In short
- What the rule is
- The rule is FSANZ guidance on how long potentially hazardous food can spend between 5°C and 60°C. It works as an alternative method under clause 25 of Standard 3.2.2.
- Who it applies to
- Any business that has ready to eat food out of the fridge for prep, display or service, and can track how long it has been out.
- What you need to do
- Start timing when food leaves the fridge, add up every period out, and act on the total: refrigerate it, use it, or throw it out.
- What this does not require
- Using the rule at all. Keeping food at 5°C or below, or at 60°C or above, is the other way to meet the Code.
What the rule says
The Code sets temperatures, not times. Potentially hazardous food is under temperature control at 5°C or below, or at 60°C or above. The only two hour and four hour times in Standard 3.2.2 are the cooling stages in clause 7(3).
Clause 25 lets a business use another method in place of the limits, where it relies on a food safety program, a process backed by documented scientific evidence, or written industry guidelines. The 2 hour and 4 hour rule is used this way.
Guidance, not law
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, sell it, or refrigerate it for later. Between 2 and 4 hours: use or sell it, and do not refrigerate it again. Over 4 hours: throw it out.
For a category one business, receipt, time out of temperature control, display and transport can each be recorded by time instead of temperature under Standard 3.2.2A.
Who it applies to
Sandwich bars, buffets, display cabinets, catering and any prep bench where chilled food sits out. It suits food whose history you know.
For food from another business whose temperature history you do not know, FSANZ says not to use the rule. Keep that food at 5°C or below, or at 60°C or above.
By sector: Catering and Events, Cafés and Bakeries
What it looks like in practice
Time adds up across the food's whole life: prep, storage, transport and display. Food that spends half an hour out and goes back in the fridge has three and a half hours left before it is thrown out.
Write the time food comes out and goes back, or use labels or coloured plates that show when it has to be used. If in doubt, 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.
Guidance, not law
FSANZ's advice for warm egg sauces such as hollandaise and béarnaise is to make them just before service, hold them for that service only, and throw them out after 2 hours.
Cooling time does not count towards the rule. Cooling cooked food is its own process under clause 7(3).
What you are not required to do
- Following the rule as law. It is guidance, and a venue may keep food under temperature control instead.
- A temperature record for food controlled by time. For the provisions that allow it, a record of the time is enough.
- Counting cooling time. The two cooling stages are a separate rule.
Doing it in Hospitality Shield
Each check in Hospitality Shield takes a note, so a venue using the rule can write when food came out and what happened to it, with a name and time on the entry. The cooling log is separate, because cooling time does not count towards the rule.
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Asked about this rule
Is the 2 hour and 4 hour rule the law?
No. It is FSANZ guidance, used as an alternative method under clause 25 of Standard 3.2.2. The law sets the 5°C and 60°C limits.
Can food go in and out of the fridge more than once?
Yes. FSANZ says each period should be under 2 hours, and the total time out no more than 4 hours.
Does time before delivery count?
Yes. The time adds up across the food's whole life. If you do not know how long it was out before it reached you, do not rely on the rule.
Can we put food back in the fridge after 3 hours out?
No. Food that has been out between 2 and 4 hours in total is used or sold, not refrigerated again.
Sources
- The 2 hour and 4 hour rule, Food Standards Australia New Zealand
- 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
- Standard 3.2.2A Food Safety Management Tools, Federal Register of Legislation
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.