Technical reference
A record is evidence, and an or auditor can't see what happened any other way. It carries weight only if it's attributable, made at the time, readable, original and accurate. A perfect-looking is often less convincing than an honest one with a marked gap.
Why is the Australian period 3 months? links it to the incubation period of , the long delay between eating contaminated food and becoming ill. So retention is tied to how long an investigation may reach back. The same logic explains the rule on shelf life: a record has to outlast the food it describes.
A falsified record is usually easy to spot. Identical handwriting, one pen, round numbers, no variation at all, readings entered before the shift begins and sheets too clean for a kitchen all stand out. Real temperatures wander. Verifiers should look for those signs, and managers should know that honest gaps are safer for everyone.
Parameters
| Codex retention | Longer than the product's shelf life, or as the authority sets |
|---|---|
| Standard 3.2.2A, category one | 3 months after the record is made (Australia) |
| Each monitoring entry | Result, time, signature or initials |
| A missed check | Recorded as missed, and never filled in later |
| A correction | Who, when, old value, new value, reason |
| Hold | Nothing destroyed while a complaint, or investigation depends on it |
Records that prove it
- List of records: what, who, how often, how long kept
- The monitoring records themselves
- Corrections and late entries, with reasons
- Fallback records, and the outage they cover
- Records check after any outage
- Restore tests, and any destruction of records
- Photos: what each shows, who took it, when, and the entry it belongs to
- The day's official record, its amendments, and each export
- Faults and requests, each with an owner and how it closed
- Alert settings and recipient changes, with who asked and who confirmed
- Register of scheduled reports, and any failed send
CCP or prerequisite?
That depends on the for your process. The number, if it has one, belongs to your plan.
Law and practice
| Control | Australia | New Zealand | Singapore | Malaysia | In practice |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Keeping records | 3 months for records (3.2.2A); audit reports 4 years under 3.2.1. | At least 4 years. | As SFA determines; meat and fish recorder data at least 3 months. | No period set. | Well above the legal floor in Australia: from 3 months up to 3, 4 and 7 years, or shelf life plus one year. |
Law as read in the authority library between 14 October and 4 November 2026. In practice: food safety programmes read across hotels, clubs, venues, healthcare, manufacturing and airline catering, with no business named. A common practice isn't proof that a is safe or lawful where you are.