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Free food safety checklist for cafes, delis & bakeries

A printable daily food-safety checklist covering opening, closing and cleaning checks, plus your fridge and freezer temperatures — with the safe limits already filled in for your area. Print it for the wall, or run the same checks on your team's phones with ProCafe.

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Putting this into practice in the United States

Set up records for the authority that regulates your US establishment. The FDA Food Code is a model used by state and local jurisdictions, with different editions and amendments in force. Choose the site's state, review the local requirements, and connect person-in-charge reviews to the actual food processes.

FDA: Food Code and jurisdiction adoption
  1. Schedule refrigeration and hot-holding checks, then use process records for cooking, cooling and reheating. Select the applicable local controls instead of assuming every state follows the same Food Code edition.
  2. At shift change, review missed checks, food removed from service and actions still open. Keep the responsible person and follow-up with the event for the local health department's review.

ProCafe · Free template

Daily food safety checklist

Site: Date: Checked by:

Opening checks

  • Fridges and freezers running correctly
  • Probe thermometer working and sanitized
  • Handwashing sink stocked with soap and paper towels
  • Allergen information available and up to date
  • Fridge temperature(≤ 41 °F)

Fridge & freezer temperatures

  • Fridge temperature(≤ 41 °F)
  • Freezer temperature(≤ 0 °F)

Cleaning

  • Area cleaned and sanitized
  • Product used
  • Contact time followed

Closing checks

  • Hot holding turned off and food cooled correctly
  • Surfaces and equipment cleaned and sanitized
  • Trash removed and trash cans cleaned
  • Fridges and freezers running correctly

Tick each check once done, and record temperatures where shown. Keep the completed sheet on file.

Questions

Common questions

What should be on a daily food safety checklist for a cafe?
At a minimum: opening checks that everything is working and stocked, fridge and freezer temperatures, safe cooking/cooling/reheating where you handle hot food, cleaning, and closing checks. This template covers the daily opening, temperature, cleaning and closing checks a small cafe, deli or bakery needs.
Is this food safety checklist suitable for my country's rules?
The checks here are the everyday good-practice checks common to most food-safety schemes, and the temperature limits shown are set for your area. Your local authority's guidance always has the final say — this is a starting point you can adapt, not a substitute for it.
Is the checklist free?
Yes — print it and use it every day at no cost. If paper checklists keep going missing, ProCafe runs the same checks on your team's phones, records who did them and when, and keeps everything ready for an inspection. Free for 14 days, no card required.
How do I prove to an inspector that the checks were done?
With paper you keep the signed sheets on file. ProCafe keeps a time-stamped, tamper-evident history automatically and lets you export it as a PDF or spreadsheet — so when an inspector asks, the proof is a couple of taps away.

Keep going

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