What is the FDA danger zone for food?

The FDA Food Code defines the danger zone as 41°F to 135°F (5°C to 57°C). Food held in this range for more than 2 hours must be discarded. Some jurisdictions allow 4 hours with documented time-only control.

What are the minimum cooking temperatures?

Poultry and stuffed meats: 165°F. Ground meats and eggs: 155°F. Seafood, steaks, and chops: 145°F. Fruits and vegetables for hot holding: 135°F.

How often should temperatures be logged?

Health inspectors expect temperature logs at least every 2 hours during operating hours for hot/cold holding units, and at receiving, cooking, cooling, and reheating steps for each batch.

HACCP Temperature Log & FDA Compliance Tool

🌡️ FDA Food Code Compliant

Food Safety Compliance Log

HACCP-ready temperature logging with automatic FDA Food Code violation detection, corrective action tracking, and printable inspection logs.

📝 Log Temperature Reading

Facility / Location

Check Type

Food Item

Temperature

°F

Time

Inspector / Staff Name

Corrective Action (if violation)

Notes

📋 FDA Food Code Thresholds

Compliance Score

100%

0 readings logged · 0 violations

Critical

Warnings

Pass

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Why Temperature Logging Matters

Foodborne illness costs the U.S. economy $15.6 billion annually (CDC), and the leading cause is temperature abuse — food held too long in the "danger zone" between 41°F and 135°F where bacteria multiply rapidly. Health inspectors can shut down a restaurant for a single critical violation, and the fines often exceed the cost of a digital logging system for an entire year.

How Temp Check Enforces FDA Food Code

Every reading is validated against the exact thresholds in the FDA Food Code 2022, the standard adopted by most U.S. jurisdictions:

Cold holding: ≤41°F (5°C). Above this, bacteria like Listeria and Salmonella can double every 20 minutes.
Hot holding: ≥135°F (57°C). Below this, Clostridium perfringens and Bacillus cereus can grow.
Cooking temperatures: Poultry 165°F, ground meats 155°F, seafood/steaks 145°F — each based on the D-value (time to reduce pathogens by 90%) for the target organism.
The 2-hour rule: Any food in the danger zone for more than 2 hours must be discarded. Some jurisdictions allow 4 hours with documented time-only control.

What Health Inspectors Look For

When a health inspector arrives, they ask for three things: a written temperature log (not just verbal confirmation), corrective action documentation for every violation, and staff signatures proving someone actually took the reading. TempCheck generates all three in a single printable PDF-ready format. Each entry is timestamped, cannot be retroactively edited, and includes the corrective action taken — exactly what inspectors want to see.

Building a HACCP Plan Around This Tool

HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point) requires you to identify critical control points in your process — usually receiving, cooking, cooling, hot/cold holding, and reheating. Log a reading at each CCP every 2 hours during operation. When TempCheck flags a violation, document the corrective action immediately. Over 30 days, the compliance score and violation trends become your HACCP verification record, which is exactly what auditors and insurers request.