Tool
The records you have to keep
Every guide here tells you to keep a log and then stops, which is close to not telling you at all. These are the sheets. Tick the ones your kitchen needs and print the pack — each form comes out on its own page with the rule behind it printed at the bottom. Every log can also be downloaded as a spreadsheet if you would rather keep it on a screen than a clipboard.
Two kinds of record, and the difference matters.
5 are documents you must have. An inspector can ask, and you either have it or you do not. The other 4 are your evidence. The code demands an outcome — food at 41 °F, cooled inside six hours — and does not name a form. You are not written up for missing the sheet. You are written up for not being able to show the outcome, which without a sheet is most of the time.
Holding temperature log
- Measure the food, not the air. A cooler can read 38 °F with a pan of chicken sitting at 50.
- Cold food is held at 41 °F or below. Hot food is held at 135 °F or above.
- If a reading is out of range, write what you did about it. A log full of perfect numbers is less believable than one showing a problem and a fix.
What each line asks for
- Date
- Time
- Unit or item
- Temp °F
- What you did if it was off
- Initials
22 blank lines print on the sheet. How long to keep it: At least as long as your licensor asks. Three months is a common ask.
| Date | Time | Unit or item | Temp °F | What you did if it was off | Initials |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Download as a spreadsheet (CSV) Opens in Excel or Google Sheets. The rule and the instructions come with it.
The rule: Food that needs temperature control is held at 41 °F or below, or 135 °F or above. Ohio Administrative Code 3717-1-03.4 — limitation of growth of organisms of public health concern Ohio Administrative Code 3717-1-03.4 — limitation of growth of organisms of public health concern Why this matters
Cooling log
- Two clocks, and both have to be met. From 135 °F down to 70 °F within 2 hours. From 135 °F down to 41 °F within 6 hours in total.
- The first two hours are the hard part. If it misses 70 °F at two hours, you cannot fix it by cooling faster afterwards — reheat it to 165 °F and start again, or throw it out.
- Shallow pans, smaller batches, ice wands and an uncovered pan in the walk-in all buy time. A full stock pot on a shelf will not make it.
What each line asks for
- Date
- Item
- Time cooking ended
- Time at 70 °F
- Time at 41 °F
- Pass or fail
- Initials
18 blank lines print on the sheet. How long to keep it: At least as long as your licensor asks. Three months is a common ask.
| Date | Item | Time cooking ended | Time at 70 °F | Time at 41 °F | Pass or fail | Initials |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Download as a spreadsheet (CSV) Opens in Excel or Google Sheets. The rule and the instructions come with it.
The rule: Cooked food cools from 135 °F to 70 °F within two hours, and from 135 °F to 41 °F within six hours total. Ohio Administrative Code 3717-1-03.4 — cooling of time/temperature controlled for safety food Ohio Administrative Code 3717-1-03.4 — cooling of time/temperature controlled for safety food Why this matters
Sanitizer strength log
- Use the test strips made for your sanitizer. Quat strips cannot read a chlorine bucket, and a strip for the wrong chemical will give you a confident wrong answer.
- Chlorine at 50 to 99 ppm needs water at 100 °F. Weaker solutions need hotter water, which is the opposite of what most people assume.
- Follow the label for quat and iodine. The label is part of the rule.
What each line asks for
- Date
- Time
- Station
- Sanitizer used
- Strength (ppm)
- Water temp °F
- Initials
22 blank lines print on the sheet. How long to keep it: At least as long as your licensor asks.
| Date | Time | Station | Sanitizer used | Strength (ppm) | Water temp °F | Initials |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Download as a spreadsheet (CSV) Opens in Excel or Google Sheets. The rule and the instructions come with it.
The rule: A test kit that accurately measures the sanitizer you use must be on hand, and the solution must be at the required strength. Ohio Administrative Code 3717-1-04.4 — equipment and utensils, maintenance and operation Ohio Administrative Code 3717-1-04.4 — equipment and utensils, maintenance and operation Why this matters
Dish machine log
- A gauge tells you what the machine believes. A strip or a thermolabel tells you what the dish got. Where they disagree, the dish is right.
- Write the reading even when it is fine. A log that only appears when something breaks looks like a log written after something broke.
What each line asks for
- Date
- Wash temp °F
- Rinse temp °F or ppm
- Gauge and strip agree?
- Initials
20 blank lines print on the sheet. How long to keep it: At least as long as your licensor asks.
| Date | Wash temp °F | Rinse temp °F or ppm | Gauge and strip agree? | Initials |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Download as a spreadsheet (CSV) Opens in Excel or Google Sheets. The rule and the instructions come with it.
The rule: Warewashing equipment must reach the temperature or chemical concentration needed to sanitize, and you must be able to show it does. Ohio Administrative Code 3717-1-04.6 — sanitizing of equipment and utensils Ohio Administrative Code 3717-1-04.6 — sanitizing of equipment and utensils Why this matters
Employee health reporting agreement
- This one is a document, not a log. An inspector can ask to see it and you either have it for each person or you do not.
- A conversation is not evidence. The rule expects the employee to have been informed in a way you can verify, which in practice means a signature.
- Print one per person. Keep them together where you can find them in a minute, not in a drawer.
I have been told to tell the person in charge if any of these apply to me:
- Vomiting
- Diarrhea
- Jaundice — yellow skin or eyes
- Sore throat with fever
- An infected cut or sore on my hand or wrist that is open or draining
- A diagnosis of norovirus, hepatitis A, Shigella, E. coli producing Shiga toxin, Salmonella Typhi, or non-typhoidal Salmonella
- Living with, or exposed to, someone diagnosed with any of those
I understand I may be told not to work, or not to handle food, until I am cleared.
Signature lines for the employee, the date and the person in charge print below this. How long to keep it: For as long as they work for you, and after they leave.
The rule: Food employees must be told to report the listed symptoms, diagnoses and exposures to the person in charge, in a way that can be verified. Ohio Administrative Code 3717-1-02.1 — management and personnel, employee health Ohio Administrative Code 3717-1-02.1 — management and personnel, employee health Why this matters
Vomiting and diarrheal event clean-up procedure
- This is a document you must have, and it is cheap to have. Operations lose points for not having written anything down, not for the wording.
- It has to cover how you contain the area, how you clean and disinfect it, what protective equipment is used, how you handle food that was nearby, and who you tell.
- Keep the supplies with the procedure. A plan that sends somebody hunting for a kit is a plan that does not happen.
Write your procedure here, or attach it to this sheet. It has to cover each of these.
- Who is told, and how the area is closed off
- What protective equipment is worn
- How the mess is contained and removed
- How the area is cleaned, then disinfected
- What happens to food and single-use items nearby
- How tools and cloths used are handled afterwards
- Who is sent home, and when they may come back
- Where the kit is kept, and who restocks it
Eight ruled lines print below this to write on, or attach your own procedure to the sheet. How long to keep it: On site, where staff can reach it without asking you.
The rule: A food operation must have written procedures for employees to follow when responding to vomiting or diarrheal events. Ohio Administrative Code 3717-1-02.4 — management and personnel, supervision Ohio Administrative Code 3717-1-02.4 — management and personnel, supervision Why this matters
Shellstock tag file
- The tag stays attached to the container until it is empty. Then it goes in this file for ninety days.
- Work out the discard date when you file it, not later. Ninety days from emptying, written down, is the whole job.
- This is the record most often missing in a kitchen that serves oysters, and the rule is printed on the tag itself.
What each line asks for
- Date received
- Dealer name and certification number
- Harvest date and place
- Date container emptied
- Discard tag on or after
- Initials
20 blank lines print on the sheet. How long to keep it: Ninety days from the day the container is emptied.
| Date received | Dealer name and certification number | Harvest date and place | Date container emptied | Discard tag on or after | Initials |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Download as a spreadsheet (CSV) Opens in Excel or Google Sheets. The rule and the instructions come with it.
The rule: Shellstock tags stay attached until the container is empty, then are kept on file for ninety days. Ohio Administrative Code 3717-1-03.1 — food sources, specifications and original containers Ohio Administrative Code 3717-1-03.1 — food sources, specifications and original containers Why this matters
Dispensing line cleaning card
- Beer lines every fourteen days. Wine every thirty.
- This is Liquor Control, not your health district — a different inspector, on a different visit, asking for a different piece of paper.
- Fill in the next due date on the same line. That turns the card into the reminder.
- Each card covers six months, is signed by whoever did the cleaning, and has to be on the premises and available at all times. Keep completed cards for two years.
What each line asks for
- Date cleaned
- Lines cleaned
- Cleaned by (company or person)
- Next due
- Initials
20 blank lines print on the sheet. How long to keep it: The current card stays on the premises and available at all times. Completed cards are kept on the premises for two years.
| Date cleaned | Lines cleaned | Cleaned by (company or person) | Next due | Initials |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Download as a spreadsheet (CSV) Opens in Excel or Google Sheets. The rule and the instructions come with it.
The rule: Beer dispensing lines are cleaned every fourteen days and wine lines every thirty, with a record kept. Ohio Administrative Code 4301:1-1-28 — cleaning and sterilizing dispensing apparatus Ohio Administrative Code 4301:1-1-28 — cleaning and sterilizing dispensing apparatus Why this matters
Water testing record
- On a well, this obligation is yours rather than a water utility’s. Nobody sends a reminder.
- A bulk water machine is sampled for coliform at least twice a year, and the results have to be at the operation for the licensor to look at.
- Staple the lab report behind this sheet. The sheet is the index; the report is the evidence.
What each line asks for
- Date sampled
- What was sampled
- Lab used
- Result
- Date result received
- Initials
14 blank lines print on the sheet. How long to keep it: The most recent report stays on file, and the results where your licensor can review them.
| Date sampled | What was sampled | Lab used | Result | Date result received | Initials |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Download as a spreadsheet (CSV) Opens in Excel or Google Sheets. The rule and the instructions come with it.
The rule: A private water system must be sampled and found to meet drinking water requirements, and bulk water machines sampled at least semi-annually for coliform, with results retained. Ohio Administrative Code 3717-1-05 and 3717-1-08.3 — water, and bulk water machine criteria Ohio Administrative Code 3717-1-05 and 3717-1-08.3 — water, and bulk water machine criteria Why this matters
These are working sheets, not a legal filing. Keeping a log does not make an operation compliant — doing the thing does, and the log is how you show it later. Your licensor may want a record kept longer or in a particular form, and a few operations have conditions attached to a variance or a HACCP plan that these do not cover. Ask the agency that licenses you before you rely on any of it.