In short
- No rule gives one monthly schedule for every kitchen: your frequency comes from your risk analysis.
- For 150 meals a day, a monthly visit with a few food and surface samples is a common starting point.
- Raise the frequency after a bad result, a new menu, a new supplier or a complaint.
The question I hear most is "how often?". The honest answer is that the law does not give one number. The EU rules and the Moroccan law both ask you to control your hazards and keep proof. The schedule is yours to justify. Here is a plan I would start from for a kitchen serving about 150 meals a day, such as a holiday centre, a student residence or a small hotel.
The yearly plan
| What | When | How many | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cooked and ready-to-eat dishes | One visit a month | 3 to 5 samples | 36 to 60 |
| Surfaces and equipment | Monthly | 5 points | 60 |
| Staff hands | Every quarter, unannounced | 3 people | 12 |
| Drinking water | Twice a year | Microbiology and basic chemistry | 2 |
| Frying oil | Daily or weekly with a tester | Each fryer | Lab check twice a year |
Rotate what you sample. One month a cold salad, the next a rice dish, then a sauce, then a dessert with cream. Over a year you cover the whole menu and every high-risk step.
Keep your own sample every day
A reference portion of each dish served, kept cold in a labelled bag, gives you something to send to the lab if guests fall ill. Many kitchens keep it for five to seven days. The exact duration is set by your authority or your contract, so confirm it.
When to test more
- After a result outside the limit: retest after corrective action.
- A new dish, new supplier or new equipment.
- A complaint, a suspected illness or an inspection finding.
- Summer, large events and any day you serve far more meals than usual.
When you can test less
Several clean results in a row on the same item justify spacing the checks out. Write the reasoning in your HACCP file so an inspector can follow it.
Record everything
Date, sample, result, action. A test with no record is invisible at an audit. A simple log is enough, and the HACCP records workbook has a Lab Tests sheet for exactly this.
This article is general information, not legal advice. Rules and limits change: confirm the current text with your food safety authority (ONSSA in Morocco, your national authority in the EU) and with your accredited laboratory.
Questions
Is monthly testing required?
No fixed monthly rule applies to every kitchen. It is a common practice for collective catering. Your frequency should come from your risk analysis and be written in your plan.
How many samples per visit?
Three to five food samples and about five surface points is a workable start for 150 meals a day. Cover a different part of the menu each time.
Who takes the samples?
Either the laboratory's sampler or a trained member of your team, following the lab's instructions for containers and cold transport.
