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Free TKEG compliance tool

Commercial kitchen compliance checklist generator

Choose your type of hospitality business and the processes you use. TKEG will generate a practical checklist covering the food-safety, hygiene and due-diligence controls most relevant to that operation.

1. Choose your business
2. What does the operation include?
Restaurant checklist: 30 practical checks

This is a tailored planning checklist, not a complete statement of every legal duty. Adapt it to your menu, processes, premises, local authority advice and food-safety management system.

Food safety management

Keep an appropriate HACCP-based food safety system current

For many smaller caterers this may include an appropriately completed SFBB pack or another suitable system.

Read TKEG guidance →
Complete the records your own system requires

Use records to evidence monitoring, failures and corrective action rather than collecting paperwork for its own sake.

Read TKEG guidance →
Review missed checks and recurring failures

Management follow-up is part of demonstrating that procedures are actually working.

Read TKEG guidance →

Cleaning, premises and pests

Maintain a practical cleaning schedule

Define what is cleaned, how, how often and by whom.

Read TKEG guidance →
Keep food rooms and equipment in clean, repairable condition

Damaged or difficult-to-clean surfaces should be identified and corrected.

Check pest risks and respond to signs promptly

Include proofing, storage, external areas, waste areas and corrective action.

Read TKEG guidance →

Daily operation

Use opening and closing checks that match the site

Checks should reflect the actual risks and routines of the business, not a generic tick-box list.

Read TKEG guidance →
Prevent cross-contamination during storage and preparation

Separate raw and ready-to-eat food and manage equipment, hands and cleaning between tasks.

Read TKEG guidance →
Record corrective action when a control fails

A failed check should lead to an appropriate response, not simply a completed form.

Allergens and labelling

Keep accurate allergen information for the food you sell

Make sure staff can access and communicate it consistently.

Read TKEG guidance →
Control recipe, ingredient and supplier changes

Update allergen information when ingredients or recipes change.

Apply appropriate food labelling and date coding

Distinguish use-by, best-before, internal date coding and PPDS requirements where relevant.

Read TKEG guidance →

Cooking, reheating and cooling

Define safe cooking and reheating controls

Use an appropriate time/temperature approach and know what corrective action to take after a failed check.

Read TKEG guidance →
Control cooling where cooked food is chilled for later use

Use a consistent method suitable for the food and quantities involved.

Keep probe checks and calibration under control

Use clean, suitable probes and verify they remain accurate.

Read TKEG guidance →

Chilled and frozen storage

Monitor chilled and frozen storage appropriately

Know your operating limits and what action to take if storage is outside control.

Read TKEG guidance →
Protect ready-to-eat food from raw-food contamination

Storage order, containers and dedicated areas should support separation.

Use stock rotation and date controls

Remove food that is no longer suitable and follow manufacturer storage instructions.

Deliveries and suppliers

Use reputable suppliers and keep supplier information

Review suppliers when recurring quality, traceability or safety problems arise.

Read TKEG guidance →
Check deliveries on receipt

Look at condition, temperature where relevant, dates, contamination and whether unsafe food should be rejected.

Read TKEG guidance →
Keep traceability information

Be able to identify where food came from and relevant business customers where required.

Read TKEG guidance →

Cleaning chemicals and COSHH

Assess hazardous cleaning chemicals used by the business

Keep suitable product information, controls and staff instructions.

Read TKEG guidance →
Store and use chemicals safely

Avoid contamination of food and keep decanted products correctly identified.

Train staff on the controls that apply to the products they use

Make sure the documented assessment matches actual practice.

Commercial waste

Separate and store waste appropriately for the business location

Waste rules vary across the UK, so follow the requirements that apply to the premises.

Read TKEG guidance →
Keep waste areas clean and pest-resistant

Avoid overflowing bins, spillages and avoidable attraction of pests.

Keep appropriate waste contractor and transfer documentation

Include duty-of-care checks and records relevant to the waste streams produced.

People, hygiene and competence

Set clear personal hygiene and illness-reporting rules

Include handwashing, clean clothing, cuts and fitness to work.

Read TKEG guidance →
Make sure staff understand the food-safety controls relevant to their role

Competence should be visible in real work, not only in certificates.

Keep useful training and management evidence

Record training, coaching and corrective follow-up where it helps demonstrate control.

Use it as a planning tool

There is no single universal kitchen checklist

A restaurant, hotel, café, takeaway and event caterer can have different menus, processes, premises and risks. The generated checklist is designed to help identify the main control areas that deserve attention, but your actual food-safety system must reflect your own operation and current official guidance.

Build the right scope

Switch optional areas on or off so the checklist reflects what the kitchen really does rather than filling the page with irrelevant checks.

Follow the guidance

Relevant items link directly into the TKEG Knowledge Centre so users can understand what each control means in practice.

Move from checklist to evidence

TKEG software can then turn many of these controls into daily checks, records, corrective actions and management reports.

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