Guidance on temperature control legislation in the UK

Thursday 20 September 2007

The majority of the text in the document has not changed from the guidance previously issued by the Department of Health on the 1995 Regulations. The main addition to the guidance is advice on the legislation in Scotland.

On 1 January 2006 the Food Safety (Temperature Control) Regulations 1995 were revoked. Schedule 4 of the Food Hygiene Regulations 2006 implemented by separate but similar legislation in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland remade the majority of the requirements from the 1995 regulations. However, regulation 10 (the general requirement) and 11 (cooling of foods) are now contained within EC Regulation 852/2004, Annex II, Chapter IX, part 5 and 6 respectively.

The guidance is intended to help explain for food businesses and enforcement authorities the food temperature control requirements that will operate in the UK.

The guidance contains advice on the types of foods that are required to be held under temperature control, and gives guidance on the circumstances when some flexibility from the temperature control requirements is allowed.

The guidance is intended to complement best practices in the food industry, which might involve, for example, keeping foods at chill temperatures below the legal maximum and thereby providing additional assurances of food safety.