Fridges must hold food at 8°C or below in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Run them at 5°C or below, freezers at -18°C or below, and write the real reading down twice a day with your initials. A probe thermometer, a fridge thermometer, wipes and a dated log are the whole kit.
Watch
The standard in 24 seconds: probe the food, write the number.
26 seconds, sound on. A demonstration by Upkept, not a customer.
1Fridge at 5°C or below. 8°C is the legal limit, not the target.
2Freezer at -18°C or below.
3Probe the food, not the air. The door display is not a record.
4Write the number, the time and your initials. A tick is not a reading.
5Above 8°C: move the high-risk food, check the seal, log what you did.
Food Safety and Hygiene (England) Regulations 2013 and the Food Safety (Temperature Control) Regulations 1995 set the 8°C maximum; the Food Standards Agency (Safer Food, Better Business) advises 5°C or below and -18°C for freezers.
The Upkept documents
The designed version, with the rules on the page
Reviewed October 2026. Future updates free when the guidance changes.
Named products, with the reason. Links open an Amazon search for that product so you can compare sellers and prices.
ETI Thermapen One
Probe thermometer, the one you reach for every service
Reads in under a second to ±0.3°C, so staff actually use it between orders instead of guessing.
Why this one, and what to look for More
Waterproof, folds flat, five-year guarantee. Made in the UK by the company most environmental health officers carry themselves. Look for: Thermapen One (sub-second), or the Thermapen Classic if the budget is tighter. Avoid unbranded pens that need 10 seconds to settle; nobody waits 10 seconds mid-service.
A second probe for the back fridge or the delivery door
The sensible workhorse where a Thermapen is overkill: four-second reading, waterproof to IP67, and the probe is replaceable rather than the whole unit.
Why this one, and what to look for More
Look for: The Plus version with the penetration probe included. Keep one at goods-in so deliveries are probed before they are signed for.
ETI digital fridge freezer thermometer with max/min memory
One inside every fridge and freezer
The max/min memory shows what the unit did overnight, which the door display never will.
Why this one, and what to look for More
That is how you catch a compressor that struggles at 3am and recovers by the time you open. Look for: Max/min memory, a hanging hook or magnet, and a range that covers -40°C for freezers. Reset the memory after each recorded check.
A probe that goes from raw chicken into the cooked lasagne has just undone the cooking.
Why this one, and what to look for More
Wipes next to the thermometer, not in a drawer, is the difference between the rule and the habit. Look for: Single sachets or a tub with a lid, food-safe, listed as suitable for probe thermometers. Two hundred wipes lasts a small kitchen a season.
Unlabelled tubs are one of the most common findings on a hygiene inspection, and the first thing a new starter gets wrong.
Why this one, and what to look for More
Colour-per-day labels make the fridge readable at a glance. Look for: Removable or dissolvable labels, so the glue does not stay on the tub. A dispenser keeps them by the prep bench.
Checking the probe needs nothing from the list. Crushed ice and a little water should read 0°C; boiling water should read 100°C (99°C to 101°C is fine). Do it weekly and write it on the calibration record above.
Before you buy
Questions people ask first
What temperature should a commercial fridge be in the UK?
By law food that needs chilling must be kept at 8°C or below in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Food Standards Agency advises setting fridges at 5°C or below so food stays safe while the door is in use. Freezers should run at -18°C or below.
Do I need a probe thermometer as well as a fridge thermometer?
Yes. The fridge thermometer tells you what the air in the unit is doing, including overnight if it has a max/min memory. The probe tells you what the food itself is at, which is what the law is about, and it is the only way to check deliveries and cooked food.
How often should fridge temperatures be recorded?
The law does not fix a frequency, but Safer Food, Better Business and most environmental health officers expect a check at least once a day, and twice (opening and during or after your busiest service) is the safer standard. Write the actual number, not a tick.
Does Upkept earn anything from the products on this page?
The Upkept documents on this page are our own. The bought-in kit is listed because it is what we would specify; the links go to an Amazon search for the product. If an Amazon link carries an Upkept affiliate tag the page says so with an #ad note next to the kit, and the price you pay does not change.
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