How to prepare for a health inspection with Recipok
All plans
What the health inspector asks for in a bakery and how you show it from Recipok: HACCP plan, records, traceability, technical sheets and labels.
What it is for
The health inspector’s visit comes unannounced, and what causes the most stress is not the bakery itself but the paperwork: “show me your food safety plan”, “this month’s temperature records”, “where did the flour in these cakes come from?”. If all of that is in folders and notebooks, it takes time to find and there is always a page missing.
With Recipok, the answer to each question is two clicks away and can be printed on the spot. This use case explains what the health inspector usually asks for in a bakery or pastry shop and where you show it from Recipok.
What the inspector asks for and where it is in Recipok
| What they ask for | What you show |
|---|---|
| The food safety plan (HACCP) | The PDF manual of the approved plan, with its version and signatures: Download the manual in HACCP plan. |
| Records of temperatures, cleaning, pest control and water | HACCP records, filtered by date, location or type, in Excel or PDF. Attached photos are downloaded together. |
| Incidents and corrective actions | The records marked “Out of safe range”, each with a note of what was done. |
| Traceability of a lot | The Traceability drill with its PDF report and the Lot movements. |
| Goods-in checks | The arrival temperature and notes on each line of your goods-in, linked to the lot. |
| Technical sheets and labels | From each recipe with Print, or in bulk from Recipes and formulas. |
| Suppliers and training | The documents attached to each supplier and the training recorded in the plan with Record training given. |
| Date | Location | Type | Value | Observation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14/10 08:10 | Dairy cold room | Temperature | 3.1 °C | |
| 14/10 08:12 | Bakery | Cleaning | Correct | |
| 15/10 08:05 | Dairy cold room | Temperature | 27.4 °C | Door not shut properly. Product checked and temperature back to normal by 9:00. |
- 1Export the selection to Excel or to PDF by record type.
- 2Out of safe range: the note is required and it is the corrective action the inspector looks for.
How to keep it ready
An inspection is passed during the rest of the year, not on the morning of the visit. These are the five habits that keep everything ready:
Have your HACCP plan approved
Recipok guides you through writing it from your products and processes, and generates the PDF manual. We explain it in HACCP plan.
Record every day from the tablet
Set up what each location requires (cold rooms, bakery, water) and record the checks for each shift. Remember: what you confirm is not saved until you click Save records or Finish shift. See HACCP records.
Note lot and expiry date on arrival
Every goods-in with its lot, expiry date and arrival temperature. It is the first link in traceability: Goods-in.
Deduct lots on every production order
If the production order deducts the lots that were actually used, the question “which flour went into these cakes?” answers itself.
Run a drill every quarter
Pick a lot, look at its path and click File drill. The saved report is the proof that your traceability works: Traceability drill.
On the day of the visit
- Open HACCP records and filter the period you are asked for.
- Have the plan manual to hand with Download the manual.
- If they ask about a particular product, look up the lot on its label in the Traceability drill: you will see which raw material lots it came from and which customers it went to.
- If they ask for the technical sheet or the label, print them from the recipe.
The criteria for each inspection depend on your country or region and on your activity. Recipok helps you keep your documentation in order, but it does not replace the advice of your quality consultant or the inspector’s decision.
Tips
- Few locations, with names everyone in the bakery understands: “Dairy cold room”, not “Cold room 2”.
- If you have Dobbox sensors in your cold rooms, temperature records are created automatically.
- Once a week, check the out-of-range records: make sure they all have their note.
Create your free account, add a cold room and record its temperature from your phone. In ten minutes you will see what your first report for the inspector would look like.