Refrigeration temperature log India

FSSAI temperature requirements for food storage

FSSAI Schedule 4 (Food Safety and Standards Regulations, 2011) requires licensed food businesses to maintain food at safe temperatures throughout storage and preparation. The key temperature ranges that a restaurant kitchen must comply with:

• Chiller / reach-in refrigerator: 1°C–4°C. This is the primary zone for ready-to-eat foods, cooked proteins, dairy, and prepped ingredients. The danger zone — where bacterial growth accelerates — is 8°C to 63°C. A chiller running at 7°C is technically in the intermediate range but represents a risk that any FSSAI officer will flag.
• Walk-in cold room: 1°C–4°C. Same as chiller. Walk-ins often drift higher due to frequent door openings during service — this is why a mid-service temperature check is important on busy days. A walk-in that is stacked too full, has a dirty condenser coil, or has a broken door gasket will run warm.
• Freezer: -18°C or below. Food is safe indefinitely at -18°C from a bacterial standpoint (though quality degrades over time). A freezer running at -12°C has compromised food safety. After a power outage, a previously frozen unit that reached -6°C or above must have its food evaluated before being refrozen.
• Hot hold: 63°C or above. Hot foods held for service (bain-marie, heat lamps) must stay above 63°C. Below this temperature, bacterial growth restarts. Food held below 63°C for more than 2 hours must be discarded, not reheated and re-served.

When a reading is out of range: the corrective action protocol

An out-of-range temperature is an event, not just a number. The four-step corrective action protocol:

1. Assess the food immediately. Has it been in the danger zone for less than 2 hours? If yes, move it to a working unit and it can be served. If the duration is unknown or exceeds 2 hours, discard.
2. Check the equipment. Is the door seal intact? Is the unit over-loaded? Is the condenser coil clogged? Identify and correct the cause — not just the symptom.
3. Call for service if needed. If the unit is mechanically failing, log the service call date and the engineer's findings when the visit happens. Do not continue using a malfunctioning unit for food storage.
4. Log everything. The date, time, which unit, what temperature, what food was affected, what action was taken, and who took the action. This is the corrective action field in the temperature log.

Where this fits

• Daily food safety / HACCP checklist — temperature logging is a required element of the HACCP checklist; this dedicated log gives you the detailed monthly record
• Kitchen cleaning checklist — weekly cleaning of refrigeration units (condenser coils, door seals, shelves) prevents temperature drift
• Wastage tracker — food discarded due to a temperature excursion should be logged as wastage for food cost analysis
• Goods receipt note (GRN) — incoming deliveries should be temperature-checked at the point of receipt; the GRN has a temp check field for cold chain verification
• P5 — Compliance pillar — complete guide to FSSAI, labour law, fire safety, and tax compliance for Indian restaurants