Accessibility Skip to main content

Sous Vide Guidance

Find out how to use sous vide cooking safely and what you need to do to meet food safety regulations.

Sous vide is French for ‘under vacuum’. It describes a method of cooking in vacuum-sealed plastic pouches at low temperatures for long periods. It is different from conventional cooking methods. It involves a very different set of hazards. These need carefully considered precise control measures.

You are responsible for putting in place procedures to show safe working practices using sous vide. These must be documented as part of your food safety management system. For example:

  • within your hazard analysis (HACCP)
  • or in addition to your Safer Food Better Business (SFBB) pack

SFBB on its own is not suitable to cover sous vide cooking. It doesn’t adequately consider all the hazards and control measures needed for this type of cooking.

We have produced a guidance document to help you understand:

  • the risks involved with sous vide cooking
  • how to control them adequately
  • what an EHO would expect to see during an inspection if you are using sous vide