Commercial Fridge Above 5°C: What to Do

If your commercial fridge is above 5 degrees, do not throw anything out yet and do not assume it is fine. First isolate the affected food, then confirm the reading with a calibrated probe, work out how long the food has actually been above 5°C, and only then decide whether to keep, cool or discard each product. Under Standard 3.2.2 of the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code, cold potentially hazardous food must be kept at or below 5°C, so a warm fridge is a genuine food safety event that needs a documented response. A single display reading is a warning, not a verdict. Fridge thermostats and door-mounted displays can drift, and the temperature of the air is not the same as the temperature of the food. The steps below give you a calm, repeatable decision process instead of a panicked guess. Step 1: Isolate the food and stop the clock The moment you notice a commercial fridge above 5 degrees, stop adding or removing product and mentally stop the clock. The risk to food is driven by how long it has spent in the temperature danger zone between 5°C and 60°C, so every extra minute of uncertainty makes the decision harder. Close the door and avoid opening it repeatedly while you investigate. Physically separate or clearly label the affected stock so nobody serves or moves it. Note the time you first observed the problem. This is your reference point for the time assessment later. Step 2: Verify the temperature with a calibrated probe Never make a keep-or-discard decision on the strength of a wall display alone. Confirm the reading with a clean, sanitised, calibrated probe thermometer. Because you cannot spear sealed packs without cross-contaminating them, measure the temperature of the food between two packages, or probe a dedicated test item you keep for this purpose. Take readings from several positions, because fridges are rarely a uniform temperature. Warm spots often sit near the door, on the top shelf, or directly in front of vents blocked by overstocking. A probe that disagrees sharply with the display tells you the display itself may be the fault. Keeping accurate equipment matters here, and digital temperature monitoring removes the guesswork by logging the real internal temperature continuously. Step 3: Assess how long the food has been above 5°C This is the heart of the decision. The question is not simply how warm the fridge is now, but how long the food has been out of temperature. FSANZ guidance and the temperature control rules in Standard 3.2.2 recognise that short, limited excursions are manageable, while prolonged time in the danger zone is not. To estimate the exposure, work with the evidence you have: Continuous logs: If you use sensors, check the graph to see exactly when the temperature crossed 5°C. Last known good check: If you rely on manual checks, use your most recent in-range reading as the start of the window. Food temperature, not air temperature: Dense, cold product changes temperature slowly, so food may still be safe even when the air has warmed. As a general guide used across Australian kitchens, food that has been between 5°C and 60°C for less than 2 hours can be refrigerated or used, between 2 and 4 hours should be used immediately and not put back in the fridge, and beyond 4 hours should be discarded. This is the widely applied 2-hour and 4-hour rule, and it is the safest reference when your fridge has failed. Step 4: Make and record the product decision Once you know roughly how long the food has been above 5 degrees, decide item by item. High-risk potentially hazardous foods such as raw meat, seafood, dairy, cooked rice and prepared salads deserve the most caution. When in doubt, throw it out, because you cannot see, smell or taste most dangerous bacteria. Whatever you decide, write it down. A corrective action record protects your business and shows an Environmental Health Officer that you acted properly. A simple table keeps it consistent: Field Example entry Date and time observed 14/04/2026, 8:05 am Fridge or unit ID Coolroom 2 Probe-verified temperature 9°C Estimated time above 5°C About 90 minutes Decision Returned to service after re-chill Action taken Isolated food, called refrigeration technician Signed by Food Safety Supervisor Structured logging like this is far easier to maintain digitally. Purpose-built corrective action records capture the who, what and when automatically, so the evidence is ready if a council officer ever asks. Step 5: Fix the cause before you restock Returning the fridge to below 5°C is not the end of the job. Find out why it warmed up so the same failure does not repeat. Common culprits include: A door left ajar, worn door seals, or an overfilled unit blocking airflow. Iced-up evaporator coils or a dirty condenser reducing cooling capacity. Hot food loaded straight in, or a genuine mechanical or refrigerant fault. Arrange maintenance promptly and keep the fridge lightly stocked until you have confidence it holds temperature. Reviewing your checking routine also helps. Our food safety guides explain how to build monitoring into daily service so problems are caught before food is at risk. When should you call your local council? Most fridge excursions are handled in-house with good records and no product served unsafe. You generally do not need to notify your council over a single, well-managed temperature failure. However, if unsafe food may have reached customers, or if a recall or an illness complaint is involved, contact your local council or state health authority. Guidance from Food Standards Australia New Zealand and your state department, such as NSW Health , sets out when notification is expected. Frequently asked questions Is a commercial fridge at 6°C automatically unsafe? Not automatically, but it is out of compliance. Cold potentially hazardous food should be at or below 5°C. A reading of 6°C means you should verify with a probe, find the cause and monitor closely, because bacteria multiply faster as the temperature rises. Can I refreeze food that warmed up in the fridge? Only if the food never entered the danger zone or was above 5°C for a very short, controlled time. Once high-risk food has spent significant time between 5°C and 60°C, refreezing preserves any bacteria already growing rather than making it safe. How do I know how long the food was warm if I was not there? Without continuous monitoring you must assume the worst reasonable case, usually the time since your last verified in-range check. Continuous sensors remove this uncertainty by showing exactly when the temperature crossed 5°C. Do I have to record every fridge temperature problem? Yes. Documenting the fault, your verification, the time assessment and the product decision is a core part of food safety management and demonstrates due diligence to an EHO. A short corrective action note is enough. A warm fridge is stressful, but it is manageable when you can see the problem coming. FoodSafety HQ pairs continuous temperature monitoring and alerts with structured corrective action logging, so a rising fridge triggers a warning before food is at risk and every decision is captured automatically. You can explore it on a free trial from our pricing page .