What is the difference between frozen and quick-frozen?

Quick-freezing brings the core temperature down very fast, and the product is then held at -18 °C or colder - a figure harmonised across the EU. Food that is simply frozen falls under national rules; the -12 °C in this table is the French figure, and the one in force where you operate may differ. The two words are not interchangeable on a log sheet, and a freezer set for quick-frozen stock is not set like a frozen-storage cabinet.

What if the label states a different temperature?

The label prevails. Where the manufacturer sets a storage temperature, that is the one that applies, including when it is stricter than the general regulatory figure. The values in this table are maxima that apply in the absence of any indication.

Do these temperatures have to appear in the HACCP plan?

Yes. Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 requires food businesses to operate permanent procedures based on HACCP principles, and that is where you set, enclosure by enclosure, the limits you undertake to hold and what happens when one is exceeded. It is that document, not a generic table, that an inspector compares your records against.

Do vaccines follow the same rules as food?

No. Temperature-sensitive healthcare products are held between +2 and +8 °C, a narrower band than food refrigeration and without the tolerance some foods enjoy. A single short excursion can make a batch unusable, which is why pharmacies record temperature continuously rather than twice a day.

Reference

Food storage temperature chart

The maximum temperatures to hold, food category by food category, with the sources. Chilled, frozen and quick-frozen, hot holding, and the narrower range that temperature-sensitive healthcare products need.

Two rules override this table. Where the manufacturer states a storage temperature on the label, that is the one that applies. And it is the limits written into your own food safety plan, enclosure by enclosure, that an inspector compares your records against.

These are reference maxima. Part of the table is harmonised across the EU; the rest is set by national rules, so check the figures in force for your activity and your country.

Chilled storage

Maximum storage temperatures for chilled foods. Where the manufacturer states a temperature on the label, that is the one that applies. Several of these limits come from the EU rules on food of animal origin (Regulation (EC) No 853/2004); the general maxima at the foot of the table are set nationally, so check the figures in force where you operate.

Food category	Temperature
Minced meat	≤ +2 °C
Meat preparationsReg. (EC) No 853/2004; national rules may set a lower figure	≤ +4 °C
Fresh fishery productsa temperature approaching that of melting ice (Reg. (EC) No 853/2004)	melting ice
Poultry, rabbit and small wild game	set by national rules
Carcases and large cutsdomestic ungulates	≤ +7 °C
Highly perishable foodschilled preparations and prepared dishes; figure set by national rules	≤ +4 °C
Other perishable foodsfigure set by national rules	set by national rules

Frozen storage

Frozen and quick-frozen products. The distinction matters: quick-frozen food is held at -18 °C throughout the EU (Directive 89/108/EEC), while food that is simply frozen falls under national rules.

Food category	Temperature
Quick-frozen products	≤ -18 °C
Ice cream and edible icesedible ices are excluded from Directive 89/108/EEC; this figure is set by national rules	≤ -18 °C
Frozen productsfrozen but not quick-frozen; -12 °C is the French figure and national rules elsewhere differ	set by national rules

Hot holding

Hot holding is the other end of the chain: food must not sit in the band between chilled and hot, where bacteria multiply. EU hygiene rules require hot food to be kept at a temperature that presents no risk to health without fixing a figure - the binding number is set by national rules.

Food category	Temperature
Dishes held hot before serviceEU hygiene law fixes no figure here and national values differ, so none is given - apply the one in force where you operate	set by national rules

Temperature-sensitive healthcare products

The pharmaceutical cold chain follows its own range, narrower than food refrigeration and with no tolerance for excursions.

Healthcare product	Temperature
Vaccines and temperature-sensitive medicinesunless the package leaflet states otherwise	+2 to +8 °C

Sources

Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 - specific hygiene rules for food of animal origin; sets the chilling requirements for meat, poultry and fishery products.
Council Directive 89/108/EEC - quick-frozen foodstuffs for human consumption; -18 °C to be maintained through storage and transport.
Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 - hygiene of foodstuffs; requires cold-chain control and HACCP-based procedures, without prescribing a recording method.
Your national food-safety rules - hot-holding temperatures and the general chilled maxima are set nationally; the figure in force where you operate prevails over this table.

Related resources: the temperature log sheet to record these values, and the food safety plan template to set them out enclosure by enclosure.

Frequently asked questions

There is no single setting: it depends on what the enclosure holds. A cabinet storing chilled preparations and prepared dishes is set to hold +4 °C at most, while an enclosure holding minced meat has to come down to +2 °C. In practice you set the enclosure for the most demanding food it contains.

Knowing the temperature is good. Proving it is better.

KelvinTrack measures every enclosure continuously, alerts you the moment a limit is crossed, and keeps a timestamped history you can produce in seconds at an inspection.

See how it works

The other documents in the food-safety file, free to download or generate.