Continuous Recording Thermometer: A UK Food Safety Guide

Short answer: a continuous recording thermometer logs temperature automatically at set intervals and stores the history, so a food business can show an unbroken record rather than a few spot checks. In the UK that record is what supports your HACCP plan and satisfies an Environmental Health Officer.

For a small food producer or chilled-delivery business, the pressure is simple: customers and supermarkets want proof the cold chain held, and saying so is not enough. A continuous record turns a good-faith claim into something you can attach to the delivery.

What is a continuous recording thermometer?

Unlike a handheld probe that shows one number, a continuous recording thermometer — effectively a temperature data logger — samples at a chosen interval around the clock and keeps every reading. That matters because the risky moments (an overnight fridge fault, a warm hour in a van) happen when nobody is watching. A logger is watching.

Why UK food businesses need continuous records

Under the Food Safety and Hygiene (England) Regulations 2013, food that supports the growth of harmful bacteria must be kept at or below 8°C, with 5°C widely used as a best-practice target. You must also run procedures based on HACCP principles and keep records to prove your controls work — those logs are your due-diligence defence. Twice-daily manual checks are the minimum, but they cannot see what happens between readings; continuous logging can.

Handing proof to a customer

The workflow small businesses like is the "drop it in the cool box and forget it" one: start the logger, pack it with the goods, and on arrival plug it in to produce a report you can show the customer straight away. If a load is ever questioned, you are not arguing from memory about whether it was a transport problem — you have the timeline.

Fridge monitoring in the kitchen

The same device left in a walk-in or display fridge quietly builds the evidence EHOs look for first. If a unit drifts above 8°C overnight, the record shows when and for how long, so you can act on the food and demonstrate you caught it. Buying in a multi-pack keeps per-fridge cost sensible for a small operation working to a tight budget.

A continuous recording thermometer you can prove with

If you need proof you can put in a customer's hands, a certified logger that exports a report on the spot does the heavy lifting. The Elitech RC-5+ USB Temperature Data Logger is sold as a 5-pack for £45.47 with free UK delivery. It is EN12830 certified, accurate to ±0.5°C between -20°C and +40°C (±1.0°C outside that band), stores 32,000 readings, and lets you set a logging interval from 10 seconds to 24 hours. On arrival you plug it into any computer and it generates a PDF and CSV report automatically, with no software to install, and the user-replaceable CR2032 battery lasts around six months. It is CE/RoHS marked and comes with 30-day returns and a 12-month UK warranty.

Frequently asked questions

What is a continuous recording thermometer?

It is a device that measures temperature automatically at set intervals and stores every reading, giving an unbroken history rather than occasional spot checks. In food safety it is usually a USB temperature data logger that exports a PDF and CSV record.

Do UK food businesses legally need continuous temperature records?

You must keep food at or below 8°C where it supports bacterial growth and maintain HACCP-based procedures with records that prove your controls work. Continuous logging is not the only lawful method, but it is the most defensible because it captures the gaps that twice-daily manual checks miss.

How does continuous recording help with an EHO inspection?

It gives you a timestamped record showing your fridges and deliveries stayed in range, and shows exactly when and for how long any excursion occurred plus the action you took. That is the due-diligence evidence inspectors look at first.

Can one logger cover both delivery vans and fridges?

Yes. The same standalone logger can ride inside a chilled load to prove a delivery, then sit in a fridge to monitor storage. A multi-pack lets a small business cover several points at once without a big outlay.