Part of the SafeHands Employer’s Guide series – Food Safety & HACCP
Running a bakery involves much more than producing good bread, cakes and pastries. Like every food business, bakeries need to manage food safety risks and ensure that the food they produce is safe for customers.
A food safety management system based on HACCP principles provides a structured way to identify potential hazards, introduce appropriate controls and monitor whether those controls are working.
For bakeries, this can involve everything from the receipt and storage of ingredients to preparation, baking, cooling, filling, decorating, displaying and selling finished products.
Whether you operate an independent bakery, café-bakery, production bakery or another business producing baked goods, understanding how HACCP applies to your operation is an important part of managing food safety.
What Is HACCP in a Bakery?
HACCP stands for Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point.
It is a systematic approach to identifying food safety hazards and putting measures in place to prevent or control them.
Rather than relying solely on checking the finished product, HACCP focuses on identifying where problems could arise during the food production process and controlling those risks.
For a bakery, that means considering each stage of the operation – from ingredients arriving at the premises through to the finished product being supplied to the customer.
Potential hazards can be biological, chemical or physical, while allergens also require particularly careful management.
Do Bakeries in Ireland Need HACCP?
Irish food businesses are required to operate food safety management procedures based on HACCP principles.
The exact system required will depend on the nature and complexity of the food business.
A small bakery producing a limited range of products may have different food safety risks and controls from a larger operation producing numerous breads, cakes, pastries, sandwiches and fresh cream products.
The important point is that the food safety system should reflect what actually happens within the individual bakery rather than simply relying on generic documentation.
Bakery owners and managers should understand the hazards associated with their particular products and processes and ensure appropriate controls are implemented, monitored and reviewed.
For further guidance on avoiding common food safety failures, read our Common HACCP Mistakes That Lead to Closure Orders – Employer’s Guide.
Common Food Safety Hazards in Bakeries
Bakeries can present a variety of food safety hazards depending on the products being made.
These may include:
- Microbiological contamination of ingredients or finished products
- Inadequate temperature control of high-risk foods
- Cross-contamination between raw and ready-to-eat products
- Allergen cross-contact
- Incorrect or incomplete allergen information
- Physical contamination from foreign objects
- Chemical contamination from cleaning products
- Poor cleaning and hygiene practices
- Pest activity
- Inadequate storage of ingredients or finished products
A bakery's HACCP-based food safety system should identify the hazards relevant to its own operation and establish appropriate measures for controlling them.
Allergen Management in Bakeries
Allergen management is particularly important in bakery environments.
Common bakery ingredients can include cereals containing gluten, eggs, milk, nuts, peanuts, sesame and soya, meaning several different allergens may be present within the same production environment.
Businesses need to understand which allergens are contained in their ingredients and finished products and take steps to prevent unintended allergen cross-contact.
This can involve careful ingredient storage, cleaning procedures, production scheduling, separation of ingredients and equipment where appropriate, and effective communication between employees.
Accurate allergen information is also essential.
Food businesses supplying non-prepacked food in Ireland must provide customers with written information about the regulated allergens contained in the food.
Bakery staff therefore need to understand both the importance of preventing allergen cross-contact and the need to provide accurate information to customers.
Cross-Contamination and Food Hygiene
Cross-contamination can occur when harmful microorganisms, allergens or other contaminants are transferred between food, equipment, surfaces or employees.
Good hygiene procedures are therefore fundamental to bakery food safety.
Work surfaces, utensils, mixers, trays and other equipment should be cleaned appropriately, while staff should understand when handwashing is required and how food should be handled safely.
Particular attention may be necessary where a bakery produces both raw and ready-to-eat foods or where different allergen profiles are involved.
Good housekeeping also helps reduce opportunities for contamination and makes it easier to identify potential food safety problems.
Temperature Control and High-Risk Bakery Products
Not every bakery product presents the same level of microbiological risk.
Bread and many dry baked products are very different from foods containing fresh cream, custard, cooked meats, dairy fillings or other ingredients that may require temperature control.
Where a bakery produces or sells foods that need refrigeration, appropriate procedures should be in place for storage, preparation, display and monitoring.
Staff responsible for these products should understand the relevant temperature controls and what action to take if those controls are not maintained.
This is another reason a bakery's food safety procedures should be based on the products it actually makes and sells.
Cleaning, Hygiene and Pest Control
Effective cleaning is one of the foundations of food safety in a bakery.
A cleaning programme should identify what needs to be cleaned, how it should be cleaned, how often cleaning is required and who is responsible.
Cleaning chemicals should be stored and used appropriately to prevent chemical contamination of food.
Bakeries also need appropriate measures to prevent and identify pest activity.
Food ingredients, crumbs, waste and warm production environments can attract pests if housekeeping and pest-control measures are inadequate.
Problems should be dealt with promptly and appropriate records maintained where required by the business's food safety system.
What Should a Bakery HACCP Plan Cover?
There is no single HACCP plan that will be suitable for every bakery.
The system should reflect the food produced, processes used, equipment, premises and risks associated with the individual business.
Depending on the operation, a bakery's food safety management system may consider areas such as:
- Delivery and receipt of ingredients
- Ingredient storage
- Preparation and mixing
- Baking or cooking
- Cooling
- Filling and decorating
- Refrigerated storage
- Display and service
- Allergen management
- Cleaning and sanitation
- Pest control
- Personal hygiene
- Waste management
- Traceability and record keeping
Businesses should also review their food safety procedures when there are significant changes to products, processes, equipment or working practices.
Smaller bakeries may also find our HACCP for Small Food Businesses – Employer's Guide useful when considering how HACCP principles apply to their operation.
Can I Use a Generic Bakery HACCP Plan?
A template or example can help a business understand how a HACCP-based system may be structured, but it should not simply be copied and treated as a finished food safety system.
The hazards and controls in a bakery producing bread and rolls may be very different from those in a bakery producing fresh cream cakes, filled pastries or ready-to-eat sandwiches.
This is particularly relevant given that searches for bakery HACCP plans and HACCP examples are common.
The useful question is not simply “Can I find a bakery HACCP plan?” but rather:
Does our food safety system accurately reflect the food, processes and risks in our own bakery?
Do Bakery Staff Need Food Safety Training?
Food handlers must be supervised and instructed and/or trained in food hygiene matters appropriate to their work activity.
The training required will therefore depend on the responsibilities of the employee.
A member of staff serving packaged products may have different training needs from an employee preparing food, managing allergens, monitoring temperatures or supervising a bakery's food safety procedures.
Food safety training should give employees the knowledge and skills needed to carry out their particular responsibilities safely.
Managers and supervisors may require a greater understanding of HACCP principles and food safety controls where they have responsibility for implementing or overseeing the bakery's food safety management system.
Why Face-to-Face Food Safety Training Can Benefit Bakeries
Food safety is ultimately applied in the workplace rather than simply learned as theory.
Face-to-face training gives bakery employees an opportunity to ask questions, discuss situations they encounter during their work and develop a clearer understanding of how food safety principles apply in practice.
Onsite training can be particularly useful for businesses that need to train a group of employees together.
It also allows employers to provide training without sending individual employees to different external courses.
The training provided should always be appropriate to the employees' duties and the food-handling activities taking place within the business.
HACCP for Bakeries – Frequently Asked Questions
Does every bakery need HACCP?
Food businesses are required to operate food safety management procedures based on HACCP principles. The system required should reflect the nature, size and complexity of the individual operation.
What are the main food safety risks in a bakery?
Risks vary between businesses but can include microbiological contamination, allergen cross-contact, inadequate temperature control, physical or chemical contamination, poor hygiene and pest activity.
Are allergens particularly important in bakeries?
Yes. Bakeries commonly use ingredients containing several regulated allergens, making accurate allergen information and effective controls against unintended cross-contact particularly important.
Can a bakery download a HACCP plan online?
A generic plan or template may provide useful guidance, but a bakery's food safety system should reflect its own products, processes, premises and hazards rather than simply relying on generic documentation.
Do bakery employees need food safety training?
Food handlers must be supervised and instructed and/or trained in food hygiene matters appropriate to their work activities. Training needs will vary according to the duties and responsibilities of individual employees.
How often should a bakery review its HACCP procedures?
Food safety procedures should be kept under review and reassessed when relevant changes occur, such as introducing new products, ingredients, processes or equipment.
How SafeHands Can Help
SafeHands Health & Safety Solutions provides onsite Food Safety/HACCP Level 2 Training for bakeries and other food businesses throughout Ireland.
Our face-to-face course is designed to give food workers a practical understanding of food hygiene and HACCP principles and how they apply in the workplace.
Training can be delivered at your premises for groups of employees, making it a convenient option for bakeries that need to train staff together.
The course takes approximately five hours, accommodates up to 12 participants and successful participants receive certification valid for three years.
Contact our team today to discuss onsite Food Safety/HACCP training for your bakery or food business.