Guide
Control food temperatures safely
Keep food at safe temperatures throughout storage, cooking, holding, cooling, and reheating to prevent harmful bacterial growth and comply with food hygiene law.
If you run a food business that stores, cooks, reheats, or serves food, you must control temperatures at every stage of the process. Temperature control is a legal requirement under Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 (Annex II, Chapter IX). Failure to maintain safe temperatures is one of the most common reasons for poor food hygiene ratings and enforcement action.
The temperature danger zone
Bacteria that cause food poisoning multiply most rapidly between 8 degrees C and 63 degrees C. This is called the danger zone. Your aim is to keep food out of this range as much as possible.
The two-hour/four-hour rule gives practical guidance: food that has been in the danger zone for less than two hours can be refrigerated for later use. Food that has been in the danger zone for two to four hours should be used immediately. Food that has been in the danger zone for more than four hours must be thrown away.
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1. Check deliveries on arrival
Check the temperature of chilled and frozen food when it arrives. Chilled food should be at 8 degrees C or below and frozen food at minus 18 degrees C or below. Reject any delivery where temperatures are outside these limits. Record the temperature, date, and supplier in your delivery log.
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2. Store food at the correct temperature
Put chilled and frozen food into storage immediately after checking. Set your fridge to run at 5 degrees C or below (the legal maximum is 8 degrees C, but 5 degrees C gives a safety margin). Set freezers to minus 18 degrees C or below. Store raw meat on the lowest shelves, below ready-to-eat food.
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3. Cook food to safe core temperatures
Cook food until the core reaches at least 75 degrees C. Alternatively, cook to 70 degrees C and hold at that temperature for 2 minutes. Use a calibrated probe thermometer to check. Take particular care with poultry, pork, rolled joints, and minced meat products.
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4. Hold hot food above 63 degrees C
If you display or serve hot food, keep it at 63 degrees C or above. Check the temperature regularly with a probe thermometer. If hot food drops below 63 degrees C, either reheat to at least 75 degrees C or serve within 2 hours. After 2 hours below 63 degrees C, throw it away.
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5. Cool cooked food safely
If you need to refrigerate cooked food, cool it as quickly as possible. The target is to reduce the temperature from 63 degrees C to below 8 degrees C within 90 minutes. Divide large quantities into smaller, shallow containers.
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6. Reheat food thoroughly
Reheat food until the core temperature reaches at least 75 degrees C (or 82 degrees C in Scotland). Check with a probe thermometer. Only reheat food once. Do not add freshly cooked food to a batch that has already been reheated.
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7. Defrost food safely
Defrost food thoroughly before cooking unless manufacturer's instructions say to cook from frozen. Defrost in the fridge on a tray that catches drips, or use a microwave on the defrost setting if you plan to cook immediately. Never defrost food at room temperature.
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8. Monitor and record temperatures
Use a calibrated digital probe thermometer to check food temperatures. Clean and disinfect the probe between uses. Record all temperature checks in your monitoring log. Calibrate your probe regularly in iced water (0 degrees C) and boiling water (100 degrees C).
- Danger zone
- 8 degrees C to 63 degrees C -- bacteria multiply rapidly
- Fridge target
- 5 degrees C or below (legal maximum 8 degrees C)
- Freezer
- Minus 18 degrees C or below
- Cooking core temperature
- 75 degrees C (or 70 degrees C for 2 minutes)
- Hot holding
- 63 degrees C or above
- Cooling target
- 63 degrees C to below 8 degrees C within 90 minutes
- Reheating (England/Wales/NI)
- 75 degrees C core temperature
- Reheating (Scotland)
- 82 degrees C core temperature
Temperature control and cross-contamination
Poor temperature control often works alongside cross-contamination to cause food poisoning. Raw meat stored above cooked food can drip bacteria downward, and if the fridge is also running too warm, those bacteria multiply quickly.
What to do when temperatures go wrong
If a fridge or freezer breaks down or temperatures rise above safe limits, act immediately:
- Fridge failure: If the temperature has risen above 8 degrees C, check how long food has been above this temperature. Food above 8 degrees C for less than 2 hours can be used immediately or re-chilled. Food above 8 degrees C for more than 4 hours must be thrown away.
- Freezer failure: If food has started to defrost but still contains ice crystals and is below 8 degrees C, it can be cooked immediately but must not be refrozen.
- Hot holding failure: If food drops below 63 degrees C, either reheat it to 75 degrees C and return it to hot holding, or serve it within 2 hours. After 2 hours, discard it.
Record all temperature breaches and the corrective actions you took.