One of the most common reasons businesses drop to 3 stars isn’t food poisoning — it’s missing or meaningless temperature records.

The classic mistake: someone writes “OK” on the sheet even when the fridge is running at 8–9 °C. When the EHO asks what was done about it, the answer is usually “we moved the stock later” with nothing documented.

That lack of corrective-action evidence is worth hundreds of pounds in fines and re-inspection fees every single year across the UK.

The fix is simple and takes five extra seconds: never allow a bare “OK” when something is wrong. Force a short note — “8.4 °C → stock moved to spare fridge, engineer booked Monday”.

Modern digital systems can make this mandatory. The result: EHOs see exactly what officers want to see — proof that problems are spotted and fixed immediately.

It’s a small change that removes a huge risk.