For a business working with frozen goods, temperature recording creates two obligations: measuring, and being able to prove what you measured. Turkey's Food Codex communiqué on temperature monitoring during the storage, preservation and carriage of quick-frozen foods is unusually specific about the second.
Three standards and one duty
Under Article 4 of the communiqué, all measuring and recording devices used to monitor temperature must conform to TS EN 12830, TS EN 13485 and TS EN 13486. The sentence that follows does the real work: food business operators are obliged to hold the documents showing that these devices conform to the relevant TSE standards.
Having the standard printed on the box is not the point. What an inspection asks for is the document, and the document stays with the business. If it did not arrive with the device, ask the supplier for it.
| Standard | What it covers |
|---|---|
| TS EN 12830 | Temperature recorders used in carriage, storage and distribution |
| TS EN 13485 | Thermometers |
| TS EN 13486 | Periodic verification of the devices |
How long records are kept
The communiqué requires records to be kept at regular intervals with date and time stated, and retained for at least one year. Where the nature and shelf life of the product call for longer, the period extends. For a frozen product with an eighteen-month shelf life, a one-year archive means the record disappears while the product is still on the market.
The exception lands precisely on the closing link of the chain.
A separate route for distribution and display
The communiqué grants an exception to the recording-device and archive duties. During distribution and for storage in retail display cabinets, ambient temperature may be measured with at least one easily visible thermometer. The same relief applies to cold rooms of less than 10 m³ at retail premises.
That exception lands on the busiest point of the operation. An easily visible thermometer is the minimum requirement, and for a distributor who hands records to customers the minimum may not be enough.
The measuring point in an open cabinet is written down
In open retail display cabinets, the maximum load line must be clearly marked, and the thermometer must show the temperature of the return air at the level of that mark. It is rare for a text to state so plainly where a reading has to be taken. Return air is where the cabinet is working hardest; a figure read on the discharge side is always more flattering.
Where the thermometer looks matters more than how many digits it has.
What an inspection may ask for
- Conformity documents for the devices under TS EN 12830 and TS EN 13485
- Periodic verification records under TS EN 13486
- Temperature records carrying date and time, and their retention period
- The load line marking in an open cabinet and the position of the thermometer
