What is the Danger Zone for Food?
Whether you’re a business or individual, knowing the temperature danger for food is essential for making sure the food you store, cook and serve is safe to consume. If food is left within the danger zone for a period of time, harmful bacterial growth can lead to food poisoning.
Read on to learn everything you need to know about the danger zone and how to keep your food safe.
What is the danger zone temperature for food in the UK?
The danger zone refers to the temperature range where the harmful bacteria in foods can grow most rapidly, possibly causing food poisoning. In the UK this is 8-63 °C.
To avoid food staying in the danger zone long enough for harmful bacteria to grow, you should:
- Keep cold food cold
- Keep hot food hot
- Cook food thoroughly
- Reheat food safely
- Use a food thermometer
- Don’t leave food in the danger zone for more than 2 hours
What is the food safe zone temperature?
The safe temperature for food depends on whether it is hot or cold.
Cold food
For chilled foods, the safe zone temperature is below 8 °C, but ideally below 5 °C. Foods stored at 8 °C will spoil more quickly than those stored at 5 °C.
Cold food should’t be kept above 8 °C for more than two hours. If it is, it should be discarded.
Hot food
If you’re keeping hot food warm until serving, it should stay above 63 °C. If you’re cooling hot food down, you should do so as quickly as possible and refrigerate it within two hours.
Remember
It’s important to remember that food that has been in the danger zone for more than two hours has a higher risk of causing food poisoning, so it should be discarded. It doesn’t matter if you cook or reheat the food — harmful bacteria caused by improper storage can still survive the cooking process.
Cooking food thoroughly
Most food should be cooked to a temperature of 75 °C, but there are a few exceptions.
Red meat like beef steaks and lamb chops only need to be seared on the outside to remove harmful bacteria. The internal temperature is safe to eat as low as 52 °C — the temperature for rare steak. However, minced meat should always be cooked to 75 °C because the harmful bacteria from the outside of the meat has been mixed through the mince.
Fish is recommended to reach 60 °C. This temperature kills the harmful bacteria in fish, but cooking any higher will dry it out.
Check out this cooking temperature chart for a full list of safe food temperatures.
Good to know
Different types of harmful bacteria are killed at different temperatures. Not all foods contain the same bacteria, which is why they can be cooked to different temperatures.
Time and temperature combinations
Cooking food safely it not just about reaching a certain temperature, it’s also about how long the food stays at that temperature.
Food that is cooked to a slightly lower temperature but stays there for a longer period of time is equally as safe as food cooked to a higher temperature but for a shorter period of time.
For example, chicken cooked to a temperature of 70 °C and held there for two minutes is as safe as chicken cooked to 75 °C for 30 seconds.
Here is the full list of combinations recommended by the Food Standards Agency (FSA):
• 60 °C for 45 minutes
• 65 °C for 10 minutes
• 70 °C for 2 minutes
• 75 °C for 30 seconds
• 80 °C for 6 seconds
Using a food thermometer
The easiest way to make sure your food is cooked and stored at safe temperatures is to use a food thermometer.
Insert it into the thickest part of meats or stir through soups and reheated dishes to ensure the food reaches the correct temperature throughout.
If you don’t have a fridge thermometer, you can also use a food thermometer for checking the temperature of your chilled food.
Businesses who hot hold food before serving should use appropriate equipment for keeping the food warm and monitor the internal temperature using a food thermometer.
Summary
The temperature danger zone for food safety is 8-63 °C. At this temperature, food is most at risk of harmful bacterial growth. Remember the following tips to keep food at safe temperatures during storage and preparation.
Top tips for food safety:
- Keep cold food stored below 8 °C, but ideally under 5 °C
- Cold food that has been out of the fridge for more than two hours should be discarded
- Hot food should be stored above 63 °C
- Hot food should be refrigerated within two hours after cooking, if not it should be discarded
- Cook food to its recommended safe temperature
- Reheat food to 75 °C or equivalent
- Use a food thermometer to check your temperatures
Following these guidelines will keep your food safe and prevent the risk of food poisoning.
You might also like:
How Do I Check if My Oven Temperature is Correct?
5 Best Fridge Thermometers for Business & Home