# What Happens If an EHO Finds Temperature Logs Are Not Documented? Canonical: https://paddl-ai.co/answers/eho-found-temperature-logs-not-documented-what-happens Last reviewed: 2026-09-09 by the Paddl team What an EHO does when temperature records are missing, how it hits the hygiene rating, and how to fix it before the revisit. ## Quick answer Missing temperature logs will not usually close you, but they cost you the rating. The inspector cannot verify that food was kept safe, so confidence in management is marked down, which caps a hygiene rating at 3 or lower even if the kitchen is clean. Expect a written requirement to start recording, a revisit, and a Hygiene Improvement Notice if it happens again. ## Key facts - Missing logs lower the confidence-in-management score, which caps the FHRS rating at 3 or lower. - The usual outcome is a written requirement and a revisit; repeated gaps bring a Hygiene Improvement Notice. - A notice sets a deadline of at least 14 days; failing to comply is an offence. - Fridges and freezers are normally checked twice a day; cooking, cooling and reheating every time. - Digital logs with time stamps and a recorded manager review are the strongest evidence at the revisit. Temperature records are evidence. Without them the inspector has to assume the worst about the fridge that reads 6°C today, and the assessment moves from what they can see to what you cannot prove. Under the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme the third score, confidence in management, is largely about records: if the safe methods are not being monitored and written down, that score drops to 10 or 20 and the overall rating cannot exceed 3, sometimes 2, regardless of how the kitchen looks. On the day, the officer will tell you what to start recording and how often, usually twice a day for fridges and freezers plus every cooking, cooling and reheating check. They will put it in the inspection report as a requirement with a timescale. If the gaps are wide, or you had been told before, they can serve a Hygiene Improvement Notice with a deadline, and non-compliance with a notice is an offence. Prosecution for missing records alone is rare; it follows when missing records sit alongside unsafe food. The fix is to record from today and be able to show a continuous run at the revisit. A digital log with a time stamp is stronger evidence than a sheet filled in at the end of the week, and a manager review in the record shows the management the third score is looking for. ## What the inspector is actually scoring Three things: hygiene (what they see), structure (the building and equipment) and confidence in management (whether you have a system and follow it). Temperature logs sit in the third. A clean kitchen with no records reads as luck rather than management, and the scheme is built to reward management. That is why a spotless kitchen can come out with a 3. ## Between now and the revisit Start the log today, at the frequency the officer asked for. Calibrate the probe and note it. Record the fridge and freezer readings every morning and evening, every cook and every cool, and what you did when a reading was out. Have a manager initial the review weekly. Ask the officer for a re-rating visit once you have a clean three months. Paddl records all of this on the staff app with time stamps, chases the missed check, and prints the run for the revisit; it is £69 a month with a 30-day trial, and a paper sheet done properly is also acceptable. ## Questions **Can missing temperature logs get a business closed?** On their own, no. Closure needs an imminent risk to health, such as unsafe food, pests or no hot water. Missing records make it harder to argue the food was safe, which is why they matter when something else is wrong. **How long do I need to keep temperature records?** The FSA expects records for at least the period between inspections; most businesses keep twelve months. Keep the corrective actions with the readings so the story is complete.