Food safety records for cafés and bakeries
An early start, a milk fridge opened all morning, a cabinet of filled rolls and a pot of soup to cool after lunch. A small team can record each of them between orders.
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A day in your café
- 01
The milk fridge at opening
It has its own reading at open and again at close.The fridge behind the coffee machine is opened all morning. It is a unit in the equipment register, so it has its own reading at open and again at close.
Recorded in Temperature checks from the equipment register
- 02
The early delivery
The receiving log records the supplier and the temperature on arrival.Bread, milk and fillings are often left at the door before anyone arrives. The receiving log records the supplier and the temperature on arrival, so anything that sat out too long is set aside.
Recorded in Today's Tasks and checklists
- 03
The display cabinet
The cabinet is read against its range, or each tray's time on display is recorded.Filled rolls and cakes sit in the cabinet all day. The cabinet is read against its range, and a check with a time box can record when each tray went on display instead.
Recorded in Today's Tasks and checklists
- 04
Soup cooled after lunch
Leftover soup is portioned into shallow containers and logged from 60°C down to 21°C and then to 5°C, with the time at each step.Leftover soup is portioned into shallow containers and logged from 60°C down to 21°C and then to 5°C, with the time at each step.
Recorded in Today's Tasks and checklists
- 05
Use by dates on the shelf
Milk, cream and sliced meats come up in Today's Tasks a set number of days before the date on the packet, so the oldest stock is found and moved on.Milk, cream and sliced meats come up in Today's Tasks a set number of days before the date on the packet, so the oldest stock is found and moved on.
Recorded in Expiry dates
- 06
A new starter on the counter
Before a first shift they work through the training you have set, and the training register shows what each person has completed.Before a first shift they work through the training you have set, and the training register shows what each person has completed.
Recorded in Training and the training register
How long a tray can stay out
Under 2 hours
Use it, sell it, or put it back in the fridge.
2 to 4 hours
Use it or sell it. It cannot go back in the fridge.
Over 4 hours
Throw it out.
This is the 2 hour and 4 hour guidance, not a rule in the Code. The clock adds up every period the food has spent between 5°C and 60°C, including preparation, transport and time before it reached you. A check with a time box records when each tray went into the cabinet, so the answer is on the record rather than in someone's memory.
A starter checklist set
For a café or bakery we would keep the standard lists, name the milk fridge and display cabinet, and add a weekly clean of the coffee machine.
Start free trialOpening fridge temperatures, including the milk fridge
Opening freezer check, food hard frozen
Handwash stations stocked
Sanitiser made up and in date
Receiving deliveries log
Cold display temperatures for the cabinet
Cooling log, on days you cool food
Daily cleaning and sanitising sign off
Closing fridge and freezer temperatures
Coffee machine, steam wand and milk jugs cleaned
Weekly deep clean
Pest check
Stock rotation and use by audit
Probe thermometer calibration
Allergen matrix review
Supplier allergen specifications
Food Safety Supervisor and training register
Every new venue opens with the same standard daily, weekly and monthly lists. This is how we suggest shaping them, and every check and every list can be changed or deleted.
When the owner is the supervisor
In a small café the owner often holds the only Food Safety Supervisor certificate, so a holiday leaves nobody holding one.
- The certificate is in Documents with its expiry, five years from the day it was issued, and a reminder comes before that date.
- If you will be away for more than about a month, guidance suggests appointing a second supervisor.
- The roster shows which shifts have nobody holding the qualification.
- A notice tells the team who to ask while you are away, and each person confirms they have read it.
What applies to you
A café or bakery that makes sandwiches, salads, soups or filled pastries is usually category one, because it prepares potentially hazardous food that is ready to eat. The WA Department of Health guide names cafés and bakeries among its category one examples. A shop that only reheats pies or sausage rolls it bought in is usually category two.
- Food safety supervisorApplies
- Someone reasonably available whenever food is handled, including the early bake. Their certificate must have been issued within the last five years, counted from the date on the certificate.
- Food handler trainingApplies
- Baristas, bakers and counter staff who handle food need a course, or skills and knowledge that match what they do, before they first carry out a prescribed activity. An induction you run and assess yourself is allowed, and no certificate is required.
- Records, or another way to show controlCategory one
- Keep records of what you actually do, such as storage, display, cooling and cleaning, or show an authorised officer another way. A café that cooks to order and throws out leftovers has no cooling to record.
- A written food safety program
- A café or bakery in WA needs no written food safety program and no third party audit. Standard 3.3.1 asks for a program only from listed facilities serving vulnerable persons.
- Also worth knowing
Food in a display cabinet is kept at 5°C or below, or 60°C or above if it is hot, unless you rely on time instead. Relying on time means knowing how long each tray has been out.
Clause 12 of Standard 3.2.2, the recall system, reaches a business that supplies food wholesale, manufactures it or imports it. A café does not need one. A bakery that supplies other businesses may.
This is general information about the law, not advice about your business. Confirm your category and what applies to you with your local government.
Guardian for cafés and bakeries
For a café, the officer's review can take in whether the display and cooling records match what the counter sells, when the milk fridge is read, and whether new staff appear on the training register.
On the Guardian plan a Hospitality Compliance Support Officer (HCSO) reviews your records online, wherever you are, and on site in Western Australia where visits are available. The officer is not an authorised officer: they cannot certify your venue or speak for your local government.
Related kinds of venue
Asked about cafés and bakeries
Do we need a food safety supervisor if we only reheat pies?
Usually yes. A business that only reheats or hot holds ready to eat food it did not make is usually category two, and category two still needs a food safety supervisor and trained food handlers. What it does not need is the record keeping tool.
How often do we have to check the fridges?
The Code sets no number of checks. It asks that cold food be kept at 5°C or below, and that a category one business keep records or show control another way. Opening and closing readings are a schedule we suggest because it gives a clear record, and you can change it.
Is there a legal temperature for our freezer?
No. The Code asks that frozen food stays frozen, and partly thawed does not count as frozen. It names no freezer temperature, so the freezer check asks whether the food is still hard frozen.
Can our own induction count as food handler training?
Yes, if it gives each person the skills and knowledge for what they do. The Standard accepts skills and knowledge gained another way instead of a course, and asks for no certificate. Keeping a record of the induction is recommended rather than required.
Our bakery supplies other cafés. Does anything change?
It can. The recall system in clause 12 of Standard 3.2.2 reaches businesses that supply food wholesale or manufacture it, which an ordinary café does not. Ask your local government how it applies to your bakery.