Childcare kitchen food safety checklist
Seven areas to check, from deliveries to the table, and how to grade what you find.
Check seven areas: your program and paperwork, deliveries and storage, cooking, cooling and reheating, serving, allergies and special diets, cleaning and hygiene, and people and suppliers. Look at the kitchen and the records together. Grade each finding critical, major or minor, give it an owner and a date, and close it with evidence.
The checklist
1. Program and paperwork
- Food safety program on site and matches the kitchen
- Reviewed after menu or equipment changes
- Last audit findings closed
- Weekly menu current and on display
2. Deliveries and storage
- Chilled deliveries at 5°C or colder, recorded
- Fridges at 5°C or colder
- Food covered, labelled and dated
- Raw and ready-to-eat food kept apart
3. Cooking, cooling, reheating
- Cooked food checked and recorded
- Cooling: 60°C to 21°C in 2 hours, then 5°C in 4
- Reheated food to 60°C or hotter quickly
- Probe thermometer working and checked
4. Serving
- Hot food at 60°C or hotter when served
- Cold food kept at 5°C or colder
- Food out of temperature control handled per the program
- Drinking water available at all times
5. Allergies and special diets
- Dietary record current for every child
- Allergens listed for every dish
- Allergy-safe meals prepared and labelled separately
- Each meal checked before service
6. Cleaning and hygiene
- Cleaning schedule followed and signed
- Food contact surfaces sanitised
- Bottle and food prep areas clean
- Hand basins stocked; no signs of pests
7. People and suppliers
- Food safety supervisor certified within 5 years
- Cooks, relief cooks and educators trained
- Supplier certificates current
- Sick staff kept away from food
Our internal checklist, not an official tool. Your food safety program, council and regulatory authority set the requirements.
How to run it
- Watch a lunch service. Follow food from the kitchen to the rooms. That is where most gaps show up.
- Then check three random days of records against what you saw, including a day the regular cook was away.
- Ask the cook and an educator, not just the director: “What do you do if a child’s dietary record changes today?”
- Write findings down as you go, with photos where they help.
Grade and close what you find
| Grade | Means | Close within |
|---|---|---|
| Critical | A child could be harmed today, such as an allergy-safe meal not checked, or hot food served below 60°C | Before the next meal |
| Major | A control isn’t working, such as cooling records missing for a week | Days |
| Minor | A gap in records or upkeep that doesn’t put children at risk today | Weeks |
Give each finding an owner and a date, and close it with evidence: a new record, a photo, a training sign-off.
Turn the checklist into daily records
In EthicalHub, the checks on this list happen as part of the day: temperatures, cleaning, deliveries, dietary records and menus, training and supplier certificates. When the auditor arrives, you export the record for any date range in about a minute.
See it with your kitchen’s checks
A free 20-minute walkthrough. Plans from $69 a month per site.
Childcare kitchen checks: common questions
How often should a childcare kitchen be checked?
What temperatures should a childcare kitchen check?
How should I grade what I find?
Is this checklist an official audit tool?
Find it first, fix it first.
Daily checks, findings and fixes, all on record.