Goods receipt check: temperatures and checklist
Goods receipt check in food service: temperature limits for meat, fish, poultry and frozen food in Austria and Germany, measuring tips, checklist.
Whatever you accept at the back door ends up on the plate. If a delivery is already too warm, damaged or past its date, even the best kitchen cannot fix it. That is why goods receipt is the first critical point in many HACCP plans. This guide covers what to check with every delivery, which temperatures serve as reference values in Austria and Germany, how to measure without opening packaging and when to reject a delivery. It is not legal advice. The binding rules are your own HACCP plan and the requirements of your local authority.
Why goods receipt matters
At goods receipt, responsibility for the food passes to you. A broken cold chain cannot be undone later, which is why the City of Mainz guidance sheet names rejection of the goods as the corrective action for deviations. Traceability is the second reason: under Article 18 of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002, food businesses must be able to identify who supplied them with a food. Your goods receipt records provide that evidence.
The Austrian hygiene guide for retail businesses requires temperature checks of chilled and frozen food on a regular basis, and in any case whenever there is reason for suspicion. German authority guidance, for example from the City of Cologne, refers to spot checks. Set how often you measure in your HACCP plan.
What to check with every delivery
Temperature
For chilled and frozen goods, measure the product temperature. The Austrian guide stresses that the product temperature is what counts, not the air temperature.
Packaging and cleanliness
Packaging must be intact and clean. Look out for contamination, unusual smells, and ice crystals or meltwater on frozen goods.
Dates and labelling
Check best-before and use-by dates. The goods must match the delivery note, and prepacked products must be fully labelled.
Delivery vehicle
The Mainz guidance sheet lists the condition of the delivery vehicle as a checkpoint. A dirty load space or an unrefrigerated cargo area is a warning sign, even if the goods themselves look fine.
Temperature limits for typical deliveries
The table shows reference values as maximum temperatures. Stricter instructions from the manufacturer on the pack take precedence.
| Product | Austria | Germany |
|---|---|---|
| Fresh meat (beef, pork, lamb) | +7 °C | +7 °C |
| Offal | +3 °C | +3 °C |
| Poultry | +4 °C | +4 °C |
| Minced meat | Raw minced meat +4 °C | +2 °C if not sold at the place of production |
| Fresh fish | Temperature of melting ice | +2 °C or below, under melting ice |
| Milk and dairy products | Temperature range stated by the manufacturer | Drinking milk +8 °C, dairy products except hard cheese +10 °C, unless the manufacturer states a stricter value |
| Frozen food | −18 °C; each business sets its own tolerance range | −18 °C; during transport briefly no more than 3 °C warmer, i.e. −15 °C |
Where the values come from: for Austria, the retail hygiene guide, whose values are recommendations for catering businesses. For Germany, Annex 5 of the Tier-LMHV (the German hygiene regulation for food of animal origin), the LAVES storage temperature sheet from Lower Saxony and Section 2 of the German frozen food regulation (TLMV). In both countries, approved producers must also meet the temperatures in Annex III of Regulation (EC) No 853/2004, such as a maximum of +2 °C for minced meat. Minced meat from an approved supplier should therefore arrive well below +4 °C in Austria too.
Measuring without opening the packaging
For unpackaged goods, use a probe thermometer inserted into the product. With packaged goods, you usually do not want to damage the pack. Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) recommends placing the probe lengthwise between two packages. Wait until the reading stabilises.
Infrared thermometers are handy for a quick overview. According to FSANZ, however, they only measure surface temperature. They tell you whether the packaging is cold, not whether the product inside is cold enough. If an infrared reading is close to the limit, check again with a probe thermometer.
Official checks of frozen food follow a defined method. Directive 92/2/EEC requires a hole to be drilled into the product for the measurement, and the instrument must be accurate to ±0.5 °C between −20 °C and +30 °C. For daily practice this means: measure routinely between packages, and if in doubt, sacrifice one pack and measure inside the product.
Rejecting a delivery
The Austrian guide is clear: goods that do not meet requirements are rejected, or labelled as blocked and stored separately. Deviations are documented, for example with a note on the delivery note or in a goods receipt log. Proceed as follows:
- Show the driver the reading and the defect.
- Refuse the goods, or visibly block them and store them separately.
- Note the reading, time and your signature on the delivery note.
- Inform the supplier and request a replacement.
- Record the incident in your goods receipt log.
Quickly chilling goods that arrived slightly too warm is not a solution. Chilling slows the growth of germs, but it cannot undo a cold chain that has already been broken.
Documentation and checklist
The Cologne and Mainz guidance sheets show what a goods receipt log should contain: date, supplier, product, reading, defects found, corrective action and the initials of the person checking. Use this checklist for every delivery:
- Vehicle clean, load space refrigerated
- Packaging intact, clean, no unusual smell
- Chilled goods below the limit, measured between packages
- Frozen goods frozen solid, no meltwater or heavy ice crystals
- Best-before and use-by dates sufficient
- Labelling complete, goods match the delivery note
- Deviations noted on the delivery note and signed
- Chilled and frozen goods put away immediately
Conclusion
A careful goods receipt check takes only a few minutes and protects you from problems you cannot fix later. With a digital system such as Kernwert, staff see green or red as soon as they enter the value, must record a corrective action for any deviation, and all entries are ready in the inspection folder.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to measure every delivery?
Not necessarily every pack. The Austrian guide requires regular temperature checks, and always when there is reason for suspicion. German authorities refer to spot checks. Define frequency and scope in your HACCP plan.
Is an infrared thermometer enough for goods receipt?
For a quick first look, yes. But infrared devices only measure the surface. If the reading is close to the limit or looks unusual, check again with a probe thermometer between packages or inside the product.
Can I accept slightly warm goods and chill them straight away?
If the product temperature is above the limit in your HACCP plan, you should reject or block the goods. Chilling cannot undo a broken cold chain. The Austrian guide provides for rejection or blocking of goods that do not meet requirements.
Sources
- Stadt Mainz: Merkblatt Wareneingangskontrolle
- Verordnung (EG) Nr. 178/2002, Art. 18 Rückverfolgbarkeit
- Österreichische Leitlinie für eine gute Hygienepraxis und die Anwendung der Grundsätze des HACCP in Einzelhandelsunternehmen
- Stadt Köln: Merkblatt Wareneingangskontrolle
- Tierische Lebensmittel-Hygieneverordnung (Tier-LMHV), Anlage 5
- LAVES Niedersachsen: Merkblatt Lagertemperaturen für Lebensmittel
- § 2 Verordnung über tiefgefrorene Lebensmittel (TLMV)
- Verordnung (EG) Nr. 853/2004, Anhang III (Temperaturen für Lebensmittel tierischen Ursprungs)
- Food Standards Australia New Zealand: Thermometers (fact sheet)
- Richtlinie 92/2/EWG: Temperaturkontrolle tiefgefrorener Lebensmittel
This article is not legal advice and does not replace a business-specific HACCP analysis. The applicable regulations and the requirements of your local authority are decisive.