Step-by-step guide to writing a compliant Food Safety Program

A Food Safety Program (FSP) is a documented system that identifies, evaluates, and controls food safety hazards in your food business. Under Standard 3.2.1 of the Food Standards Code, certain NSW food businesses are legally required to have one. This guide walks you through every step of writing a compliant FSP.

Step 1: Assemble your HACCP team

Include people who understand your business — the owner/manager, head chef, Food Safety Supervisor, and any relevant operational staff. A HACCP plan written by one person in isolation is rarely as effective as one developed collaboratively by those who do the work.

Step 2: Describe your products and processes

Document each food you handle or produce: its ingredients, composition, intended customers, and the full flow from receiving through to service or sale. Create a process flow diagram for each product category. Be specific — "chicken dishes" is too broad; "raw chicken breast — received, portioned, stored, crumbed, cooked, held hot, served" is useful.

Step 3: Identify hazards

For each process step, identify all plausible food safety hazards:

Biological: Bacteria, viruses, parasites (e.g. Salmonella in poultry, Norovirus from food handlers)
Chemical: Cleaning chemicals, pesticide residues, allergens used as cross-contaminants
Physical: Bone fragments, metal shards, glass, foreign objects

Step 4: Apply the HACCP Decision Tree to identify CCPs

Use the Codex Alimentarius HACCP Decision Tree at each process step where a significant hazard exists. Determine whether that step is a CCP — a point where control is critical for food safety — or whether the hazard can be controlled through a Prerequisite Program.

Step 5: Set critical limits for each CCP

Critical limits must be measurable and science-based. Common examples: 75°C internal temperature for cooking poultry; 5°C or below for refrigerated storage; 60°C or above for hot holding.

Step 6: Establish monitoring, corrective actions, and verification

Define how each CCP will be monitored (who, how often, using what equipment), what corrective action will be taken if a critical limit is breached, and how you will verify that the system is working over time.

Step 7: Develop supporting Prerequisite Programs

Add cleaning schedules, pest control management, supplier verification, allergen management, staff hygiene, and traceability procedures as supporting documents within your FSP.

Step 8: Implement, train, and review

Put the system into practice. Train all staff. Review the FSP at least annually or whenever your menu, process, or premises change significantly.

How to Write a Food Safety Program for Your NSW Business