Food safety inspection: what they check about temperatures and what fines you risk

A food safety inspection usually comes unannounced — and temperature records are one of the first things they ask for. Here's what inspectors focus on, where businesses most often fail and how to be ready without stress.

What inspectors check about temperatures

• Complete records: measurements must cover the whole period — including weekends, holidays and vacations.
• Limits respected: values must match your HACCP documentation (which limits apply).
• Corrective actions: every limit breach must have a note about what you did about it.

The most common mistakes that get penalised

Gaps in records over the weekend. A whole month filled in at once with the same pen — an inspector spots that immediately. A breach with no corrective action noted. Records that went "missing" exactly for the period the fridge was broken.

What fines you risk

Depending on severity, fines range from hundreds to thousands of euros, more for repeated or serious findings — plus a follow-up inspection. The most expensive outcome, though, is being ordered to dispose of stock you can't prove was kept at safe temperatures.

How to be ready any day

With automatic monitoring, records create themselves — continuously and without gaps. During an inspection you print a monthly PDF protocol in seconds, including breaches and corrective actions. We keep a 5-year archive, exactly what inspection practice expects.