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, it is
recommended that the food is disposed of.
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.
There is a number of Industry Guides to good hygiene practice
which give more detailed advice on statutory standards and
industrial good practice. Please refer to the link below:
food.gov.uk/industryguides