In short
- What the rule is
- Potentially hazardous food is kept at 5°C or below, or at 60°C or above, unless the business can show another method keeps it safe.
- Who it applies to
- Every food business handling potentially hazardous food. Records of it apply to category one businesses under Standard 3.2.2A.
- What you need to do
- Keep a thermometer accurate to ±1°C, check the food in your fridges and hot units, and act when a reading is out.
- What this does not require
- There is no legal freezer temperature, no legal checking frequency, and the 2 hour and 4 hour rule is guidance rather than law.
What the rule says
Under Standard 3.2.2, potentially hazardous food is under temperature control at 5°C or below, or at 60°C or above. The range between the two is often called the danger zone.
Food meant to be stored frozen must remain frozen (clause 6(2)(b)), and the Code says frozen does not include partly thawed. The Code sets no freezer temperature.
Premises that handle potentially hazardous food must have a readily accessible thermometer that can measure it to within ±1°C (clause 22 of Standard 3.2.2).
Clause 25 allows another method in place of these limits, where the business relies on a food safety program, a process backed by documented scientific evidence, or written industry guidelines.
For a category one business, storage is a prescribed provision under Standard 3.2.2A. The record, where kept, shows the temperature and the date, or the total time out of temperature control.
Who it applies to
Every business that handles potentially hazardous food: cooked meat, dairy, cooked rice and pasta, cut fruit, sandwiches and the like. The limits apply to receiving, storing, displaying and transporting that food.
By sector: Restaurants and Bars, Cafés and Bakeries
What it looks like in practice
Check the food, not only the display on the door, where you can. A probe in the food or in a container of product gives a truer figure than the air.
For freezers, the question the Code asks is whether the food is still frozen hard. Check that, and treat a soft or partly thawed product as a problem whatever the display says.
When a reading is out, record what you did: moved the food, worked out how long it had been warm, threw it out, or called for a repair.
Guidance, not law
The 2 hour and 4 hour rule is FSANZ guidance, used as an alternative method under clause 25. It is not in the Code. For ready to eat food taken out of the fridge, the total time between 5°C and 60°C decides: under 2 hours, use it or refrigerate it for later; 2 to 4 hours, use it now and do not refrigerate it again; over 4 hours, throw it out. Cooked food that has fallen below 60°C runs a separate clock with no 2 hour band: use, sell or discard it within 4 hours, and do not refrigerate it for later. Time adds up across the food's whole life, and cooling time does not count towards it.
What you are not required to do
- A freezer temperature. None exists in the Code. It asks that frozen food stays frozen.
- A checking frequency. No clause sets a daily, twice daily or weekly check. Choose one that shows your food stays under temperature control.
- Following the 2 hour and 4 hour rule as law. It is guidance. A venue that uses it should be able to show how long the food has been out.
- A particular type of thermometer. The rule is accuracy to ±1°C and ready access.
Doing it in Hospitality Shield
Each fridge, cool room and hot unit is set up in Hospitality Shield with its own range, and readings outside it are flagged when they are entered. A venue can tighten a unit's range but cannot set a fridge above 5°C or a hot unit below 60°C. Freezers are judged against the range the venue sets, because the law gives none.
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Asked about this rule
Is there a legal freezer temperature?
No. The Code requires only that food meant to be frozen stays frozen, and partly thawed food is not frozen (Standard 3.2.2 clause 6(2)(b)).
How often must we check fridge temperatures?
No clause sets a frequency. A category one business records storage temperatures and dates, or shows the officer another way that food is kept under temperature control. Choose a frequency that shows that, and write it down.
Is the 2 hour and 4 hour rule the law?
No. It is FSANZ guidance and works as an alternative method under clause 25. The only two hour and four hour times in Standard 3.2.2 are the cooling stages in clause 7(3).
How accurate does our thermometer need to be?
Accurate to ±1°C, and readily accessible (Standard 3.2.2 clause 22).
Sources
- Standard 3.2.2 Food Safety Practices and General Requirements, Federal Register of Legislation
- Safe Food Australia: a guide to the food safety standards, Food Standards Australia New Zealand
- Thermometers, Food Standards Australia New Zealand
- Standard 3.2.2A Food Safety Management Tools, Federal Register of Legislation
- Evidence tool, Food Standards Australia New Zealand
General information about the rules in Western Australia. It is not legal advice. Your local government's environmental health officer decides how the rules apply to your premises.