Food safety documentation: A guide to recordkeeping for food manufacturers

What is food safety documentation

Food safety documentation includes all written plans, procedures, and records that describe how your facility produces safe food and how it can prove that it did so. It helps to think of it in two parts.

1. Documents tell your team what to do - These include your HACCP or preventive control plan, standard operating procedures (SOPs), work instructions, and policies. They only change when your process changes. Good document control makes sure employees are always working from the latest approved version.

2. Records prove what was done - Temperature logs, sanitation checklists, metal detector checks, and corrective action reports are all records. Once a record is completed, it shouldn't be changed.

A procedure without records can't be proven, and records without a clear procedure behind them are hard to trust. Together, they form the backbone of your food safety management system.

Why recordkeeping is essential

Records serve as tangible evidence that a food business actively manages safety compliance rather than merely claiming to do so. Strong food safety recordkeeping demonstrates that your controls are working, as each log shows whether a critical control point remained within its limits or a deviation was caught and corrected.

They also protect your business when something goes wrong. If a customer complaint or a positive test result arises, thorough, complete traceability records allow you to identify exactly which lots are affected. That can mean the difference between a targeted recall and having to remove everything off the shelf.

Finally, they help you improve. Over time, your data reveals patterns, such as an oven that regularly drifts out of range or a line that keeps failing environmental swabs. These trends tell you where to focus before small issues turn into costly downtime or product holds.

Which records do you need to keep

The exact list of food safety records that you need to keep depends on your products, processes, and certification scheme, but most food manufacturers keep the following:

• Food safety plan and hazard analysis: your HACCP or preventive control plan, including your hazard analysis and the reasoning behind your critical control points. Our guide to the HACCP principles explains how these fit together.

• Prerequisite program records: sanitation, pest control, GMP inspections, allergen control, preventive maintenance, and equipment calibration.

• Monitoring records: HACCP records showing each CCP remained within its critical limits, such as cooking temperatures, pH readings, and metal detector checks.

• Corrective actions: what went wrong, what was done with the affected product, and what changes were implemented in order to prevent it from happening again.

• Verification records: internal audits, record reviews, product testing, and environmental monitoring results.

• Training records: proof that each employee was trained on the procedures they perform. See our article on employee training in food safety.

• Supplier and receiving records: approved supplier lists, certificates of analysis, and incoming inspection results. Supplyline helps you keep these current.

• Traceability and recall records: lot codes, receiving and shipping records, and mock recall results.

What regulators expect from your food safety documentation

In the United States, the FDA's Preventive Controls for Human Food rule establishes clear recordkeeping requirements in 21 CFR Part 117, Subpart F. Records must be retained for at least two years. Records stored offsite must be available within 24 hours of a request, but your food safety plan has to stay onsite. Electronic records count as on-site as long as they can be accessed from your facility, making a digital system a natural fit.

Additional requirements are on the way. The FDA Food Traceability Rule (FSMA 204) will require more detailed traceability records for foods on the Food Traceability List. Enforcement won't begin before July 20, 2028, but the requirements themselves haven't changed. You can learn more in our FSMA 204 overview.

In Canada, the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations require that traceability records be kept for 2 years and provided to the CFIA within 24 hours of a request. Electronic records must be sent as a single plain-text file that standard software can open.

GFSI-benchmarked schemes such as SQF and BRCGS go even further, with specific requirements for document control, record retention, and management review. Our articles on GFSI audit best practices and SQF Edition 10 cover these requirements in greater detail.

Recordkeeping best practices

A few simple habits can make your records more accurate, more reliable, and much easier to defend during an audit.

• Record in real time - Entries should be made when the check is completed. Writing readings on paper and copying them into the log at the end of the shift may constitute record falsification.

• Record actual values - A checkmark or “OK” tells an auditor very little. A reading of 74°C at 10:15 a.m., with the operator’s initials, shows exactly what happened.

• Design forms that are easy to complete - Each form should show the critical limit and how often the check is performed, with space for the date, time, initials, and comments. When the limit is printed right on the form, employees can spot a deviation immediately.

• Correct mistakes properly - On paper, draw a single line through the error, write the correct entry, and add your initials, the date, and a brief reason for the adjustment. Never use correction fluid or erase an entry.

• Review and verify records right away - Under FDA rules, monitoring and corrective action records generally need to be reviewed within seven working days. Many facilities review them daily and always before the product ships. The reviewer should sign and date each record.

• Train employees on the "why" - Auditors often ask employees on the floor about the checks that they perform. When employees understand why a check is important, they are much more likely to do it regularly.

• Keep document control tight - Remove outdated forms from the floor as soon as a new version is approved, and ensure employees are trained on every implemented change. Try to avoid updating procedures right before an audit.

Common challenges with paper-based records

Paper systems can work, but they make recordkeeping harder. Entries get missed, handwriting can be hard to read, and logs are sometimes filled in all at once at the end of a shift, which defeats the purpose of monitoring.

A deviation recorded in a log may sit in a binder for days before anyone reviews it, delaying corrective action. Finding a record from months ago can take hours, and spotting trends across hundreds of log sheets is nearly impossible.

How Paperless Forms simplify recordkeeping

With Paperless Forms by Datahex, you can turn your existing control sheets into digital forms without any coding. Employees can complete them on a tablet or phone, right on the floor.

Your team can customize each form to fit its needs. Add or edit fields, and set the form in the language your employees are most comfortable with. If a reading falls outside the limits, employees can report the deviation on the spot, and the right people are alerted immediately. Each entry is automatically timestamped and signed, so you know who did each check and when.

All records are kept in one place, so when an auditor asks for a log from months ago, you can find it in seconds. You can also build your own dashboards to track the KPIs that matter most to your operation.

If you're ready to move your records off paper, talk to an expert today.