The situation
A new central kitchen and what it will produce
A catering company in Kraków is opening a central kitchen that will cook 3,000 meals a day for school canteens and two office cafeterias, delivered in insulated containers. The equipment arrives in six weeks and the first contract starts the week after.
The operations lead has run kitchens for years but has never opened one from scratch. The hours go on putting the duties in order: what must happen before the first meal, what the food safety system must contain and what records the inspector will ask for.
What the research has to settle
The rules behind the answer
- Register before you start
- EU food hygiene law requires food business operators to register each establishment with the competent authority, and some activities need approval. Polish law sets the procedure with the State Sanitary Inspection and requires the application before operations begin.
- A procedure based on HACCP principles
- Operators after primary production must put in place, implement and maintain a permanent procedure based on the HACCP principles. The documentation can be proportionate to the size and nature of the business.
- Hygiene, training, allergens and culture
- The hygiene regulation sets general requirements for premises, equipment and staff, including training of food handlers. Since 2021 it also requires allergen management and an appropriate food safety culture.
- Traceability and withdrawal
- Under the General Food Law the operator must be able to identify its suppliers and business customers, and withdraw or recall unsafe food and inform the authorities.
How it runs in azta
From the question to the document
The question, as you would type it
We are opening a central kitchen in Kraków producing 3,000 cooked meals a day for schools and offices, delivered hot. What are our statutory food hygiene duties under EU and Polish law before opening and in operation, including registration, HACCP and traceability?
You start with
A new central kitchen and what it will produce
- 01
Describe the kitchen and its customers
Give the meals, the customers and how food is delivered. azta searches the EU hygiene and General Food Law regulations and the Polish food safety act.
Cited research· Free - 02
Check each duty against the provision
Open each citation in the original language with its in-force status, including the 2021 amendments to the hygiene regulation.
Atlas statute reader - 03
Draft the duty list
Ask for a list in two parts, before opening and in operation, with an owner and a record for each duty. Edit it in Canvas.
Canvas · Ask azta· Pro - 04
Export for the management team
Export to Word for sign-off. Keep the cited research for the inspector’s visit.
Word export· Pro You send
An internal list of statutory food hygiene duties, before opening and in operation
What you get
An internal list of statutory food hygiene duties, before opening and in operation
Internal note · draft
Central kitchen, Kraków: statutory food hygiene duties
Before opening. Apply to the State Sanitary Inspection to register the establishment, in time for the decision before the first contract starts. Put the HACCP-based procedure in place, covering hazard analysis, critical control points for cooking, hot holding and transport, limits, monitoring and corrective actions.
In operation. Keep the monitoring records, verify the procedure and review it when the menu, process or equipment changes. Train every food handler for their role. Keep allergen controls and information for the school menus.
Traceability. Record each supplier of ingredients and each customer site receiving meals, so that any batch can be traced and withdrawn. Owners: kitchen manager for HACCP records, purchasing for suppliers, logistics for deliveries.
Outcomes on your numbers
What azta is worth on this task
Pro pays for itself after
22 minutes a month
At €75 an hour, that is all the time Pro (€27 a month) has to take off your desk to cover its price.
Example figures. Replace them with your own.
- Hours back a year
- 22
- Capacity at your rate
- €1,620
- More food hygiene duty notes a quarter
- 0.8
- Return on Pro
- 5×
- Research
- Drafting
- Your review
A scenario you set, not a promise. The hours that come back go to another client, or deeper into this one.
Want these numbers on your team’s real workload?
Book a demoWhat stays with you
- The hazard analysis itself, which needs your process knowledge.
- Sanitary Inspection guidance and sector hygiene guides, which azta does not hold.
- Signing off the system and assigning the owners.
Frequently asked questions
- Does azta write the HACCP plan?
- No. It lists the statutory duties and what the procedure must contain, with citations. The hazard analysis and the plan come from your team.
- Does it hold Sanitary Inspection guidance?
- For most countries azta holds the legislation and EU law, not every authority’s guidance. It says what it cites, so you can see what still needs checking.
- Can it cover a second kitchen in another country?
- Yes. The EU regulations are the same, and azta researches the national rules for the second country in the same way.
