Why would you have a fridge temperature chart?
This is one of the first thing that an inspector will ask during an audit.
Recording temperatures is also important to make sure that all the fridges and freezers are working correctly and that there isn’t any excessive temperature variations.
What’s the recommended temperature?
The recommended temperature for a fridge is between 1-4°C (40°F). For a freezer the recommended temperature is -18°C (°F).
The legal limit for a fridge is 8°C (46°F) and -15°C (5°F) for a freezer.
How often should I record temperatures?
If you are on SFBB package (UK), you only need to record exceptions. Exception recording implies to check every fridges and freezer anyway, however instead to record the temperature of each unit, you only need to record temperatures that are out of range and give a reason why. This is only suited for small businesses.
If you are not on a SFBB package and you will need to log temperatures of all your fridges and freezers at least twice a day, preferably in the morning and in the evening, provide and record a corrective action in case a temperature is out of range.
What should I do if a temperature is out of range?
First of all, you need to assess if there is a logical reason. For example :
- Has the door being left opened?
- Is the fridge overloaded?
- Have you just received a a delivery?
- Is the unit on defrosting mode?
- etc…
In the event that there is no logical reasons, you will need to move the food to an alternative fridge and call maintenance.
Keep in mind that most importantly you need to monitor the food temperature. If the food has been above 8°C for more than 4 hours it will need to be discarded.
What’s the risk of not recording fridge/freezer temperatures?
Any food business must have a food safety management plan in place which implies recording these temperatures.
If you are not doing it, you are running the risk of being fined and receive poor food safety ratings.
Is there a way to be more efficient to do it?
With Qualizy you can easily record temperatures, receive smart alerts and show due diligence instantly in case of an inspection.
You don’t need a fridge temperature chart anymore.
You can either use our temperature sensors and automate the whole process, so you never forget to record a temperature. Or you can use the app to record your temperatures digitally instead of doing in on a piece of paper.
There are a lot of advantages of going digital with your food safety records :
- Receive alerts and notifications
- Time stamped
- Unfalsifiable
- Stored in a secured cloud server
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