Food safety records and documents: the kitchen folder map

Law in all four nations No law gives a list of food safety records, or says how to file them. The law asks every food business to put in place food safety procedures based on HACCP, with "documents and records commensurate with the nature and size of the food business" (Article 5 of Regulation 852/2004). That duty is the same in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Guidance GOV.UK puts it simply: keep "records of your food safety systems, checks and how you've put things right".

Law in all four nations One rule comes closer to naming a record: you must be able to say who supplied each food, and which businesses you supplied, if any (Article 18 of Regulation 178/2002). Section 5 covers it.

The rest of a usual list is how the free packs and councils suggest you show the law is being met: fridge readings, cooking and cooling checks, opening and closing checks, cleaning, probe checks, training and pest visits. How much you keep depends on your size and what you cook.

Guidance in England, Wales and Northern Ireland GOV.UK says that if a business's processes are very simple, it may be able to meet the law by following good hygiene practice. Ask your council's food safety team if you think that applies to you.

Law in England, Wales and Scotland You may hear "due diligence". It is a defence in court: a business can argue it "took all reasonable precautions and exercised all due diligence" to avoid an offence. In England this is in regulation 12 of the Food Safety and Hygiene (England) Regulations 2013; the Food Safety Act 1990 has the same defence in England, Wales and Scotland. Records written at the time are the usual way to show what you did. Whether a defence works is for a court, not a folder or an app.

Our advice Think of the folder in three parts. Our food safety management system guide explains each one.

• The plan at the front: what you do to keep food safe, and what you do when something goes wrong.
• The records in the middle: proof that you do it, day by day, and what you did about problems.
• The review at the back: regular checks that it works, and updates when your menu, suppliers, equipment or staff change.

Guidance in England and Wales The FSA pack says it "should always be available at the business." Guidance in Northern Ireland Safe Catering says staff "should be able to produce it when requested by an inspecting Environmental Health Officer."

Our advice No law sets this layout. It is our way of filing what each pack asks for, in the order a kitchen uses it. Use dividers, and put the newest pages at the front of each section.

The kitchen folderEleven sections, front to back

• 1. The plan: your safe methods or HACCP plan, its review dates and your contacts.
• 2. Daily records: opening and closing checks, fridge and freezer temperatures, cooking, cooling, reheating, hot holding, deliveries, food sent out, stock and use-by checks, and what went wrong and what you did.
• 3. Cleaning schedule: what is cleaned, how and how often, and the cleaning record.
• 4. Probe checks: the probe thermometer checks and their results.
• 5. Staff sickness and fitness to work: fitness to work and return to work notes.
• 6. Pest control: contractor visits, reports and what you did.
• 7. Training: who was trained in what, and copies of certificates.
• 8. Suppliers and traceability: the supplier list, and invoices and receipts.
• 9. Allergen information: ingredient and allergen information for every dish.
• 10. Review: the regular review, signed and dated.
• 11. Old records: finished pages, kept until you can let them go (section 7).

Where each section comes from

• 1. The plan. Guidance in England and Wales The FSA pack's safe methods, in five sections (Cross-contamination, Cleaning, Chilling, Cooking, Management), with its "Safe method completion record" and a box for "Date pack first completed", "Review date" and "Reviewed by". In England and Wales, our free plan builder helps you write your safe methods. Guidance in Northern Ireland The Safe Catering Plan, with its Declaration of Completion. Guidance in Scotland CookSafe's Flow Diagram, HACCP Charts and House Rules.
• 2. Daily records. Section 4 has each one, nation by nation.
• 3. Cleaning schedule. Law in all four nations Premises and equipment must be kept clean. The schedule is how the packs suggest you show it. Our cleaning schedule guide has the detail.
• 4. Probe checks. Guidance The packs differ: the FSA pack says "for example once a month", Safe Catering says "at least twice a year", and CookSafe has a Monthly Probe Thermometer Check. Our probe check guide has the method.
• 5. Staff sickness and fitness to work. Law in all four nations Staff must report symptoms and be kept away from food when they could make it unsafe. No law requires a written form. Safe Catering has SC7, the Fitness to Work Assessment Form. See our staff sickness guide.
• 6. Pest control. Law in all four nations The law asks for "adequate procedures" to control pests, not a contract. See our pest control guide. Guidance in Northern Ireland Safe Catering: "It is recommended that any pest contractor report is kept as part of your documentation."
• 7. Training. Law in all four nations Food handlers must be supervised and instructed or trained in food hygiene to suit their work. No certificate is required by law. See our food hygiene certificate guide. Guidance in Northern Ireland Safe Catering's SC6 Hygiene Training Record says: "Copies Of Any Certificates Should Be Kept With This Form".
• 8. Suppliers and traceability. Section 5.
• 9. Allergen information. Section 6.
• 10. Review. Law in all four nations Checks "carried out regularly" that your system works, and a review when anything changes. Guidance The FSA pack's diary has a review every 4 weeks, Safe Catering recommends "a minimum of a yearly review", and CookSafe's review is ideally every six months. See our food safety diary guide.
• 11. Old records. Section 7.

Download the kitchen folder map (PDF, one page). It is free to print and use in your kitchen.

Guidance Each pack keeps the daily records in its own way. Only Safe Catering numbers its forms. The FSA pack has no daily fridge, cooking or cooling log: its minimum is the diary, with a "Prove it: Records" sheet for the checks you write down, and it says "you may need to keep more records" depending on your business. Safe Catering's SC8 and CookSafe's All-in-One Record can be used instead of the separate delivery and temperature forms.

Record	England and Wales: FSA pack	Northern Ireland: Safe Catering	Scotland: CookSafe
Opening and closing checks	The opening and closing checks, ticked and signed in the diary	No daily form. SC5 Hygiene Inspection Checklist for regular premises checks	No daily form. Weekly Record for weekly checks
Fridge and freezer temperatures	The diary, the "Prove it" records, or your own record	SC2 (or SC8)	Cold Food Record
Cooking	The cooking safely safe method; "Prove it: Records"	SC3	Hot Temperature Record
Cooling	The chilling down hot food safe method; "Prove it: Records"	SC3	Hot Temperature Record
Reheating	The reheating safe method; "Prove it: Records"	SC3	Hot Temperature Record
Hot holding	The hot holding safe method; "Prove it: Records"	SC4	Hot Holding Record
Deliveries	Stock control, and suppliers and contractors; problems in the diary	SC1	Delivery Record
Food you send out (deliveries to customers, outside catering)	No separate form; the hot holding safe method covers food deliveries	SC9 Customer Delivery Record	Off Site Temperature Record
Stock and use-by checks	Stock control safe method; the closing check "Food on its Use By date has been thrown away"	SC5 Hygiene Inspection Checklist (date codes and stock rotation)	House Rules: Stock control; Weekly Record
What went wrong and what you did	The diary: "Any problems or changes - what did you do?"	The corrective action on each form	"Corrective actions taken" on the Weekly Record

Law in all four nations Article 5 asks for corrective actions and for records of them. Guidance in Northern Ireland Safe Catering: "you must also record what you have done about it (corrective actions)".

Our advice Write the reading when you take it, and write what you did on the same line. A record filled in at the end of the week is worth little.

Law in all four nations The law on tracing food is Article 18 of Regulation 178/2002, and the rule is the same in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. It asks for two things.

• One step back: you must be able to identify anyone who supplied you with a food, and give that to an inspector "on demand".
• One step forward: you must be able to identify "the other businesses to which" your products were supplied. If you sell only to the public, there is no forward record to keep. If you also supply other businesses, for example cakes to a cafe or meals to a care home, keep a record of who you supplied. GOV.UK suggests what, how much and when.

Guidance in England and Wales The law does not say how to keep these records. The FSA pack says the easiest way is to keep all your invoices and receipts. It calls a record of "what food products you have bought, who you bought them from, the quantity, the date" a legal requirement, and adds that, ideally, you keep them "until you are sure that the food they refer to has been consumed without any problems".

Guidance in Northern Ireland Safe Catering asks for a supplier list, and for batch codes on food of animal origin, such as meat, fish and dairy.

No law requires an "approved supplier list". Our delivery checks guide covers what to check when food arrives.

Law in all four nations The law asks that allergen information for the food you serve is available to customers, and that staff are trained on allergens. It does not require a matrix. Our free allergen matrix is ready to print if you want one.

Guidance in England, Wales and Northern Ireland GOV.UK's allergen guidance for food businesses says allergen ingredient information should be recorded in writing (on product specification sheets, in recipes) and kept up to date. A matrix is one common way: the FSA pack gives it as an example.

Guidance in Scotland See Food Standards Scotland and CookSafe's Allergen Management house rules.

Our advice Keep the allergen information for every dish in this section of the folder, and update it the day a recipe or a supplier changes.

Law in all four nations No law sets a number. The law says to keep records "for an appropriate period". The packs word it differently:

• Guidance in England and Wales GOV.UK says to keep the FSA diary pages "until your next visit from a local authority food safety officer". For supplier invoices, the FSA pack says ideally keep them until the food "has been consumed without any problems".
• Guidance in Northern Ireland Safe Catering: "It is recommended that you keep records for at least 12 months."
• Guidance in Scotland CookSafe says your Enforcement Officer can advise on the time frame.

Our advice Keep everything at least until after your next inspection, and ask your council if you are unsure. Our food safety management system guide has the full wording.

No law says your records must be on paper: each nation's pack allows records to be kept electronically, and in all four nations an inspector can look at records "in whatever form they are held". What each nation says, what makes a record believable and what to do if an inspector asks for paper: our digital food safety records guide.

Our advice Many kitchens use both: the plan and documents in a folder, the daily records on a phone. Make sure the folder says where the daily records are.

Guidance in England, Wales and Northern Ireland There is no published list of what an inspector will ask to see. GOV.UK says: "All your records need to be kept up-to-date and be available for inspections at all times."

Our advice Expect to be asked for your plan and for the records that show you follow it. Expect questions to the people on shift as well. Our EHO inspection guide lists the records to have ready.

1. A folder in the office, a kitchen with nothing. Keep the folder where the food is made.
2. Records filled in at the end of the week. Write each check when you do it.
3. A failed reading with nothing next to it. Always write what you did about it.
4. Blank days with no explanation. If you were closed, write it.
5. Old pages thrown away too soon. Keep them at least until after your next inspection.
6. Invoices binned. They are the simplest way to trace where your food came from.
7. A plan that no longer matches the menu. Review it when anything changes.
8. Records in three places. If some are on paper and some on a phone, say so at the front of the folder.

Paper works. In ChefsRecords, an iPhone app, you can keep many of the daily records:

• temperature checks, each with what was done when a reading was outside its limit;
• opening, closing, weekly and monthly checklists, including fridge and freezer readings and probe checks;
• incidents;
• a supplier list;
• stock with the date to use it by;
• a sign-off for each day by a Manager or Supervisor, and a Monthly Review signed off by a Manager.

The Inspection Pack puts temperatures, checklists and incidents for the dates you choose into one PDF. On Pro, each person's staff file can hold their training certificates and right to work dates, with reminders.

The Reports screen: the daily records, ready to show or print.

The app holds records, not documents. Your plan, allergen information, pest contractor reports, invoices and copies of certificates stay in the folder. It does not write, check or replace your plan.

Which plan. Recording cooking, cooling, hot holding, reheating and delivery temperatures is included on every plan. After the 14-day trial, the free plan keeps them for one login, the kitchen's billing Manager. Checklists, stock, reports and the Inspection Pack come with Standard and Pro and are open in the 14-day trial. Training and right to work records are part of Pro and are not in the trial. Reports look back 12 months on Standard and 24 months on Pro. A Manager can export the records to a spreadsheet on any plan.

See what else it does.

Get ChefsRecords on the App Store (iPhone) ›
14 days free. No card required.

Some papers belong in the office rather than the kitchen folder. Inside food hygiene law:

• Food business registration. Law in all four nations Register with your council before you start. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, GOV.UK says "at least 28 days before trading". It is free. What happens next: our first food hygiene inspection guide.
• Training records, the supplier list and invoices, pest contractor reports and allergen information (sections 7, 8, 6 and 9 of the map), if you keep them in the office rather than the kitchen.
• Your last inspection letter. Our advice Keep it with the plan, and check what it asked you to do.

Outside food hygiene law, see GOV.UK:

• Right to work checks: GOV.UK says "keep copies during the applicant's employment and for 2 years after they stop working for you".
• Employers' liability insurance: GOV.UK says "display your EL certificate where employees can access it". That page does not cover Northern Ireland.
• Fire risk assessment: GOV.UK says the responsible person must "carry out a fire risk assessment of the premises and review it regularly". Scotland and Northern Ireland have different rules.
• Gas, licences, waste and health and safety: outside food hygiene law. See GOV.UK, nibusinessinfo.co.uk in Northern Ireland, or mygov.scot.

What food safety records are legally required?

No law gives a list. The law asks for food safety procedures based on HACCP, with records that fit "the nature and size of the food business", and for a way to say who supplied each food and which businesses you supplied, if any. The free pack for your nation shows which records to keep.

What documents should be in a kitchen food safety folder?

Our map has eleven sections: the plan, daily records, cleaning schedule, probe checks, staff sickness and fitness to work, pest control, training, suppliers and traceability, allergen information, review and old records. No law sets this layout; it is our way of filing what each pack asks for.

Do I need a HACCP plan, or is a pack enough?

The law asks for procedures based on HACCP, not a "HACCP plan" by that name. The FSA pack, Safe Catering and CookSafe are all based on HACCP. For most small caterers a pack, filled in properly, is the simplest way. Your council may advise a fuller HACCP plan for a larger or higher-risk business.

How long do you keep food safety records?

No law sets a number: "for an appropriate period". GOV.UK says to keep the FSA diary pages until your next visit from a food safety officer, Safe Catering recommends at least 12 months, and CookSafe says your Enforcement Officer can advise.

Can food safety records be kept on a phone or computer?

No law says records must be on paper, and each nation's pack allows records to be kept electronically. Keep them up to date and make sure they can be shown at the business when an inspector asks. More in our digital food safety records guide.

What will an inspector ask to see?

There is no published list. Expect to be asked for your plan and the records that show you follow it, and expect questions to the people on shift. Our EHO inspection guide lists the records to have ready.

Do I need an approved supplier list?

No law requires an "approved supplier list". The law asks that you can say who supplied each food. A supplier list and your invoices are how the packs suggest you do it.

Do I have to keep invoices?

The law asks that you can trace who supplied each food, not how. The FSA pack says the easiest way is to keep all your invoices and receipts, ideally until the food has been eaten without any problems.

Do I need records of who I sell food to?

Only for other businesses. The law asks that you can identify the businesses you supplied. If you sell only to the public, there is no forward record to keep.

Do I need an allergen matrix?

The law asks that allergen information is available to customers and that staff are trained on allergens. It does not require a matrix. GOV.UK says the information should be recorded in writing and kept up to date; a matrix is one common way.

What does due diligence mean for a kitchen?

It is a defence in court: a business can argue it took all reasonable precautions and exercised all due diligence to avoid an offence. Records written at the time are the usual way to show what you did. Whether a defence works is for a court.

Where should the folder be kept?

At the business. The FSA pack says it "should always be available at the business", and Safe Catering says staff should be able to produce it when an inspector asks.

Related guides

The food safety management system guide, the food safety diary guide, the EHO inspection guide, the first food hygiene inspection guide, the opening and closing checks guide, the fridge temperature log guide, the delivery checks guide, the digital food safety records guide, the probe check guide and the near miss guide.