The first thing most EHOs ask to see is your temperature diary, and a blank one is the quickest way to lose a hygiene star. Two minutes at open and close protects your rating, your customers and your defence if anyone ever claims they were ill. Here are the exact numbers to hit and when to log them.
Know the numbers an EHO looks for
Four temperatures cover almost everything a mobile caterer does. Get them into your head and the logging becomes a two-minute habit instead of a worry. These are the figures an Environmental Health Officer expects you to be hitting and recording:
The temperatures to hit
England & Wales · Scotland reheats to 82°C
| Chilled / fridge | 8°C max (aim 5°C) |
| Freezer | -18°C |
| Hot holding | 63°C or above |
| Cooking / reheating core | 75°C |
Plus the 4-hour rule: food out of temperature control gets used or binned within 4 hours
Log at the right moments
You do not need a reading every ten minutes. Under Safer Food, Better Business the expectation is a sensible routine: check and record fridge and freezer temperatures at the start and end of each trading day, probe cooked and hot-held food during service, and note anything you put right. Those corrective actions matter as much as the readings, because they show an officer that when something drifted, you caught it and fixed it.
A trading day’s log
What a clean diary actually looks like
| 08:30 — fridge | 4°C |
| 08:30 — freezer | -19°C |
| 12:00 — burgers, core | 76°C |
| 14:30 — hot-held chilli | 65°C |
| 15:10 — fridge reading | 9°C → moved stock, turned dial down |
| 15:25 — fridge re-checked | 5°C |
The 9°C reading is not a problem; ignoring it would be. The log proves you acted
An EHO once spent ten minutes on my temperature book and barely glanced at anything else. Get that diary right and, more often than not, you have passed before they have even looked in the fridge.
David Hinton · author of “Start Mobile Catering UK”, 20+ years on the pitches
A 15-second look at the Temperature Logger inside the MobCater app
A time-stamped diary in your pocket, free
The app’s Temperature Logger records fridge, freezer, cooking and hot-hold readings with the date and time stamped automatically, then exports an EHO-ready PDF of your whole diary. It is in the Business Toolkit, and it starts inside the free app, cleaner than paper, impossible to lose, ready to show on the spot.
See the Temperature LoggerFree to start · works on your phone · nothing to lose, yours to keep
Frequently asked questions
What temperature should a catering fridge be in the UK?
By law chilled food must be kept at 8 degrees C or below in England and Wales. Best practice is to run the fridge at 5 degrees C or below for a safety margin. Freezers should hold food at -18 degrees C.
How often should I record temperatures?
Record fridge and freezer temperatures at the start and end of each trading day, and probe cooked or hot-held food during service. Also note any corrective action, such as adjusting a fridge or discarding a batch.
What is the 4-hour rule?
Food taken out of temperature control for service can be kept out for a maximum of four hours, after which it must be used or thrown away. It lets you run a service without chilling everything, as long as you track the time.
Do EHOs really want written temperature records?
Yes. Temperature records are usually the first thing an Environmental Health Officer asks to see, and they form part of your due-diligence defence. Missing records are a common reason hygiene scores drop.