The legal limit for chilled food in England, Wales and Northern Ireland is 8°C or below, and in the run-up to Christmas it is the number every restaurant, pub, hotel and catering kitchen will lean on hardest. More stock, bigger deliveries, doors opening all day and often temporary staff who have never seen your cold room before. October is the time to plan, while the fridges are still coping easily and there is room in the diary.

What the chilled food rules say

The GOV.UK guide on chilling and freezing for food businesses is short and worth reading again. It says "Chilled food must be kept at 8°C or below". That is a legal requirement in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and recommended in Scotland.

The guide also says to set your fridge to 5°C or below "to make sure food stays cold enough, even if the temperature changes". That gap between 5°C and 8°C is your margin for a door left open, a loaded delivery or a warm day. It is a good reason not to run a fridge right up at the limit.

Then there is the time rule. In the guide's words, "You can keep chilled food out of the fridge for up to 4 hours, then you must throw it away. If it's been out for less than 4 hours, it can be put back in the fridge." In a Christmas kitchen, with trays on the pass and prep running late, that clock is easy to lose track of. Foods it applies to include anything with a use-by date, cooked dishes and ready-to-eat items such as prepared salads and desserts.

For frozen food, the same guide says to put it in the freezer as soon as it is delivered. During the December rush that is the one that gets left on a pallet by the back door.

Why December is hard on the equipment

Nothing about a cold room changes in December except how it is used. Heat comes in with every delivery, every warm tray and every door opening, and the system has to take that heat back out. Pack it too full and the cold air cannot move round the stock. Stack against the evaporator and the room warms up around it.

  • Loading. Put deliveries away promptly and in batches, so that doors are open for the shortest time. Cool cooked food before it goes in, rather than adding hot trays to a cold room.
  • Airflow. Leave gaps between stock and walls, and keep shelves and boxes clear of the evaporator fans and the air return. If you cannot see the fan, it is probably too full.
  • Door discipline. Keep walk-in and reach-in doors shut between trips. Briefing the extra staff on this on day one is cheap and makes a difference.
  • Display and under-counter units. Do not overfill past the load line, and keep the front air curtain clear.
  • Condensers. A heavy December means plant working longer. A clean condenser with clear space round it has the best chance of keeping up.

Temperature records you will want to have

A fridge display tells you what the air is doing at the sensor. It does not tell you what the food is doing. Probe checks on the product, written down at set times with a name against each, are the record you will want if anyone asks how the food was kept. Decide in advance who checks which unit, how often, and what happens if a reading is high. Our sister-site guide to cold room temperature rules for food businesses covers the wider requirements and what to record.

If power fails during the festive weeks, the same records help you decide what stays and what goes. We touched on that in our note on storm names and power cuts.

Safety in the walk-in for new and temporary staff

A temporary starter on their second shift is the person most likely to be sent into the cold room for something. The HSE guidance on chilled and frozen food workrooms sets out what employers should have in place.

  • Means of escape. The HSE says to "Provide means of escape following entrapment inside walk-in refrigeration units, chill units and freezers." Doors should be openable from the inside, with lighting or other means to let people see the door and its opening device when it is closed. Your risk assessment may show trapped-person alarms are appropriate.
  • Clothing and breaks. For work in chillers around 0°C, the HSE says "suitable clothing and normal breaks are usually sufficient". Blast freezers operating down to -30°C are different, and breaks at ambient temperature or in warming rooms are needed.
  • Health. The HSE lists respiratory conditions such as asthma, and cardiovascular and circulatory conditions such as Raynaud's disease, as issues to consider.

In practice, show every new starter how the inside release works before they go in alone. Test it. Make sure someone knows how long a person has been in the room.

What to do now

  1. Walk the kitchen with your head chef and look at every fridge, cold room and display unit: door seals, shelving that blocks airflow, condensers with clear space.
  2. Set fridges to 5°C or below, and agree who probes and logs which unit, and when.
  3. Write a one-page brief for temporary staff covering door discipline, loading, the 4-hour rule and the inside-release check on the walk-in.
  4. Check inside door releases, lighting and any trapped-person alarm, and report anything that does not work.
  5. Book a commercial refrigeration maintenance visit in November. We cannot promise any particular slot, but the earlier you ask, the more room there is to find a time that suits your trading.

More practical notes are in our commercial refrigeration news.