If food isn't stored at safe temperatures, nothing else matters. Temperature records are the most critical SFBB document --- and the one where gaps have the most severe consequences. Here's everything you need to know about fridge, freezer, and hot hold logging.
SFBB temperature records are the most critical set of food safety documents any UK food business must maintain. This guide covers the three essential temperature zones: fridges at 1-5°C (legal maximum 8°C), freezers at -18°C or below, and hot holding at 63°C or above. You'll learn the required checking frequencies, probe thermometer specifications, what data to record, the corrective actions required for temperature breaches, and how the SFBB Ready app's digital logging with automatic alerts and time stamps makes gaps in your records impossible --- protecting your hygiene rating from the single most common cause of inspection failures.
Every food business operates across three temperature zones. Each has a target range and a legal limit --- and knowing the difference is critical:
Temperature checking frequency is not arbitrary --- it's based on risk. The more critical the temperature control, and the more opportunity for temperature to drift, the more frequently you check:
Your temperature records are only as accurate as your thermometer. The FSA requires that probe thermometers used for food safety checks meet these specifications:
Accuracy to ±0.5°C. Your thermometer must be accurate to within half a degree Celsius. Digital probe thermometers easily meet this standard; analogue dial thermometers often do not. If you're using an analogue thermometer, check its specification --- many are only accurate to ±1-2°C, which is not sufficient for food safety verification.
Calibrated regularly. Thermometers drift over time. The FSA expects you to calibrate your probe thermometer at minimum every 6 months, and ideally more frequently. The simplest field calibration method is the ice-water method: fill a cup with crushed ice and water, stir, insert the probe --- it should read 0°C (±0.5°C). Alternatively, boiling water should read 100°C (adjusted for altitude). Record calibration checks in your SFBB diary --- the EHO will ask to see them.
Cleaned and disinfected between uses. A probe thermometer inserted into raw meat and then into cooked food without cleaning is a cross-contamination vector. Use disposable probe wipes or sanitising solution between each measurement. This is particularly critical when checking both raw and ready-to-eat foods during the same service period.
Every temperature check must record six pieces of information: date, time, temperature reading, equipment ID (e.g. "Fridge 2" or "Hot Hold Unit A"), who checked it, and any corrective action taken. If temperature is within range, the corrective action field can be left blank or marked "OK." But when temperatures are out of range, this field becomes the most important part of the record.
Paper temperature logs suffer from the same problem as all paper-based food safety records: they're only as reliable as the person filling them in. During a busy service, temperature checks get skipped. At the end of the night, someone fills in plausible-looking numbers. An EHO inspector seeing a temperature log where every entry is exactly 4°C for two weeks knows exactly what happened --- and will dig deeper into everything else.
Digital temperature logging through the SFBB Ready app changes the game entirely:
Time-stamped entries that can't be backdated. Every temperature reading is recorded with a GPS-verified time stamp at the moment it's entered. No filling in yesterday's logs this morning. The app knows when you checked and when you didn't.
Automatic alerts for out-of-range readings. If you log a fridge temperature above 8°C, the app immediately alerts you with the corrective action steps. If a temperature check is missed entirely --- say the closing fridge check was never logged --- the app sends a reminder so the gap gets closed immediately, not discovered three weeks later by the EHO.
Complete history at inspection time. When the EHO asks for your temperature records, you open the app and show them a complete, time-stamped log covering every check for the past several months. No gaps, no suspiciously-consistent numbers, no "I think my colleague had that sheet." Just clean, complete, verifiable data.
Key insight for inspections
A single missing temperature log on inspection day can drop your hygiene rating from 5 to 3. The EHO's reasoning: if you can't prove you checked temperatures, they must assume you didn't. And if you didn't check temperatures, they must assume food has been stored unsafely. Digital logs with time stamps and alerts make gaps impossible --- and give the EHO exactly what they need to see: a consistent, complete record of temperature monitoring over time.
Time-stamped records, automatic alerts for out-of-range readings, and EHO-ready logs. Free trial --- no card required.
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