Every food business will need to keep some records relating to food safety. Lower risk businesses operating under National Programmes will generally need less records than higher risk businesses operating under Food Control Plans. This article discusses some ways you can keep records, like paper, digital and apps. It doesn’t cover exactly what records you need to keep – you’ll need to refer to the national programme guidance or food control plan to check that, look for the ‘Show’ section in each topic for the record keeping requirements.
Some records you might be doing infrequently, like suppliers lists, but some you might need to do daily like temperatures. You need to have a record keeping system that’s easy for you to use, is reliable, captures everything you need, and is able to be kept for 4 years.
The main ways to achieve this are using paper records like the MPI record blanks, a diary or notebooks. Or by capturing manually and storing digitally like photographing laminated sheets/ whiteboards. Or by going straight to digital like spreadsheets, or specially designed apps or programmes.
Apps and software Since the introduction of record keeping requirements there have been a couple of new apps and software systems developed as a digital solution. Examples are Safe Food Pro and Chomp . I have only used them as a verifier not a business, so I cant recommend any in particular. They are generally designed for FCP businesses and can be customized to some degree. They cost from around $60 a month. They can be particularly useful for larger businesses on food control plans, and allow various staff to input checks from different devices. You can access the information remotely, and so can your verifier if you grant them access. You can set reminders and notifications to help you keep up to date. If you and your staff are tech savvy and you are able to use electronic devices in your food environment it could be a great solution.
Ministry Primary Industries (MPI) Record Blanks
Probably the easiest way to start is with the MPI Record Blanks. They are a set of pdf templates, free to download from the MPI website, or email me and I’ll send you a copy. The record templates closely match the food control plan topics and national programme pages. For example the topic page ‘Sourcing, receiving and storing food’ says you need to keep a record of your suppliers and the temperature of chilled food when received, and in the record pack there’s a ‘My Approved Supplier’ record and ‘Supplier deliveries’ record. Easy. The pack contains templates for all the different aspects of food preparation including cooking, smoking and sushi, so if you are not doing those activities just pick out the ones you need and print or photocopy them. The disadvantage of this system is that each record is on a separate page, so you need several bits of paper or clipboards to cover everything. It can be easy to forget to fill in records when there’s no visual prompt or daily checklist. But they are a great place to start.
Diary or Notebook Another way to keep records is in a diary form or using a notebook. There is an old version of a Food Control Plan Diary that MPI used to publish that had two pages per week with space for fridge temperatures, cooking and cooling temperatures, and space for recording notes or problems and some weekly reminder prompts. Every 4 weeks was a review page too, and other useful records like thermometer calibration and suppliers. Unfortunately this diary is no longer available on the MPI website, but I still have an electronic copy I can email you, or some Councils still provide a printed diary. The major disadvantage is that the old diary doesn’t fully match the new FCP requirements, for example it doesn’t include a section for supplier deliveries or more than 1 cooling record, and doesn’t have specialist records like smoking food, or even staff training record templates. These can be worked around by adding to or adapting the existing spaces in the diary (like recording delivery temps in the daily notes section or on the invoice instead). Another option for simple businesses that just need to record a few things is to use your own diary or notebook to capture them. This can work well if your business is irregular or shuts over winter. However if you need additional records consider the next option – making your own spreadsheet.
DIY Spreadsheets and Records You might start off using the MPI Record Blanks, or the old Diary, and after a few months you might want to consolidate all the separate pages into an easier version for yourself. This is absolutely fine, as long as the minimum information from the MPI versions is included (check especially records like smoking or cooling which require several bits of information per batch). You could design your own record templates, using whatever programme you prefer. I have seen this work really well with caterers, for example when you have separate events and want to keep records together relating to the event, like the deliveries, storage, cooking, cooling, reheating and hot holding buffet temps, along with a copy of the menu. It is a great visual reminder to complete the records when there are blank boxes looking at you! It can also work really well for national programme businesses making batches of product and wanting to record ingredient batch number plus processing information like pH, best before dates and amounts etc. But don’t forget about records like sickness, training, calibration or suppliers. You can supplement with the MPI blanks, or again make your own, like downloading a list of suppliers from your Xero software. You can complete the records electronically, or print and complete manually, just remember to keep them all for 4 years.
Whiteboards & Laminated Sheets
A method of manual capture but digital storage is to use whiteboards or laminated sheets to capture the information at the time. For example fridge temps or cooking temps. Then when they are full or periodically like each week, photograph them and store them. The big disadvantage is that they are easily wiped by accident before they have been captured and stored electronically. You also have to be disciplined to store the photos safely and organized for 4 years, not just on your phone gallery amongst all the photos of your cat!
Digital vs Paper
Its worth considering how you actually want to make your records. If you like paper and pen that’s fine, just ensure you store them safely in folders or organized systems so you can review them and show your verifier. If you prefer digital capturing you could input directly into a spreadsheet or app using tablets or laptops. Some people do manual capture and digital storage. If you are storing electronically have a backup system so you don’t lose data if a device fails.
Conclusion
Food safety records need to be kept for 4 years and your verifier can ask to see any records since their last visit, which might have been a couple of years ago! You can show them digital or paper records during a verification. It is common practice now for the verifier to request records in advance, for example for a remote check. Failure to produce them will lead to a non-conformance or non-compliance. So pick a system that will work for you long term, and if its not working try another way until you find the right solution.