The records a food business must make and retain depend on its activities, food-business classification, food safety program and regulator. Start by confirming those requirements; then design each record so it can be completed where the relevant work happens.
Standard 3.2.2A adds an evidence requirement for category one businesses undertaking prescribed activities. These businesses must make a record or show an authorised officer in another acceptable way that the relevant food safety risks have been managed. Records made for this requirement must be kept for at least three months.
Confirm the requirement before designing the form
Map the controls that apply to the business, including any requirements in its food safety program, licence conditions, customer standards or audit criteria. In Victoria, local councils regulate most food service, retail and manufacturing businesses, while Safe Food Victoria licenses specified sectors including meat, poultry, seafood and dairy. Confirm the responsible regulator when the scope is unclear.
For category one businesses, FSANZ identifies prescribed activities involving receiving, storing, processing, displaying and transporting unpackaged, ready-to-eat potentially hazardous food, as well as cleaning and sanitising. Other businesses may need different records because of their activities or program.
Place the record in the workflow
A form is easier to complete when it is available at the point of work. A receiving record can sit near the delivery check; a temperature record can be available where the measurement is taken; and a cleaning record can identify the area or equipment to which it applies. Paper, electronic forms, verified procedures, invoice notes, data-logger outputs and other formats may all provide evidence when they contain the required information and are retained correctly.
Capture enough information to verify and respond
The fields should follow the applicable control rather than a generic template. Depending on the activity, useful fields may include the date, time where appropriate, food or activity, result or observation, person completing the check, applicable limit and corrective action. Remove duplicate fields, but do not omit information required by the regulator, food safety program or customer standard.
A practical record should show what was checked, the result and what happened when the applicable control was not met.
Set frequency from the activity and requirement
There is no single once-a-day or twice-a-day schedule that suits every business. Set the frequency from the food process, risk, written program and regulator requirements. FSANZ says category one records should be made on each day the business undertakes prescribed activities; that does not make every individual check a universal daily requirement.
For potentially hazardous food, the usual temperature-control baseline for receiving, displaying, transporting or storing is 5°C or colder or 60°C or hotter. A different temperature may be used only where the business can demonstrate a safe alternative system. Print the limit that applies to the activity on the record so an out-of-range result prompts the documented response.
Record corrective action
A result outside the applicable limit needs more than a tick or initial. The record should make space for what was found, what happened to the affected food, the immediate action, any follow-up check and who was responsible. The required response must come from the business's documented control, validated process or regulator guidance.
Introduce and review the system
Explain who completes each record, when it is completed, where it is stored and who reviews it. Review frequency should reflect the risk and any written program, regulator or audit requirement. During review, look for missing entries, results outside limits, incomplete corrective actions and changes to the process that make the form inaccurate.
Key takeaways
- Confirm the applicable activities, classification, food safety program and regulator before choosing records.
- Place records where the relevant work happens and capture the information required to verify the control.
- Set check and review frequencies from the process, risk and written requirements rather than a universal schedule.
- Use 5°C or colder and 60°C or hotter as the usual temperature-control baseline for potentially hazardous food, unless a safe alternative system applies.
- Record the corrective action and retain each record for the period that applies to the business.
If the required records are unclear or the current forms no longer match the process, a scoping session can identify the controls, evidence, retention periods and regulator questions that need to be resolved.
This article was reviewed on 12 August 2026 against the FSANZ evidence tool guidance, the FSANZ Chapter 3 overview, the FSANZ temperature-control requirements and Safe Food Victoria's regulator information. Confirm requirements with the responsible regulator for the business.
