Virginia’s food rules follow the FDA Food Code, which says food held cold has to be at 41 F or below. Freezers usually run at 0 F or colder. Inspections are handled by your local health department, such as the Fairfax County Health Department or the Loudoun County Health Department, and they decide what corrective action they want.
Our part is getting the equipment to hold temperature.
If the inspector flagged a unit
Inspectors check food temperature with a probe thermometer. That’s why a reach-in can show 38 on its display and still get written up, because the tray of sliced tomatoes near the door probed at 44. The display only reads air temperature at one sensor.
When a box can’t keep food at 41, the usual causes are shelves packed so tight that cold air can’t circulate, a torn door gasket, a thermostat or sensor that’s drifted, or product that went in warm. A dirty condenser coil can do it too, mostly during the lunch rush when the kitchen is hot and the door keeps opening. Prep tables are a frequent one, since the open rail on top sits right in the warm air of the line, and open display cases have the same problem with store air.
The tech checks the box against a calibrated thermometer and tracks down the cause. Afterward you get a service report that says what was wrong and what was repaired, which is useful to have on hand when the inspector comes back. Our guide on walk-in temperatures and the health code has more on what inspectors look at.
Reading your own logs
Temperature logs tell you a lot if you look at them for patterns. A box that creeps up a degree or two over a few weeks is often a coil getting dirty or a slow refrigerant leak. Warm only in the afternoon usually means the condensing unit is struggling in the heat. Warm first thing in the morning can point to a defrost or thermostat problem overnight. Single spikes at lunch or delivery time are usually the door. Where the thermometer sits matters. Put it in the warmest spot in the box, which is usually up high and near the door. Some kitchens keep a thermometer in a cup of water on the shelf, since water changes temperature more like food does and won’t jump every time the door opens. We go through this in more detail in how to read your temperature logs.
Monitoring and alarms
A wireless monitoring system puts a sensor in each box and sends a text or email when one goes out of range. It makes the most sense where nobody’s around for long stretches, like a school over a long weekend or a church kitchen between events. Put the sensor somewhere it reads like the product does, away from the blast of air off the evaporator fan.
Set the alarm with a short delay. A walk-in warms a few degrees during defrost and when the door is propped for a delivery, and an alarm that goes off for every one of those gets ignored by the second week.
