Preparing Your Cafe for an EHO Inspection
Cafes present a distinctive food safety profile that inspectors are well accustomed to.
Cafes present a distinctive food safety profile that inspectors are well accustomed to. Your operation likely involves display cabinets for cakes and sandwiches, counter service where customers can see and select food, potentially some on-site baking or food preparation, and a combination of hot and cold items served throughout the day. The display element of cafe service creates specific temperature control and cross-contamination challenges. Food sitting in display cabinets must be maintained at safe temperatures, protected from contamination, and monitored for shelf life. If you prepare food on site, particularly items like sandwiches, salads, and baked goods, your allergen management must cover every item in the display and be visible to customers at the point of selection. Cafes that also serve as retail outlets, selling packaged items alongside freshly prepared food, need to comply with labelling requirements for prepacked for direct sale items under Natasha's Law. Paddl helps cafes manage these overlapping requirements with systems tailored to counter-service food businesses.
Your inspection checklist
Monitor and record display cabinet temperatures
Check and log temperatures for all chilled and hot display units at least twice daily. Ensure units maintain correct temperatures even during busy periods when doors open frequently.
Audit Natasha's Law compliance for PPDS items
Check every item you package on site. Each must carry a full ingredient list with allergens in bold or otherwise emphasised. Update labels whenever recipes change.
Set shelf life and rotation procedures
Document how long each display item can be kept, and establish a clear rotation system. Label items with preparation time and discard time.
Review counter service hygiene practices
Ensure staff use tongs or gloves for handling food, separate equipment for different food types, and wash hands after handling money or non-food items.
Prepare visible allergen information
Display allergen information clearly near your counter so customers can check before ordering. Staff should be able to answer allergen questions about every item on display.
Display cabinet and counter service challenges
Display cabinets are one of the first things inspectors check in a cafe. Chilled display units must maintain temperatures at 8 degrees Celsius or below (best practice is 5 or below), and you need records proving they do so consistently. Hot display units must keep food above 63 degrees. The transition period when food moves from kitchen to display is where temperature control often breaks down.
Prepacked for direct sale (PPDS) items are a significant compliance area for cafes since Natasha's Law took effect. If you wrap, box, or package any food on your premises before a customer selects it, that item must carry a full ingredients list with the 14 allergens emphasised. This applies to sandwiches in cling film, boxed salads, wrapped cakes, and any other item packaged before the point of sale.
Cross-contamination at the counter is another area inspectors observe. Staff handling cash and then touching food, using the same tongs for different items, or not cleaning surfaces between serving different products are all findings that appear regularly in cafe inspections. Simple procedural controls and the right equipment eliminate these risks.
Mistakes to avoid
No temperature records for display units
Display cabinets often run continuously without anyone checking or recording their temperature. A broken or underperforming unit goes unnoticed until an inspector points it out.
Non-compliant PPDS labelling
Many cafes still use simple name labels on wrapped items without full ingredient lists. Under Natasha's Law, this is non-compliant and can result in enforcement action.
No shelf life management for displayed food
Sandwiches and cakes displayed without preparation or discard times risk being served after they should have been removed. Inspectors look for a clear date marking system.
Cross-contamination at the serving counter
Using the same tongs for nut-containing cakes and nut-free items, or handling food after touching cash, creates allergen and hygiene risks that inspectors observe during their visit.
How Paddl prepares you
Cafe-Specific SFBB Pack
Paddl generates food safety documentation tailored to cafe operations, covering display management, counter service, PPDS labelling, and artisan food preparation.
PPDS Label Generator
Create compliant Natasha's Law labels for all your prepacked items with full ingredient lists and emphasised allergens, directly from your recipe records in Paddl.
Display Unit Monitoring
Schedule and log temperature checks for all display cabinets, with alerts when temperatures drift outside safe ranges during busy service periods.
Shelf Life Tracking
Set shelf life limits for every product you display and receive alerts when items approach or pass their discard time, preventing expired food from being served.
The numbers that matter
Common questions
Do my display cakes need allergen labels?
If cakes are displayed unwrapped and customers select them at the counter, you need written allergen information available but not necessarily on the cake itself. If cakes are wrapped or boxed before the customer selects them, they are PPDS items and must carry a full ingredients list with allergens emphasised.
How long can food stay in a display cabinet?
There is no single legal time limit as it depends on the food type and temperature. You must set shelf life limits based on food safety principles and document them. As a general guideline, sandwiches and fresh items should not be displayed for more than 4 hours if chilled, and hot food must be discarded if it drops below 63 degrees for more than 2 hours.
Do I need separate tongs for each food type?
Best practice is to use separate serving equipment for different food types, particularly for allergen management. At minimum, use separate tongs for items containing common allergens like nuts, and clean all serving equipment regularly throughout the day.
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