Food Safety Records in the UK: Laws, Inspections and Ratings

UK food safety records explained: the law, council inspections, FHRS ratings, the records inspectors ask for, common failures and how digital records help.

2026-10-31 · Chef Hygiene

Do UK food businesses need food safety records? Yes. Every food business in the UK must have permanent food safety procedures based on HACCP principles, with records that fit the size of the business. Your council's food officer checks those records at every inspection, and they count towards your food hygiene rating. The law does not say the records must be on paper: officers may inspect records "in whatever form they are held", and the official Safer Food, Better Business pack allows an electronic diary. This page explains the UK rules, what inspectors look for, where businesses go wrong, and how digital records help.

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This page covers the UK-wide picture and England. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own rules in some areas, and each has its own page in this guide. Every fact below comes from an official source, linked in the text and at the end.

The law: what every UK food business must do
Who inspects you, and how often
Your food hygiene rating
The records inspectors ask for
Where businesses lose marks
By type of business
Why digital records help in the UK
How Chef Hygiene helps
A fair price, on purpose
Less paper
FAQ
Official sources

1. The law: what every UK food business must do

The main laws. The Food Safety Act 1990, and the retained EU Regulation 852/2004 on food hygiene. Each nation has its own hygiene regulations on top: in England, the Food Safety and Hygiene (England) Regulations 2013.
Register first. Register your food business with your local council at least 28 days before you start trading. This includes businesses run from home, and food vans and market stalls (Register a food business, GOV.UK).
A food safety management system. You need permanent procedures based on HACCP principles, with records that fit the size of your business, kept for an appropriate period (Regulation 852/2004, Article 5). The law does not make you use a particular pack: Safer Food, Better Business (England and Wales), CookSafe (Scotland) and Safe Catering (Northern Ireland) are official packs that help you meet the rule, but none of them is compulsory (Food safety management systems, GOV.UK).
Temperatures that are law. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, chilled food must be kept at 8°C or below, and hot food held at 63°C or above. You may display chilled food out of the fridge once, for under 4 hours, and keep hot food below 63°C once, for under 2 hours. Fridges should be set to 5°C or below (guidance).
Staff training. No law requires a food hygiene certificate. Food handlers must be supervised and instructed or trained for the work they do, and the person who runs your HACCP-based procedures must be trained in them (Regulation 852/2004, Annex II).
Staff who are ill. Staff who are ill must not handle food and must report it at once. FSA guidance says staff with diarrhoea or vomiting stay off food work until 48 hours after the symptoms stop.
Allergens. You must manage the 14 allergens. For loose food, allergen information may be given by word of mouth only if a notice tells customers to ask staff. Food prepacked for direct sale needs a label with the name and a full ingredient list, with allergens emphasised (Natasha's Law, since 1 October 2021). For phone and online orders, give allergen information before the order is completed and again at delivery (Allergen guidance for food businesses, GOV.UK).
Traceability. Keep purchase records: the supplier's name and address, the product, the quantity and the date. You do not need records of sales to final consumers.

2. Who inspects you, and how often

Your council. The local council's Environmental Health Officer (EHO), or food safety officer, inspects food businesses. The Food Standards Agency (FSA) runs the rating scheme in England, Wales and Northern Ireland; Food Standards Scotland runs Scotland's.
How often. In England, the Food Law Code of Practice sets visits by risk: a high-risk business (category A) is visited every 6 months, and a low-risk one (category E) every 36 months.
What officers can do. Officers may inspect your records in whatever form you keep them, use your computers, and take copies away (Food Safety Act 1990, section 32).
If things are wrong. After a low rating, the letter tells you what to improve and by when. In England, a hygiene improvement notice gives you at least 14 days to put things right. If there is an imminent risk to health, a hygiene emergency prohibition notice can close all or part of the business.

3. Your food hygiene rating

England, Wales and Northern Ireland: FHRS, 0 to 5. The Food Hygiene Rating Scheme gives a rating from 0 ("urgent improvement necessary") to 5 ("very good") (FHRS guidance for businesses, GOV.UK).
Three things are scored: how hygienically food is handled; the condition of the building and equipment; and how you manage food safety, including your procedures, records and training.
Display. Showing your rating is a legal duty in Wales and Northern Ireland. In England it is voluntary, but your rating is public online either way.
Publication. A 5 is published as soon as it is uploaded. Ratings of 0 to 4 are published 3 to 5 weeks after the inspection, to allow time for an appeal.
Appeal. You can appeal in writing within 21 days of being told your rating. It is free.
Right to reply. You can send written comments at any time up to your next inspection; they are published next to your rating.
Re-rating. Once you have put things right, you can ask for a re-rating visit. The visit is unannounced, and the new rating can go up or down. Some councils in England charge a fee.
Scotland uses the Food Hygiene Information Scheme: Pass or Improvement Required. See the Scotland page.

4. The records inspectors ask for

The law asks for records that fit your business. The official packs show what that usually means for a kitchen:

Opening and closing checks every day: fridges, freezers and displays working, cleaning done, staff fit for work.
Temperature records: fridges, freezers and chilled displays; cooking; hot holding; cooling and reheating.
Deliveries: what arrived, when, from which supplier, and whether it was at the right temperature.
Cleaning of equipment and surfaces, and any deep cleans.
Problems and what you did about them, for example a fridge running warm and the food you threw away.
Staff training and who has been shown what.
Allergen information for every dish.
Supplier records for traceability.
A regular review. Safer Food, Better Business asks you to review your system every 4 weeks.

How long to keep them. UK law sets no fixed period, only "an appropriate period". Safer Food, Better Business says to keep your diary pages until the council's next visit. Northern Ireland guidance says at least 12 months.

5. Where businesses lose marks

The FHRS guidance makes clear that a rating is not only about clean surfaces. Management of food safety, including your procedures, records and training, is one of the three things scored. Common record problems are easy to picture:

Gaps. Days with no checks written down, or a diary that stops halfway through the month.
Records that don't match the kitchen. A system on paper that the staff don't follow.
No action recorded. A fridge reading that was too warm, with nothing written about what was done.
Lost or damaged pages. Paper gets wet, greasy or thrown away.
No review. Nobody has looked back at the records to spot a pattern.
Training not shown. Staff were trained, but nothing proves it.

Fixing these is often cheaper and quicker than building work, which is why records matter so much for a good rating.

6. By type of business

The rules are the same for every food business, but the records you keep depend on what you do.

Restaurant: full daily checks, cooking and hot-holding temperatures, cooling, deliveries, cleaning and allergens for every dish.
Takeaway: the same as a restaurant, plus allergen information before the order is completed and again at delivery for phone and online orders.
Café: fridges and displays, cleaning, and labels for sandwiches and salads you pack before the customer orders (prepacked for direct sale).
Bakery / cake shop: allergen records (nuts, sesame, gluten and eggs are common), PPDS labels for wrapped goods, and display temperatures for cream cakes.
Dessert shop: fridge and freezer temperatures for desserts and ice cream, and allergens for toppings and sauces.
Pub / bar / club: the same records as a restaurant for the food you serve, and allergen information for every dish.
Community hall / venue: register if you serve food regularly; keep temperature and cleaning records for each event.
Corner shop / grocery: fridge and freezer checks, delivery checks, date checks and labels for food you pack yourself.
School / nursery kitchen: temperature and cleaning records, and careful allergen records for every child.
Caterer / food van: register with your council (vans and stalls too); keep temperatures during transport and at the event, and keep your records with you.
Home kitchen business: register with your council like any other food business, and keep the same kind of records.

7. Why digital records help in the UK

They are allowed. Officers may inspect records in whatever form you keep them, and the Safer Food, Better Business pack allows an electronic diary.
No gaps go unnoticed. A missed check shows up the same day, not at the next inspection.
Problems come with their fix. When a reading is out of range, the record can ask what you did about it.
Nothing is lost. No wet, greasy or missing pages.
The 4-weekly review is easier. Patterns are clear when the records are in one place.
Ready for the inspector. You can show everything at once, instead of looking for folders.
Every staff member can take part. Staff can record checks on a phone or tablet, in their own language.

8. How Chef Hygiene helps

Chef Hygiene follows the UK rules and the official packs: Safer Food, Better Business, CookSafe and Safe Catering. What it does:

Daily checks for fridges, freezers, cooking, hot holding, cooling, cleaning and deliveries, with the time, the staff member's name and photos. Saved records cannot be changed; corrections are added as new records.
Your country's temperatures built in, such as 8°C for chilled food and 63°C for hot holding in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Food safety plan ("safe methods"). About 20 minutes: answer questions, check each method, sign it, set a review date and print it. Earlier versions are kept.
Ready for inspection? Checks your last 4 weeks of records the way an inspector would (daily checks, fridges, sign-off, fixes for failed checks, the 4-weekly review, training, allergens) and shows how many are ready.
Path to 5. Link your business to the FSA rating list and add the scores from your inspection letter. The app shows, score by score, what to put right first.
Inspector's visits log. Write down each visit: date, type, officer, scores and rating.
Practice inspection. A free walk round of about 10 minutes, with questions for your type of business. It shows your likely FHRS score and a "Put it right" list.
Allergen chart and labels. Every dish against the 14 allergens, a staff view on the kitchen tablet, and labels for food prepacked for direct sale, with allergens in bold.
Staff training records.
Inspector pack. Print all your records as one pack, or share them by secure link.
40 languages. Staff can use the app in their own language.

9. A fair price, on purpose

Chef Hygiene costs £2.99 a month per site in the UK, and £1.99 a month per site for bakeries, dessert shops and corner shops. Staff are unlimited, there is no contract, and there is a 14-day free trial.

We keep the price low on purpose. We want as many food businesses as possible, from a single food van to a busy restaurant, to keep good records and pass their inspections.

10. Less paper

A paper diary means printed sheets every day. One daily sheet per kitchen is 365 sheets a year, before you count delivery forms, cleaning rotas and training records. Digital records mean no record books to buy and fewer printed forms to throw away. That is less paper and less waste, and nothing to store in a back office.

11. FAQ

Do I legally need food safety records in the UK?

Yes. You need procedures based on HACCP principles, with records that fit the size of your business (Regulation 852/2004, Article 5).

Are digital food safety records accepted in the UK?

Yes. Officers may inspect records in whatever form they are held (Food Safety Act 1990, section 32), and Safer Food, Better Business allows an electronic diary.

Do I have to use Safer Food, Better Business?

No. It is an official pack that helps you meet the law, but it is not compulsory. You can use another system that does the same job.

How long must I keep my records?

The law says "an appropriate period". Safer Food, Better Business says until the council's next visit; Northern Ireland guidance says at least 12 months.

What temperature must my fridge be?

By law, chilled food must be at 8°C or below in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Guidance says to set fridges to 5°C or below.

What temperature must hot food be kept at?

63°C or above in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. You may keep it below 63°C once, for under 2 hours.

Do my staff need a food hygiene certificate?

No law requires one. Staff must be supervised and instructed or trained for their work, and you should be able to show it.

How often will I be inspected?

It depends on your risk. In England, high-risk businesses are visited every 6 months and low-risk ones every 36 months.

Can the inspector look at records on my phone or tablet?

Yes. Officers may inspect records in whatever form you keep them and take copies.

How does my food hygiene rating work?

In England, Wales and Northern Ireland it runs from 0 to 5. Officers score food handling, the building and equipment, and how you manage food safety, including your records.

Do I have to display my rating?

In Wales and Northern Ireland, yes, by law. In England it is voluntary, but your rating is online either way.

Can I appeal my rating?

Yes, in writing within 21 days of being told your rating. It is free.

Can I ask for a re-rating?

Yes, once you have made the improvements. The visit is unannounced and the rating can go up or down. Some councils in England charge a fee.

What allergen records do I need?

Information on the 14 allergens for every dish. For loose food, a notice must tell customers to ask staff if you give the information by word of mouth.

What is Natasha's Law?

Since 1 October 2021, food prepacked for direct sale must have a label with its name and full ingredients, with allergens emphasised.

Do I need to register a food van or a home business?

Yes. Register with your council at least 28 days before you start trading.

How much does Chef Hygiene cost in the UK?

£2.99 a month per site, or £1.99 for bakeries, dessert shops and corner shops, with unlimited staff, no contract and a 14-day free trial.

Can Chef Hygiene raise my rating for me?

No. Only your council gives ratings. Chef Hygiene helps you keep the records, fix problems and show your inspector everything.

What about Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland?

Each has its own page in this guide. Scotland uses a different rating scheme (Pass or Improvement Required) and no legal chill temperature.

12. Official sources

Chef Hygiene keeps your UK food safety records ready for every inspection: