, not paper. What an inspector wants to see is the same either way: complete, honest, timely records that show your food safety system is working.
What the law asks for
EU food hygiene law (Regulation (EC) No 852/2004, Article 5) requires a food safety management system based on HACCP principles, with documents and records that suit the nature and size of the business. It doesn’t say what they are written on. The FSAI’s FSAI Safe Catering pack gives paper forms (SC1 to SC9) as one way to do it.
What an inspector looks for
- Complete: every check your plan says should happen, on every day you were open.
- Made at the time: not filled in at the end of the week.
- Who and when: each record shows the person and the time.
- Problems acted on: a reading out of range has a corrective action beside it.
- Findable: you can show any day, quickly.
What a good digital record adds
- A time stamp and the staff member’s name on every check, automatically.
- Out-of-range readings flagged straight away, with the action recorded.
- Corrections that keep the original visible, so nothing is quietly changed.
- Search by date, location or batch code, and an export for any period.
Before you switch
Keep your paper records for the period your plan sets, pick a start date, and make sure a manager can open the app on every shift. Our guide moving from paper to an app has a step-by-step checklist, and digital HACCP in Ireland explains more.
Hygivo records each check with the person and time, flags readings out of range, works offline, and exports a HACCP report for any period as PDF or Excel. See how it works.
This is general information, not advice for your business. Your food safety management system (HACCP plan) and FSAI guidance are the reference. Hygivo is not affiliated with or endorsed by the FSAI.
Questions
Can I keep my HACCP records on an app in Ireland?
Yes. EU food hygiene law asks food businesses to keep documents and records that suit their size and nature. It doesn’t say they must be on paper. Inspectors look at whether the records are complete, made at the time, show who made them, and show what was done when something went wrong.
Will an environmental health officer accept records on a phone or tablet?
An inspector needs to be able to see your records when they ask. A digital system works when someone on site can open it straight away, find any date, and show or export the records. Have a manager’s login available on every shift.
Do digital records need a signature?
Each record should show who made it and when. In an app, each staff member using their own login does that job: their name and the time are saved with every check.
What happens if the internet goes down?
Choose an app that saves checks offline and syncs later, so a dropped connection never means a missed record.
Keep these records on your phone, not on paper.
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