HACCP Record Keeping Form Example (Free Excel Log)

A HACCP record keeping form is a log for one critical control point: for each batch, the date and time, the product and its lot, the measurement taken against the critical limit, whether it was within the limit, and the initials of whoever checked it, written at the moment it's observed. Alongside it go two more records: corrective actions for anything outside a limit, and verification, where someone reviews the logs and signs. Below is a filled-in cooling log with a deviation, the corrective action and verification records that go with it, and a free Excel version.

The short version

• One log per critical control point, one line per batch or check.
• Every entry: date, time, product, lot code, the measurement, within limits or not, initials.
• Write it when it happens. A log filled in at the end of the shift is a reconstruction.
• Anything outside a limit gets a corrective action record: what, why, what happened to the product, what changed.
• In TaroStack, checks like these are fields on the batch record itself, tied to the lot. More below.

What a HACCP record has to show

The federal HACCP rules spell it out. For seafood and juice processors, every required record must include the name and location of the processor, the date and time of the activity, the signature or initials of the person doing it, and, where appropriate, the product and its production code, and the information must be entered at the time it's observed (21 CFR 123.9, 21 CFR 120.12). The juice rule lists the records themselves: monitoring of critical control points with the actual times, temperatures or other measurements; corrective actions; and verification of the system.

Those rules apply to seafood and juice; meat and poultry have USDA's version, and other food businesses meet the same ideas through their food safety plans. The shape of a good record is the same everywhere.

How long to keep them is in how long HACCP records should be kept. This is general information, not legal advice; your HACCP plan and your inspector have the last word.

The monitoring log, filled in

Windward Roots, the made-up taro business I use in these examples, cooks kūlolo, then cools it before packing, and its plan treats cooling as a critical control point. The critical limits in the example are the FDA Food Code's for cooked food: from 135°F to 70°F within 2 hours, and to 41°F within 6 hours in all (Food Code 2022, 3-501.14). Your own plan sets yours.

On September 23 the batch took 2 hours 25 minutes to reach 70°F, past the 2-hour limit, even though it reached 41°F within 6 hours. One limit missed is a deviation.

The corrective action record

A corrective action record answers four questions: what happened, why, what happened to the product, and what was done so it doesn't happen again. "Discarded" or "reprocessed" with nothing else is half a record.

The verification record

Once a week, someone other than the person who kept the log reviews it, checks the thermometer, and signs:

Get the form

Download the HACCP record keeping form. It has the cooling log with the hours and the check worked out for you (a deviation turns the row red), the corrective action and verification tabs, and a blank log ready down to row 100. It's an ordinary Excel file with no macros, and it prints one page wide.

Hours to 70°F    =(E2-D2)*24
Within limits?   =IF(AND(G2<=2, H2<=6), "OK", "DEVIATION")

It's a form, not a HACCP plan. Your plan, written for your process, decides your critical control points and limits. Batch records, where many of these checks live, are covered in what is a batch record.

Where this stops working

A paper or spreadsheet log is separate from everything else about the batch. The cooling times are on one sheet, the lot's ingredients on another, and the waste from a discarded batch on a third, so an inspector's "show me everything for lot KUL-260923A" means pulling four records from four places. And logs are only as good as the habit: the line written afterwards, the initials added by someone who wasn't there, the deviation nobody noticed because nobody did the subtraction.

How TaroStack does it

TaroStack doesn't write your HACCP plan or your food safety plan, and it doesn't make anyone compliant. What it does is keep the records those plans ask for on the batch they belong to. Batch records carry your own checklist fields: the times at 135°F, 70°F and 41°F, a temperature, a tick box, initials, with a sign-off, filled in on a phone as it happens or on a printed batch form at the line. The record sits with the lot code and the ingredient lots that went in, so everything for KUL-260923A is one page.

When something goes outside a limit, the batch can be put on hold, and held stock stops counting as available, so it can't be shipped by accident while you decide. If it's discarded, the write-off carries its reason, its lot and its cost. And every list exports whenever you need to hand records to an inspector. Incoming checks work the same way on receipts, as in the food receiving log.

Lots and recalls are on every plan from $49 a month; batch records with your own checklists are on Standard at $99. The first 30 days are free. If you'd like a hand setting up, ask, and we'll do it with you.

Questions people also ask

What should a HACCP monitoring record include?

The processor's name and location, the date and time, the product and its production code, the actual measurement taken against the critical limit, and the initials or signature of the person who took it, written at the time it's observed.

What are the main HACCP records?

The hazard analysis, the HACCP plan, monitoring records for each critical control point, corrective action records, and verification records. Sanitation records sit alongside them.

What goes on a HACCP corrective action form?

What went wrong and when, the cause, what was done with the affected product, what was changed to stop it recurring, who took the action, and who verified it.

How often should HACCP records be reviewed?

As often as your plan says. The seafood rule, for example, requires monitoring records to be reviewed, signed and dated by a trained person within 1 week of the day they're made. A weekly review by someone other than the person who kept the log is a good habit for anyone.