Fridge temperature logs: what UK food safety rules expect

Know which limit you are recording

In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, chilled food must legally be kept at 8°C or below under the applicable food-safety rules, including the Food Safety and Hygiene (England) Regulations 2013 in England. The Food Standards Agency advises running fridges at 5°C or below to give a safety margin. A 5°C operational target and an 8°C legal ceiling are not the same thing.

Scotland does not use a fixed 8°C figure in the same way, but food must be kept cold; 5°C or below is recommended. Freezers should run at −18°C or colder. Check current guidance for your nation and the food involved rather than treating one figure as the answer to every storage situation.

• Fridge operational target: 5°C or below
• 8°C chilled-food legal ceiling in England, Wales and Northern Ireland
• Freezer target: −18°C or colder

Give every reading a clear identity

A useful log identifies the unit, time, reading and person checking. “Fridge: OK” does not tell you whether the kitchen fridge, display cabinet or a second store unit was checked. Use a stable unit label and keep the same label on the appliance and the record.

Check and record at least once a day as a practical routine; many businesses check at opening and closing. The frequency should fit your food-safety management system and operation, not an assumption that a daily tick is a universal statutory rule. Record the actual reading, not just that the check was done.

• Date and time of the check
• Unit name or asset label
• Reading in °C and checker’s initials
• Corrective action for any out-of-range reading

Write down what happened next

An out-of-range reading needs an action record. Write what was found, who was told and the corrective action taken under your own food-safety procedure. If a repeat reading is taken, keep it as a separate reading with its time, rather than overwriting the first value so the problem disappears from the log.

The JobForms temperature template flags readings above the chosen fridge target or warmer than the freezer limit. Its “Needs attention” warning makes an exception visible and asks for a corrective-action note. That warning is a prompt to follow your procedure, not an instruction about whether particular food is safe to serve.

Keep the log within your food-safety system

Food businesses must have a food-safety management system based on HACCP principles and keep records. Safer Food, Better Business is used in England and Wales; CookSafe is used in Scotland. A temperature log is one part of that system, alongside the procedures, checks and actions appropriate to the business.

Keep fridge readings with cooking, hot-holding and delivery records where those checks are relevant. A manager reviewing an exception should be able to find both the reading and the action without searching through separate messages. A dated PDF is useful for a review, but the quality of the underlying record matters more than its appearance.

Start with the free fridge and freezer log and give the units labels your staff recognise. If you use scheduled checks in JobForms, a daily suggestion can prefill a schedule; nothing is created automatically. Free includes up to two active schedules with in-app reminders, while automatic email reminders are a paid feature.