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Written by: Localyn · Published: September 2026 · Last reviewed: 22 October 2026

Fridge temperature logs: what EHOs actually check

Temperature records are often the first thing an environmental health officer looks at, because they show whether checks happen on ordinary days or only just before a visit. This guide covers the temperatures UK food businesses are expected to work to, how often to write them down, what a credible log looks like, and what to do when a reading is out of range.

The temperatures that matter

In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, food that must be kept cold is generally required to be held at 8°C or below. That figure is the legal maximum in the food hygiene regulations, not a target to sit on all day. The Food Standards Agency's Safer Food, Better Business (SFBB) pack tells caterers to aim colder in practice, commonly 5°C or below, so a busy service, a door left ajar, or a warm delivery still has a margin before food is unsafe.

Frozen food should be kept at −18°C or colder. That is the standard FSA working temperature for freezers, not a suggestion that −12°C is "close enough" if the ice cream still looks firm. Hot food held for service in England, Wales and Northern Ireland is normally kept at 63°C or above. The regulations include limited exceptions, for example some food displayed for a short time. Your safe method should say which exception you rely on, for how long, and what you do when that time is up. Do not invent a local exception on a busy Saturday.

Scotland follows Food Standards Scotland and its own food hygiene regulations, including the CookSafe pack used by many businesses. The same habits apply: write the limits from your safe method, check them, and record what you did when a unit was outside them. If you operate in more than one nation, do not assume one log heading fits every site.

How often to record

SFBB expects fridges and freezers to be checked at the start of the day and at least once later, with the actual reading written down by the person who looked. A tick, a sticker, or a column of identical "5°C" entries is not a reading. Real units drift. A log with honest variation, including the occasional 7°C that was rechecked, is more credible than a perfect sheet.

Your own safe method can set a tighter routine. A display fridge by the till, a raw-meat walk-in, and a dessert fridge do not all carry the same risk, but each one that holds food needing temperature control needs its own line. Name the unit the way staff name it ("pastry undercounter", not "fridge 2" if nobody uses that label). Record opening checks before preparation starts, not when the manager remembers at 4pm. If you are closed, do not invent a trading-day entry. If you open for a private event on a Monday you normally shut, that day needs a check too.

Probes and displays are not the same measurement. An air temperature on the fridge panel can move quickly when the door opens. A probe in food tells you about that product. Your method should say which one you record for daily checks, and when you use a probe as well — for example after a delivery, a power cut, or a unit that will not come back down.

What environmental health officers check

Officers are not scoring handwriting. They are asking whether the record proves the control worked on the days you were not being watched. Typical questions are simple, and a team that does the check can answer them:

  • Which units hold food that must be chilled or frozen, and is each one on the log?
  • Who took the reading, at what time, and was it the temperature they actually saw?
  • Are there gaps on days you were open? A blank Saturday is a missing check, not a day off from the record.
  • When a reading was warm or a freezer was high, what happened next, who decided, and how was it closed?
  • Does the log match the unit in front of them right now? Officers do compare the sheet with the display.
  • How do you know the thermometer is telling the truth?

They will also look at the food, not only the paper. Overloaded shelves, food stacked against the evaporator, raw meat above ready-to-eat food, and undated leftovers tell a story the log cannot cancel out. A tidy 5°C sheet next to a fridge full of uncovered rice does not read as control.

How to run the check

  1. Walk the units you listed in the safe method. Open the door only as long as you need.
  2. Write the temperature you see, the time, and your name. Do not copy yesterday.
  3. If the reading is inside your working limit, that entry is finished. Do not add filler comments.
  4. If it is outside the limit, follow the out-of-range steps below before you walk away.
  5. Once a week, a supervisor should sample the sheet: missing names, repeated identical numbers, and actions that were never closed.

A probe check belongs in the same habit, not in a drawer. Safer Food, Better Business checks a probe in melting ice, where it should read between −1°C and 1°C, and in boiling water, where it should read between 99°C and 101°C. Your safe method should say how often you do this and what happens if the probe is outside that range. Record the check. A probe that reads 4°C in ice water will make every fridge look colder than it is.

When a fridge is over temperature

An out-of-range reading is not a failed inspection. Ignoring it is. Start with the practical question: was the door just open for a delivery, or is the unit genuinely warm? SFBB's approach is to check the food, not to panic at a single air spike.

  1. Recheck after the door has been shut, often around half an hour, and write both readings.
  2. If it is still high, move high-risk food to a unit that is cold enough. Do not stack it in a freezer "to be quick" unless your method allows that and you protect it from contamination.
  3. Decide what can be kept. GOV.UK’s chilling guidance says chilled food can be out of the fridge for up to four hours and then must be thrown away, and that food out for less than four hours can go back in the fridge. The legal defence in England’s temperature-control rules is narrower: it is for food kept for service or on display for sale above 8°C for a single period of less than four hours. If you do not know when the food left temperature control, throw it away. Record the time you know, not a guessed time that makes the decision look neat.
  4. Write the action: moved, used immediately, discarded, engineer called. Name the person.
  5. Write the recheck that shows the unit is back in range, or that it is still out of use.

That trail is what officers mean by confidence in management. A warm fridge with a clear action is evidence the system works. A month of perfect numbers, followed by a unit at 12°C on the day of the visit, is not. The same idea sits behind our guide to moving a hygiene rating from 3 to 5.

Worked example

A cafe undercounter reads 9°C at 8:10am. The opener writes 9°C, not 5°C. The door was open for a milk delivery five minutes earlier, so they close it and recheck at 8:40am. It is 6°C. They write the second reading and "door open for delivery; back in range". No food is thrown away, because the food was still cold to the touch and the unit recovered. The manager initials the line at the lunch check.

The following Thursday the same unit reads 11°C at opening and 10°C half an hour later. Staff move the ham, cream and prepared salad to the upright fridge, which is at 4°C. They label the undercounter "do not use", call the contractor, and note that the seal is split. Cooked rice that had been in the warm unit since the previous afternoon is thrown away because nobody can show it stayed at a safe temperature. Both decisions are on the log. When the officer asks about the tape on the door, the record matches the story.

Paper sheets and digital logs

A sheet on the door is a valid record when it is completed at the time, kept legible, and reviewed. Sheets fail in ordinary ways: they run out, get wet, or get filled in on Friday for the whole week. A digital log does not replace the decision. It should still show the unit, the time, the person, the reading, and the action when the reading is wrong. If you want a paper start, the fridge temperature log sheet is a simple layout. If you are moving the wider pack off paper, the digital SFBB diary guide covers what officers still expect to see.

Keep the history. Officers often look back over weeks, not one perfect day. If you correct an entry, leave the original visible and note the correction. Silent overwriting is what makes a record look rebuilt.

Where this comes from

Temperatures and chilling practice in this guide follow Food Standards Agency Safer Food, Better Business safe methods for caterers, and the cold-holding and hot-holding duties in the food hygiene regulations for England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Scottish businesses should follow Food Standards Scotland guidance and CookSafe where they use it. Your written safe method is the standard your team is trained to, and it should match the way the kitchen actually works.

Food safety temperature records ready for review
A useful temperature record connects the reading to the action taken.

Frequently asked questions

How often should fridge temperatures be recorded?

Follow the frequency in your safe method. SFBB routines usually include a check at opening and at least one later check on days you are open, with extra checks when a unit has been warm, after a power cut, or when you have reason to doubt the display.

What temperature should a restaurant fridge be?

In England, Wales and Northern Ireland the legal maximum for chilled food that must be kept cold is generally 8°C. SFBB tells caterers to aim for a colder working temperature, often 5°C or below. Write the limit you use in the safe method and record against that.

What should happen when a fridge is too warm?

Write the reading, recheck after the door has been shut, move high-risk food if the unit does not recover, decide what must be thrown away, and record the action and the closing check. A single warm reading with a clear decision is useful evidence.

Do I have to probe every fridge every day?

Not unless your safe method says so. Many businesses record the display or air temperature on the daily log and use a probe when they need to check food itself, after a problem, or to verify the thermometer. The probe itself should be checked, commonly in ice water and boiling water, on the schedule you have written down.

Is a tick sheet enough for an EHO?

A tick does not show the temperature. Officers expect the actual reading, the time, the person, and a corrective action when the unit is outside the limit you set. Gaps on days you traded are treated as missed checks.

Related pages

Freezer temperature logsProbe calibrationFridge temperature log sheetEHO readiness quizBakeriesChilling module

Sources

Last reviewed . These links are the pages this guide was checked against. They are not an endorsement of Localyn, and they do not make a kitchen compliant.

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