Food Safety Plans

A food safety plan is written for a specific operation and describes the policies, standard operating procedures, and recordkeeping methods the operation uses to reduce the risk of foodborne illness.

A food safety plan includes examples of the operation’s recordkeeping forms. The plan also addresses critical areas that predispose food to contamination, and lists action steps to prevent or reduce potential contamination. A good plan guides workers and indicates to auditors what the farm does to prevent contamination, and what would be done in case of an outbreak. Ideally, the person in charge of food safety reviews the plan annually, and updates it with improvements and modifications — similar to how farmers review production, pest management, and marketing plans and updates them to incorporate improved methods and new information.

Every farm can benefit from a written food safety plan. Farms that intend to go through a third-party food safety audit must have a written plan or they will not pass the audit. The resources below provide more information about what to include in a plan, examples of food safety plans, and templates for writing a plan.​