Temperature Control Legislation
Temperature control requirements are included
within regulation 30 of The Food Hygiene (England) Regulations
2006. Good temperature control of foods is fundamental to the safe
operation of many food businesses.
These Regulations allow some flexibility,
consistent with food safety, to take into account practical
handling issues.
They tell you:
- which food businesses must follow the
Regulations;
- the temperatures at which certain foods must be
kept;
- when foods are exempt from specific temperature
controls;
- when the temperature controls allow
flexibility.
For further advice contact the Food &
Occupational Health Section.
The Regulations apply to all types of food
business, from a hot dog van to a five star restaurant, from a
village hall where food is prepared, to a vending machine. If you
are a caterer or retailer, or if you manufacture products which are
not of animal origin, it is almost inevitable that you will need to
follow the advice in this booklet. This is true whether the food is
sold publicly or privately, for profit or for fund raising.
However, the Regulations do not apply to food cooked at home for
private consumption.
The following stages in the food production
chain, after primary production, are subject to the Temperature
Control Regulations:-
Preparation; Handling; Processing; Packaging;
Manufacturing; Storage;
Other regulations
Some businesses, generally manufacturing
products of animal origin like dairies or slaughterhouses, follow
their own product-specific Regulations, some of which give their
own temperature controls.
The Regulations state that foods which need
temperature control for safety must be held either:
HOT:
at or above a minimum temperature of 63°C.
CHILLED:
at or below a maximum temperature of 8°C.
Certain foods may be exempt from these
requirements and there is room for flexibility in certain
circumstances.
All types of food which, without temperature
control, might support the growth of harmful (pathogenic) bacteria
or the formation of poisons (toxins). Such foods are likely to fall
into a number of categories:-
Dairy Products:
Such as soft or semi-hard cheeses (e.g.
Stilton) ripened by mould and/or bacteria, dairy based desserts
such as fromage frais, mousses, creme caramels or products
containing whipped creams.
Cooked Products:
All foods comprising or containing eggs, meat,
fish, milk or their products, cereals (including rice), pulses and
vegetables, or sandwiches which contain these ingredients.
Smoked or Cured Ready to Eat Meat or Fish:
Such as sliced cured meats like ham, smoked
fish, some salamis and other fermented products, unless the curing
method leaves the product 'shelf stable' at room temperature.
Prepared Ready to Eat Foods:
Such as prepared vegetables, vegetable salads
like coleslaw or prepared products containing mayonnaise.
Uncooked or Partly Cooked Pastry and Dough Products:
Such as pizzas or fresh pasta containing meat,
fish (or substitutes) or vegetables.
Some of these listed products may be preserved
or prepared in such a way as to relax or remove the need for
temperature control.
Because of food labelling legislation, packaged
products should have special storage conditions on their labels,
and any such conditions will indicate whether or not the food in
the packaging needs to be kept chilled.
In addition to setting specific chill and hot
holding temperatures for certain foods, the Regulations also
contain a general overall temperature requirement that no person
shall keep any raw materials, ingredients, intermediate products
and finished products likely to support the growth of harmful
bacteria or the formation of toxins at temperatures which would
result in a risk to health.
In most circumstances maintaining food
temperatures for relevant food at 8°C or below or at 63°C or above,
will satisfy this requirement. There will be situations where it is
appropriate to keep foods at chill temperatures lower than 8°C for
safety reasons. Examples may be certain cook-chill foods or some
vacuum packed, extended shelf life foods such as 'sous vide'
products. (Sous vide products are products which have been cooked
in a vacuum package and are intended to be rapidly chilled and
stored at chill temperatures, often with long storage lives.)
In specific circumstances, some foods are
exempt from the 8°C limit. These include:-
- Foods which can be kept at room temperature
throughout their shelf life, without causing any health risk, e.g.
some cured or smoked products or certain bakery products which are
to be sold quickly.
- Food which goes through a preservation process,
e.g. canning or dehydration: Most canned or dried foods are stable
at room temperatures until the can is opened or the food is
rehydrated. There are some cans of ham or similar cooked meats
which may only be pasteurised, and must be kept chilled. Once the
seal of a can is broken, the food must be kept chilled if it
contains any of the food types described earlier. For high acid
canned foods such as fruit or some vegetables, chilled storage is
not essential.
- Food which must be ripened or matured at room
temperature, e.g. soft or mould ripened cheeses. Once fully ripened
or matured, the food must be stored and/or displayed by food
businesses at or below 8°C.
- Raw food intended for further processing
(including cooking) which will ensure the food is fit for human
consumption, e.g. fresh meat and fish, except where they are
intended to be eaten raw, for example a steak tartare or
sushi.
- Mail order food: Although exempt from the 8°C
control, mail order foods must be supplied at temperatures which
will not present a health risk.
The Regulations recognise it is impractical to
keep foods at the suggested temperatures at all times. At certain
times, they therefore allow a degree of flexibility, called
tolerances, which are explained below:-
Service or Display
Food normally requiring temperature control may
be kept above 8°C for a single period of up to 4 hours, to allow it
to be served or displayed. After this period, any food remaining
should be thrown away or chilled to 8°C or below until used. This
would include self-service food, buffets and some foods displayed
in restaurants and cafes and food served or displayed in
shops.
Only one tolerance period of service or display
is allowed. After this, remaining food or foodstuffs should be
either replaced under chill control until final use, or
discarded.
Food which will be served hot may be kept for
service or on display for sale to consumers out of temperature
control (63°C or above) for a period of two hours. After this time,
the food should either be discarded or cooled as quickly as
possible to a temperature of 8°C or below, before final reheating
for sale.
Handling and Unloading
Limited periods outside chill control are also
allowed where:
- Food is being loaded or unloaded from a
refrigerated vehicle for transfer to or from food premises; or
- There are unavoidable circumstances, for example
when food has to be handled during and after processing and
preparation, or if equipment is defrosted or temporarily breaks
down.
Good management practice should ensure food is
kept under these conditions for the shortest time possible. The
Regulations do not give a specific time limit, but normally it
should not be more than two hours, in order to avoid undue risk to
the food.
Other Tolerances
In a few special circumstances, manufacturers
or organisations can recommend a holding temperature above the
normal 8°C chill temperature or below the 63°C minimum hot holding
temperature. However, any such recommendation must be supported by
a well-founded scientific assessment, and a suitable shelf-life
must be given.
In practice there are likely to be few
circumstances where this variation from normal temperature control
is necessary or appropriate. Manufacturers and suppliers of chilled
products who recommend holding temperatures above 8°C, must state
this clearly on the food label or by written instructions.
Cooling times are critical to food safety.
Foods which must be chilled for safety must be cooled as soon as
possible after any final cooking or preparation.
You can greatly reduce cooling times through
simple measures such as limiting the size of joints or dividing
products into smaller amounts.
Recognised voluntary industry guides to good
hygiene practice may give more detailed advice on how to follow the
Regulations. The current industry guides are under review and are
to be published late 2007.