Temperature log: the record an inspector asks for first

A temperature log is the everyday evidence that food has been kept, cooked and cooled within safe limits. It is also the first document an inspector asks to see, because it shows whether a food safety system is actually operating or merely written down — and a log with neat identical readings every day tells an experienced inspector something quite different from what the author intended.

What a temperature log must record

• Fridge and freezer readings, at least daily and usually twice, with the unit identified.
• Cooking temperatures for the items your system says to check, with the dish named.
• Hot holding readings for anything held above ambient before service.
• Cooling checks, which are the ones most often skipped and the ones most associated with actual illness.
• Delivery temperatures at the point of acceptance, including the rejections.
• Who took each reading and when, since an unsigned log evidences nothing about who was responsible.

Why gaps are worse than bad readings

A reading out of range with a recorded action — food moved, unit adjusted, stock discarded — demonstrates a working system. A missing day demonstrates nothing at all, and an inspector reads it as the system not operating rather than as an oversight. That is why the honest log beats the tidy one: identical readings to the decimal place every day for three months is the pattern that invites a closer look, because real equipment does not behave that way.

Record the action, not just the number. "Fridge 7°C" is a problem with no resolution; "Fridge 7°C, stock moved to unit 2, engineer called, retested 4°C at 15:30" is a system working. The second takes fifteen extra seconds and is the difference between evidence and a liability.

When a reading is out of range

1. Act on the food first — move it, use it immediately, or discard it, depending on how far out and for how long.
2. Record what you did and when, in the same place as the reading.
3. Fix or report the equipment, and note that too, since a repeated fault with no report is the finding.
4. Decide whether anything needs escalating, and say who did the deciding.
5. Check the same unit more frequently until it has been stable for a stated period.

Keeping it practical

The log has to be fast enough that it actually gets done during service, which means it belongs where the readings are taken rather than in an office, and it needs a named person per shift rather than a general expectation. Calibrate probes on a schedule and record that too — an uncalibrated probe makes every reading in the log worthless, which is a surprisingly common way for a year of diligent record-keeping to count for nothing.

Ettex Records keeps the logs with the date, unit, reading, action and the person, which makes a year of them searchable rather than a folder nobody opens until an inspection. The system that decides which checks matter belongs in the HACCP plan, and the log is what proves that plan is being followed.