SFBB diary examples are useful when the checks are done but the box asking what happened is still blank. How much should you write? Does an ordinary day need a paragraph? What makes an entry useful when something goes wrong?
The diary should reflect the day your kitchen actually had. Record problems or changes and the action taken, then complete the daily confirmation honestly. The worked examples below show how to do that without turning every shift into an essay.
This guide is for caterers using Safer Food, Better Business in England and Wales. The FSA's caterers guidance points Northern Ireland businesses to Safe Catering. Scotland uses CookSafe. Our UK food safety pack chooser explains the alternatives.
What should an SFBB diary entry contain?
Use the current FSA SFBB diary and four-weekly review. It has opening and closing checks, space for problems or changes, and a name and signature for the daily confirmation. There is also a section for extra checks.
The FSA's diary introduction in the SFBB pack explains that the manager signs each day to confirm the opening and closing checks were done and safe methods followed. The diary works alongside your completed safe methods.
When there is an incident, we suggest answering these questions in plain language:
- What happened, and which food, item or area was affected?
- What did you do at the time?
- Who checked the result or made the decision?
- Is anything still outstanding, and who will deal with it?
Use a reference to a delivery, temperature or maintenance record when that holds the detail. Make it specific enough for another person to find.
What do you write when nothing went wrong?
On an ordinary day, complete the relevant checks and daily sign-off. There is no need to invent an incident or copy a list of every routine task into the problems box. The FSA diary introduction asks for a note when something changes or goes wrong.
A short note such as "No problems or changes identified today" can help your own team distinguish a checked day from an overlooked box. That wording is an editorial suggestion, not a required FSA phrase. It is only appropriate if it is true, and it does not replace the checks, name or signature.
Avoid signing before closing checks are complete. The signature confirms work that has happened; it is not a reminder to do the work later.
What is a useful entry for a rejected delivery?
This is a fictional example of a damaged delivery, not a record from a Lemon customer:
The useful detail is the outcome. "Delivery problem" does not tell the next manager whether the food entered stock. This entry records the affected goods, their rejection, supplier follow-up and the receiving-area check.
Use your own receiving procedure to decide what to accept or reject. The GOV.UK supplier and traceability guidance covers checking deliveries and keeping supplier and product records. Our restaurant delivery checklist sets out the checks in more detail.
What is a useful entry for a missed clean?
Here is a second fictional example:
This records the correction and the change intended to prevent a repeat. The supervisor can check the same spot on the next shift instead of guessing what "cleaning sorted" meant.
If a follow-up is still open, say so. For example: "Replacement shelf ordered by the manager; damaged shelf taken out of use pending replacement." Do not describe a repair as complete because somebody has ordered a part.
The FSA's cleaning guidance covers effective cleaning and cleaning records. To make the instructions behind the diary more specific, use our restaurant cleaning schedule template.
What if a check or diary entry was missed?
Do not invent a check, a reading or a signature. Explain the gap when you find it, record what you can establish and follow your procedure for any food-safety uncertainty.
For example, "Closing sign-off missing for Tuesday; identified during Wednesday's opening review" describes an evidence gap. It does not prove that Tuesday's kitchen was clean or that the checks happened. Record the investigation and action separately, with the person responsible.
Train the team to distinguish a missed record from a failed check. Both need attention, but they are different problems. A blank diary may need a clearer handover; a recurring failed check may need a change to equipment, methods or supervision.
How does the diary feed into the four-weekly review?
The FSA's four-weekly review form asks you to observe the kitchen and look back over the previous four weeks. It calls out serious problems and issues that occurred three times or more. Complete the review even if no problems were found, and answer every item on the current form.
Four weeks means 28 days, so a calendar-month reminder can drift from that interval. Set the next review date when you finish the current one. Deal with urgent problems when they arise; the review is not a reason to leave them open.
Specific daily entries make this work easier. If several entries mention the same shelf, you can check whether the revised instruction solved the problem. A repeated "all fine" tells you very little.
How can Lemon support the diary?
Lemon includes an SFBB Daily Diary checklist for supporting records, alongside temperature logs, delivery records and other checklists. Teams can record answers and notes, and export completed records as a PDF. See Lemon checklists and the food safety records checklist.
The Lemon diary template has no signature field. Keep the daily signature required by your SFBB diary process, and keep your completed safe methods accessible. Do not assume that completing a checklist automatically replaces the official diary declaration.
What can you improve on the next shift?
Take the latest real incident in your diary and ask a colleague who was not on that shift to read it. Can they identify what happened, what was done and what remains open? If not, use those missing details to improve your next entry.
