Solutions · Food industry
Food businesses must have a HACCP plan, inspections are unannounced, and retail customers demand their own audits. Sightadel keeps the plan, prerequisite programmes, suppliers and evidence together in one place, with deadlines and owners.
Only at Sightadel
Among the nine GRC vendors in our comparison, only Sightadel lists HACCP as a framework; the other eight do not mention it on their websites. You run your HACCP plan, ISO 9001 and, if needed, ISO 27001 in one system with the same evidence.
Basis: public information on the vendors’ websites as of 10 October 2026. View the vendor comparison →
Starting point
Most food businesses work carefully. Temperatures are measured, cleaning schedules ticked off, incoming goods checked. The problem is rarely in production, but in the filing. The HACCP plan was drawn up years ago, and the recipes have changed since. Lists are on paper, cleaning schedules in a spreadsheet, supplier certificates in the buyer's inbox. At the inspection or the customer audit, people start searching.
Legally, the situation is clear. Food business operators beyond primary production must put in place and apply a procedure based on the HACCP principles. This is set out in Article 5 of Regulation (EC) No 852/2004. Since an amendment in 2021 by Regulation (EU) 2021/382, food hygiene law also requires a food safety culture and allergen management. Scope and form depend on the type and size of the business. The plan may never be dropped entirely.
Then there is the market. Retail chains and brand manufacturers often require their suppliers to pass an audit under a recognised standard such as IFS, BRCGS or FSSC 22000. Many businesses also run quality management under ISO 9001. All of these requirements draw on the same foundations: an effective HACCP plan, trained employees, assessed suppliers and records that are complete and easy to find.
Why now
Food inspectors check without notice and based on your records. Missing or outdated documents lead to complaints and follow-up inspections. If you can show your status at any time, you shorten the inspection and avoid discussions.
A new retail customer requires an audit under a recognised standard, or an existing customer announces a supplier audit. The basis for this is a HACCP plan that matches your current product range.
Every change to product or process requires the hazard analysis to be reviewed. If a new allergen comes on site or new equipment goes into operation, the plan must be updated before production starts.
A foreign body, an undeclared allergen, microbial contamination. Then the business must be able to say quickly which batch is affected, where the raw material came from and who it was delivered to. The authorities also ask which measures were in place beforehand.
When the person who had the plan in their head leaves, it becomes clear how much is not written down anywhere. Orderly documentation makes the business independent of individuals.
Relevant frameworks
Summarised in our own words, not legal advice. The original text in its current version is authoritative.
Mandatory for all food business operators beyond primary production, from industrial bakeries to canteens to cold chain logistics. Required are hazard analysis, critical control points with critical limits, monitoring, corrective actions, verification and documentation, plus prerequisite programmes, food safety culture and allergen management. There is no statutory certificate. Compliance is checked during official inspections.
View framework →Many manufacturers and suppliers run quality management under ISO 9001, often because industrial customers or tenders require it. Supplier assessment, training records, document control and corrective actions are managed once and count for both systems.
View framework →Where monitoring and recipes run digitally, via temperature sensors, control systems and inventory management, food safety and IT are connected. Major customers then also ask about information security. Access rules and backups from an ISMS keep records reliable.
View framework →Training records, health certificates and hygiene instructions for employees are personal data. Access and retention must also comply with data protection law. For most businesses, a lean data protection set-up that is properly maintained is enough.
View framework →Recommended order
Appoint the HACCP team, describe products and intended use, check flow diagrams on site. Then assess each process step for hazards, including allergens. Only then can critical control points and critical limits be set sensibly.
Cleaning and disinfection, pest control, personal hygiene, water, maintenance and calibration are set up as recurring tasks with owners. You upload existing schedules and map them.
Raw material and packaging suppliers, cleaning and pest control service providers and hauliers are managed with specification, certificates and assessment. Expiring certificates are requested in good time.
Food business operators must be able to show who they sourced goods from and who they delivered to. Define the recall procedure and test it on a real batch. You record the result as evidence.
Management defines how it promotes food safety and reviews this regularly. Training runs in cycles with attendance records. That makes the food safety culture tangible rather than just claimed.
At least once a year and with every change to product or process, you check whether the plan is effective. With ISO 9001, internal audit and management review are added, which you plan together.
What inspections and customer audits look for
The following points are regularly the focus of official inspections and customer audits. They can be evidenced properly with manageable effort.
Which allergens are on site, on which lines, with what risk of cross-contact? How are storage, cleaning between product changeovers and labelling controlled? These questions belong in the hazard analysis, not in a separate list.
The requirement is that management takes responsibility, employees are trained and problems can be raised openly. This can be evidenced through objectives, training, feedback from the team and a regular review by management.
For every batch, it must be possible to determine where the raw material came from and where the product went. A practised recall shows whether this works within the intended time. Sightadel does not replace an inventory management system, but it records procedure, test and result.
Before a supplier delivers, specification, certificates and an assessment should be in place. After that, the supplier is reassessed regularly, especially after complaints. Expired certificates are a common finding.
How Sightadel helps
Preliminary steps, the seven principles and prerequisite programmes are covered step by step. The industry template lists typical hazards for your product group. You set the assessment and critical limits yourself.
Learn more →Temperature logs, cleaning records, lab results and training records sit with the requirement they evidence, with date and expiry date. For an inspection, your status is put together quickly.
Learn more →Deviations from critical limits, findings from inspections and customer audits as well as complaints become tasks with a deadline and an owner. The activity log shows who decided what and when.
Learn more →Raw material, packaging and logistics suppliers with specification, certificates and assessment. Sightadel reminds you before a certificate expires or a reassessment is due.
Learn more →You set up the requirements of a retail customer or a standard you are preparing for as your own framework. You link evidence from HACCP and ISO 9001 to it instead of maintaining it twice.
Learn more →Effort and duration
The ranges are based on experience, not a commitment. The biggest factor is whether someone in the business has time for implementation and how up to date the existing plan is.
What you license · typically Basic
A typical food business starts with HACCP and ISO 9001 in the Basic edition. It includes five users, ten suppliers and one custom framework, for example for a retail customer's requirements. If you manage many suppliers, choose the Professional edition. Because ISO 9001 is included, HACCP permanently costs less.
Licence per framework, minimum term one year, payable monthly or annually. You will find all prices, discounts and a calculator on the pricing page. Fees of a certification or audit body are charged separately.
Yes, for food business operators beyond primary production. The obligation follows from Article 5 of Regulation (EC) No 852/2004. Scope and form depend on the type and size of the business. Small businesses may use a simplified approach, but the plan may not be dropped entirely.
Since 2021, EU food hygiene law has required management to promote a food safety culture. This means management responsibility, trained employees, open communication about problems and regular review. How you implement it depends on the size and type of the business. What matters is that it can be evidenced.
No, there is no dedicated module for them. All three require a working HACCP plan, which you manage in Sightadel. You can set up your customer's requirements as your own framework. You obtain the criteria of the standard from the standard owner, and the audit is carried out by a body approved for it.
No. Sightadel is neither a measuring system nor inventory management. You store records from sensors, lists or your system as evidence. Sightadel ensures that they are complete, mapped and renewed on time.
The official inspection takes place on site and follows its own procedures. But you can export your current status as a report at any time or show it on screen. External auditors, for example for a customer audit, get their own access with no deletion rights.
Yes, if customers require it or you want to manage several sites consistently. HACCP controls the hazards in the process, ISO 9001 steers the organisation around it. In Sightadel, you manage supplier assessment, training, document control and corrective actions once for both.
Sightadel does not certify. For ISO 9001, you choose an accredited certification body from our independent partner network or one of your own. No commission is paid for audits, neither to us nor to the partners. HACCP itself cannot be certified; it is checked by official inspections.
No. Sightadel helps with setting up and keeping evidence. For individual questions, your food inspection authority or a qualified adviser is the right point of contact. You can book consulting by experienced experts as a package in the app.
14 days, full access, no payment details. Everything you set up carries over into the paid plan.
