PREVRA Fridge Temperature Chart: Safe Storage Temperatures for Every Food Type
A clear reference chart showing safe fridge temperatures for different food categories. Required under SFBB and HACCP for all UK food businesses. Includes legal limits and best-practice recommendations.
Why fridge temperature matters for food safety compliance
Your fridge must stay at or below 5°C by law. Every degree above that accelerates bacterial growth exponentially. An EHO inspection will check both your fridge temperature AND your records proving you monitor it daily.
This chart gives your team a quick visual reference so there is no confusion about where each food type belongs and what temperature range is safe.
The counter-intuitive fact: the legal limit of 5°C is a compromise, not the ideal. Pathogenic bacteria like listeria monocytogenes can still grow at refrigeration temperatures, just very slowly. The closer you can maintain to 1-3°C without freezing, the longer your high-risk foods remain safe. Every degree reduction below 5°C roughly doubles the safe shelf life of fresh protein.
Using this chart in your daily kitchen routine
Print and display on or near every fridge unit. Staff should check their fridge temperature twice daily — at opening and after the lunch rush — and record it in your temperature log. If a fridge reads above 5°C, move high-risk food to a working unit and call an engineer.
Digital SFBB takes this further: your team logs temperatures from any phone, the system flags readings outside safe range immediately, and your EHO sees a complete, timestamped history. No more paper logs that get filled in retrospectively or lost under the prep table.
Temperature monitoring errors that undermine your records
Checking temperature immediately after restocking. A fridge loaded with ambient-temperature stock needs at least 30 minutes to stabilise. Take your reading before restocking or wait for the unit to recover.
Placing the thermometer probe on a shelf rather than in the warmest spot. The warmest part of a fridge is usually near the door at the top. Place a secondary thermometer there and use it as your worst-case reading.
Recording the same temperature every day without actually checking. EHOs spot this immediately — a fridge that reads exactly 3.2°C every single day for six months is statistically impossible. Take real readings and record them honestly.
Prevra · Early access
Prevra is building a digital SFBB app.
The app is not ready yet. See the planned features and contact us about early access.
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