Check each fridge and freezer at least once a day, at opening, and more often if your HACCP plan or national guide says so. For each check, write the date and time, the unit, the reading, your initials, and what you did if the value was out of range. Keep the log at your premises, where an inspector can see it, for as long as your national rules require.
How often to check
EU law does not set a number of checks. Article 5 of Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 asks for monitoring at critical control points, and your HACCP plan sets how often. Common practice is:
- Once a day, at opening, before food comes out of the fridge.
- Twice a day, at opening and closing, for display fridges and units that are opened often.
- An extra check after a power cut, a large delivery or a repair.
The FSA's Safer food, better business pack for England and Wales, for example, has a diary with daily opening and closing checks.
Which limits to use
Write the limits from your HACCP plan at the top of each sheet. Then whoever fills it in can see at once whether a value is out of range. Many national guides use:
- Chilled food: 0 to +5 °C.
- Frozen food: -18 °C or colder.
National rules differ. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the legal limit for chilled food is 8 °C, and the FSA advises keeping fridges between 0 and 5 °C. Check your national guide before you write the limits on the sheet.
What to write in each entry
One sheet per month, with one row per day, is enough for a small kitchen. Each row needs:
- The date and time of the reading.
- The unit. Give each fridge and freezer a name or number, and use it every time.
- The reading in °C.
- The initials of the person who checked.
- If the value was out of range: what you did, or a note to see the corrective action log.
If a check was missed, leave the row empty and write why. Do not fill it in later from memory.
How to get a reliable reading
- Read the thermometer when the door has been closed for a while, not right after a delivery.
- A built-in display shows the air temperature. Air warms and cools faster than food. If the display shows a high value, check a product with a clean probe thermometer before you decide what to do.
- During a defrost cycle the air reading rises for a short time. Note it, and check again after the cycle.
- Check your thermometers from time to time. A probe in iced water should read close to 0 °C. Replace a thermometer that reads wrong.
When a value is out of range
- Check again after a few minutes, with the door closed.
- Look for the cause: a door left open, a fresh delivery, a fridge that is too full, a broken seal.
- Check the core temperature of the food.
- Decide what happens to the food, following your HACCP plan: keep it, move it to another fridge, or throw it away.
- Write it in the corrective action log: what was wrong, what you did, and who checked.
If the same fridge is out of range again, have it repaired, and write the repair in the log too.
Where to keep it and for how long
Keep the log at the premises, next to the fridges or with your other HACCP records, so it is there when an inspector visits. EU law does not set a period. Article 5 of Regulation 852/2004 asks for records that fit the size of the business, kept for an appropriate period. Your national rules set the number of years.
Paper and electronic logs can both work. The SFBB diary, for example, can be kept on paper or electronically. If you keep the log on a computer or phone, make sure you can show or print it during an inspection. If you are unsure what your authority accepts, ask it.
Do it in the app
In EZLineGo, Bluetooth thermometers in your fridges record the temperature all the time, so a fridge with a thermometer needs no manual entries. You set a limit for each fridge, see every fridge on one screen, and get an alert when one gets too warm or too cold. You can look back at the readings, download them, and show the HACCP log as a PDF at an inspection; temperature monitoring is part of Pro, which costs 15 EUR a month and which you can try free for 30 days.