Guide
HACCP records for small dairies and cheese makers
A small dairy keeps a record at every control point in its own food safety plan. Typically that means receiving milk and ingredients, any heat treatment, cooling, storage temperatures, cleaning, equipment faults, and a batch record that links each batch of halloumi, anari or other cheese to what went into it. Which points are critical is for your plan, so ask your competent authority for the guidance that applies to dairies.
HACCP is the method; the records are the evidence
HACCP asks you to find the points in your process where something could go wrong, set a limit at each, watch it, and decide what to do when the limit is passed. The plan describes this. The records show that you did it, every day, not just when you wrote the plan. Generally, food businesses are expected to work from HACCP principles, with some flexibility for small ones, so check the current requirements with your competent authority.
Records a small dairy typically keeps
| Stage | Typical record | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Receiving milk and ingredients | Date, supplier, product, temperature or other checks on arrival, batch, who | And what you did if a delivery was not acceptable |
| Heat treatment, where used | Time and temperature of each run, who | As set in your plan for your process |
| Cooling | Start and end time, temperature reached, who | Where cooling is a control point in your plan |
| Production batch | Batch number, date, quantities, checks made during production, who | The record that ties a finished batch to what went into it |
| Brining, ripening, storage | Readings of the cold rooms and fridges, the dates in and out | For halloumi and similar products, as relevant to your process |
| Cleaning | What was cleaned, when, who | As scheduled in your plan |
| Equipment faults and servicing | Which machine, what happened, when, what was done | Vats, pumps, packing machines, cold-room compressors |
| Dispatch | Which batches left, when, in what quantity | So a batch can be found if it ever needs to be |
The batch record
If you only keep one record well, make it the batch record. For each batch it answers: what was made, when, from what, by whom, and what checks were done on the way. A batch record is only as good as it is complete, which is why a paper form filled in at the end of the day is the weak point of many small dairies. The best batch record is the one completed at the vat, at the time.
Temperature records for the cold rooms
A dairy's cold rooms hold the product that is worth the most and spoils fastest. Record the readings at the interval your plan sets, or continuously with wireless sensors, and record what was done when a reading passed the limit. Our guide to manual logs versus wireless sensors explains the trade-off, and what temperature records to keep covers the full list.
Common gaps in small dairies
- Batch records completed after the shift from memory.
- Cold room readings with gaps over weekends.
- Machine faults reported by word of mouth, so downtime is not on any record.
- Corrective actions missing: a reading was outside the limit and nothing says what happened to the product.
- Records in several places and several formats.
How ProOps fits
ProOps does not replace your plan. It keeps the records. For a producer it can hold batch records and production checklists, with who did what and when. Temperature Intelligence records deliveries and watches cold rooms with wireless sensors around the clock: when a reading passes the limit the responsible team gets a push notification and acknowledges the incident, which stays open until the cause, the action and the decision on the food are recorded. Maintenance Management gives every machine its own QR code and a history of its faults.
See a batch record built around your product. We set one up in the demo, for example for halloumi or anari. The demo uses sample data.
Book a demoQuestions
Does a small dairy need HACCP?
Generally, food businesses are expected to work from HACCP principles, with flexibility for small businesses. What that means for your dairy is something to confirm with your competent authority.
Which records matter most?
The ones at the control points in your own plan. For many dairies that includes receiving, heat treatment where used, cooling, storage temperatures, batch records and cleaning.
Can records be kept digitally?
Digital records are common. What matters is that they are made at the time, show who made them, and can be shown when asked. Check the current requirements with your competent authority.
Does ProOps replace our HACCP plan?
No. The plan is yours. ProOps keeps the records that go with it: readings, incidents, batch records, production checklists and machine faults, with who did what and when.
How do we start with batch records?
Start with one product. Write down what you want to know about each batch, then build the form around it. In the ProOps demo we do this with your product.
See it on your own checks.
A 20-minute call. We set up your checklists, tickets, audits and machines in a demo account and walk through them with you.
Prevent. Acknowledge. Prove.