Quick answer
Keep records that explain the food-safety methods, show relevant checks and demonstrate what happened when something went wrong. A small business normally needs proportionate evidence about its processes, suppliers, training, maintenance and corrective actions. Use the relevant national system and requirements to decide the detail and retention; there is no single universal record list or retention period for every food business.
Records connect the method with what actually happened
A written procedure describes the intended control. A monitoring record shows the relevant check, while a corrective-action record explains how a problem and affected food were dealt with.
Official management guidance supports proportionate documentation. CookSafe distinguishes monitoring, verification and review records.
Choose records around the operation
| Group | Examples to consider |
|---|---|
| Current methods | Food-safety procedures and relevant product/process evidence. |
| Monitoring | Checks appropriate to storage, cooking, cleaning and other controls. |
| Problems and corrections | Food decisions, escalation, repairs and effectiveness checks. |
| People | Role-specific instruction, training and observed competence. |
| Suppliers and traceability | Relevant supplier, product and business-customer information. |
| Equipment and premises | Maintenance, pest-control and instrument checks as relevant. |
| Review | Changes, verification and system-review decisions. |
This is a planning aid, not a statement that each business must buy seven separate forms. Equivalent information can sit together where it remains clear and usable.
Make entries truthful, identifiable and timely
Identify the date, person, item or batch and actual result where relevant. Record failures and action, not just successful checks. If a check was missed, do not reconstruct an invented measurement later.
Make corrections traceable while preserving the original information. The responsible person should be able to distinguish an actual contemporaneous observation from a later explanation of what was found.
Choose an accessible paper or electronic system
CookSafe permits equivalent adapted paper or electronic records. Check who enters information, who reviews it and how it remains available when a device fails or an employee is absent.
Retain relevant supplier and product information when food moves into working containers. SFBB stock-control guidance explains why identity, ingredients and dates must stay with the food.
Worked example: a repair invoice without the food decision
Hypothetical example: a café keeps an engineer’s invoice after a fridge failure but has no account of what happened to the food.
The manager improves incident recording so it covers affected stock, the evidence considered, the food decision and the check after repair. The invoice proves a repair took place; it does not answer those other questions.
Set suitable retention and check usefulness
SFBB diary guidance asks businesses to keep completed diary pages safely until the next authority visit. Other records or activities may have different requirements, so this is not a universal permission to destroy everything afterwards.
Agree a retention approach suited to applicable rules, food life, traceability and investigation needs, with authority or specialist advice where required. Review whether records are complete, retrievable and actually supporting safe decisions. Avoid collecting duplicate paperwork that nobody uses.
Next steps
Map the records to the actual controls, assign entry and review responsibilities and test retrieval. Use the system-review checklist and delivery records.
Read official record guidance — Keep equivalent, proportionate and truthful evidence.