Refrigerator
Aim for 4°C
Home cook guide
Prepare and sell food safely from home
Your routines should protect food from contamination and keep it at safe temperatures from the moment ingredients arrive until the meal reaches the customer.
Freezer
-18°C or colder
Hot holding
Aim for at least 60°C
Cooling
From 60°C to 8°C within 6 hours
These are practical guidance values, not fixed legal limits for every product. Always follow stricter storage instructions shown on ingredients and assess the risks for the meals you prepare.
You are responsible for the food you sell
Swedish food rules focus on the result: the food must be safe, correctly described, and handled hygienically. Your routines should match your menu, kitchen, equipment, volume, storage, and delivery method.
Prepare the basics
A small home food business does not need complicated systems, but it does need reliable equipment and clear routines.
- A clean kitchen with enough washable work surfaces and storage space
- A working refrigerator thermometer and a clean food thermometer
- Separate storage for business ingredients and prepared meals where needed
- Food-safe containers, packaging, labels, and insulated transport boxes
- A simple ingredient and allergen record for every dish
- Cleaning, temperature, illness, traceability, and complaint routines
Your routines may be simple, but you should be able to explain them during a food control. Writing down the main routines makes them easier to follow consistently.
Temperature guide
Time and temperature are especially important for cooked meals, meat, fish, dairy products, rice, pasta, sauces, and other foods that support bacterial growth.
Chilled storage
Aim for 4°C
Keep chilled food at a temperature that prevents harmful bacterial growth. A refrigerator temperature around 4°C is a practical target, and the risk increases significantly above 8°C. Follow any colder limit stated on the product.
Frozen storage
-18°C or colder
Store frozen food at the temperature shown on the packaging, usually -18°C or colder. Check the freezer regularly and act if food begins to thaw unexpectedly.
Cooking
Often 70°C in the centre
For dishes that must be fully cooked, a core temperature of 70°C is a simple safety target. Other safe combinations of time and temperature may be used when you understand and control the process.
Hot holding
Aim for at least 60°C
Keep food hot enough to prevent bacterial growth until collection or delivery. Measure the food itself, not only the temperature shown on the appliance.
Cooling cooked food
60°C to 8°C within 6 hours
Cool food as quickly as possible. Use small containers, shallow layers, a cold-water bath, or other suitable methods. Do not place a large hot pot in a full refrigerator if it could warm the other food.
Reheating
Aim for at least 70°C
Reheat chilled food quickly and thoroughly, especially if it will be kept hot before serving. Provide the customer with clear reheating instructions when appropriate.
Use a clean food thermometer when temperature is important. Check the thickest or coldest part of the food and clean the probe before and after use.
Your food safety routines
These six areas cover the main risks for a small home food business.
01
Keep the kitchen clean and ready
Clean the kitchen before production and keep food-contact surfaces, equipment, and utensils in good condition.
- Clean worktops, boards, knives, containers, sinks, and equipment often enough to prevent contamination
- Store cleaning products and chemicals away from food and packaging
- Use drinking-quality water for cooking, washing ingredients, and making ice
- Keep pets away from areas where business food is prepared, handled, or stored
02
Protect food through good personal hygiene
Hands, clothing, illness, and wounds can transfer bacteria and viruses to food.
- Wash your hands before cooking and after handling raw food, waste, cleaning equipment, phones, money, or pets
- Do not prepare food when you have diarrhoea, vomiting, or another infection that could contaminate food
- Cover wounds securely and avoid handling exposed food if contamination cannot be prevented
- Remember that disposable gloves do not replace handwashing
03
Prevent cross-contamination
Keep raw ingredients, cooked meals, allergens, household food, chemicals, and waste from contaminating each other.
- Store raw meat and fish so they cannot drip onto cooked or ready-to-eat food
- Use clean utensils and work surfaces between raw and ready-to-eat ingredients
- Separate tasks by space or time when the kitchen is small
- Protect prepared meals in clean, closed, food-safe containers
04
Control allergens carefully
You must know whether every dish contains any of the 14 regulated allergens and give customers accurate information.
- Keep an up-to-date recipe and ingredient list for every dish
- Check ingredient labels every time you change a product or supplier
- Show allergen information before the customer places the order and make it available again at delivery
- Do not describe food as allergen-free unless your ingredients, storage, equipment, and routines can reliably prevent contamination
05
Store, label, and trace your food
You should know what each container contains, when it was prepared, and where its ingredients came from.
- Keep receipts and invoices for ingredients and packaging
- Label stored food with its name, preparation or opening date, and any information needed for safe use
- Use older suitable stock before newer stock and remove food that is no longer safe
- Keep enough information to identify affected meals if an ingredient must be withdrawn or a customer reports a problem
06
Pack and transport meals safely
Your responsibility continues while the food is being collected or delivered to the customer.
- Use clean packaging that is approved for contact with food
- Keep cold meals cold with insulated boxes and cooling packs when needed
- Keep hot meals hot with suitable insulated or heated containers
- Set a maximum delivery time and check that your method maintains safe temperatures
Allergens
The 14 allergens you must identify
Check every ingredient, including sauces, spice mixes, stock cubes, marinades, garnishes, and cooking oils.
- 01Cereals containing gluten, including wheat, rye, barley, oats, spelt, and khorasan wheat
- 02Crustaceans
- 03Eggs
- 04Fish
- 05Peanuts
- 06Soybeans
- 07Milk, including lactose
- 08Nuts, including almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, cashews, pecans, Brazil nuts, pistachios, and macadamia nuts
- 09Celery
- 10Mustard
- 11Sesame seeds
- 12Sulphur dioxide and sulphites above the regulated level
- 13Lupin
- 14Molluscs
Allergen information must be specific. For example, write wheat rather than only gluten, and cashew rather than only nuts.
Simple records worth keeping
The amount of documentation should match the size and risk of your activity. These records can help you show that your routines work.
Ingredient records
Recipes, ingredient labels, supplier details, receipts, and invoices.
Allergen records
The allergens in each dish and the date the recipe or ingredient information was last checked.
Temperature checks
Refrigerator and freezer checks, plus cooling, cooking, hot-holding, or transport checks when these processes are important.
Production notes
What was prepared, when it was prepared, and any batch or order information needed to identify the food.
Problems and actions
What happened when a refrigerator failed, cooling took too long, an ingredient was recalled, or a customer reported illness or incorrect allergen information.
Have a plan for problems
Do not sell or deliver food when you are unsure that it is safe.
- Stop using food that may have been stored at an unsafe temperature
- Separate and clearly mark any food that must not be sold
- Contact affected customers when a sold meal may be unsafe
- Keep the food, packaging, ingredient records, and order details if a complaint may need investigation
- Contact the municipality promptly if you suspect a food poisoning incident or serious food safety risk
- Record what happened and change the routine that failed
What an inspector may ask about
Your kitchen and workflow
How you separate raw and cooked food, business and household activities, allergens, cleaning products, waste, and pets.
Your temperature control
How you cook, cool, store, reheat, hold, and transport food safely, including what you do when a temperature is wrong.
Your customer information
How you keep ingredient and allergen information correct before ordering and at delivery.
Your traceability
How you identify suppliers, ingredients, prepared meals, and affected orders if something must be withdrawn.
Common questions
Do I need a professional food safety certificate?
There is no general requirement for a specific food hygiene course. You must still have enough knowledge to prepare food safely and understand the risks in your own activity.
Does my refrigerator legally have to be exactly 4°C?
Not for every food. The legal requirement is that food is stored at a safe temperature and the cold chain is maintained. Around 4°C is a practical target, while bacterial growth risk increases significantly above 8°C. Follow any stricter temperature shown on the product.
What temperature should my freezer be?
Follow the storage temperature shown on the food packaging, which is often -18°C or colder. Your freezer should have a working thermometer.
How quickly must cooked food be cooled?
Food that will be stored chilled must be cooled as quickly as possible. Livsmedelsverket gives 60°C to 8°C within six hours as a suitable maximum guideline.
Can I cool food in a normal refrigerator?
Yes, especially in small portions, as long as the food cools safely and does not raise the temperature of other chilled food. Shallow containers and cold-water baths can make cooling faster.
Can pets be in the kitchen?
The main rule is that pets should be prevented from entering areas where business food is prepared, handled, or stored.
Must allergen information be written on every meal box?
The exact requirement depends on how the food is packaged and sold. For meals ordered online and packed for the customer, allergen information must be available before the order is completed and again at delivery. Written information is usually the clearest method.
How long can I keep a prepared meal?
There is no single storage period for every meal. You are responsible for setting a safe shelf life based on the ingredients, cooking method, cooling, packaging, storage temperature, and intended use.
Do I need written food safety routines?
Routines may sometimes be written or verbal, depending on the activity. For a home food business, writing down the main routines is a practical way to use them consistently and explain them during an inspection.
Next step
Put your routines into practice
Choose routines that match your menu, test that your cooling and transport methods work, and keep the records you need before accepting your first order.
This guide is a plain-language summary of public information and is not legal advice. Food safety requirements depend on the food, process, volume, packaging, storage, and transport method used. Livsmedelsverket and the relevant municipal control authority are the official sources.
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