Food Receiving Log (Free Printable PDF): What to Check on Every Delivery

Quick answer: this free printable receiving log records the temperature, packaging condition, and accept-or-reject decision for every delivery. One sheet holds 16 line items. Accept refrigerated TCS food at 41°F or below, hot food at 135°F or above, and frozen food only if frozen solid. Reject warm, thawed, or damaged items and write down the reason.

The moment a delivery comes through the back door is the last chance to refuse food that arrived warm, thawed, or damaged. Once it's signed for and put away, it's your problem. A receiving log keeps the check honest: someone takes a temperature on every cold, hot, and frozen item, looks at the packaging, and writes down what was accepted and what went back on the truck. This sheet holds 16 line items.

Preview. The PDF has 16 rows on a single landscape page.

How to Fill It In

• Check deliveries as they arrive, before the driver leaves and before anything goes in the cooler. Cold items first, then frozen, then dry goods.
• Take temperatures with a probe thermometer. For packaged items such as milk or a case of chicken, put the probe between two packages, or open one package and probe the food. An infrared gun is fine for a quick screen, but it reads only the surface.
• Write "frozen" for frozen items once you've confirmed they're solid, with no soft spots, water stains, or frozen liquid at the bottom of the box.
• Look at every package. Torn wrapping, leaks, bulging cans, broken seals, and pests are reasons to refuse, whatever the temperature.
• Record rejections with the reason, such as "rejected, 48°F," and get a credit note from the driver. Rejections are the most useful lines on the log: they show the check is real.

The Food Code makes the person in charge responsible for making sure employees check deliveries for approved sources, correct temperatures, and contamination, and for spot-checking deliveries themselves (§2-103.11(E)). Deliveries made after hours still have to be checked and stored properly (§2-103.11(F)). FDA's inspection guidance tells inspectors to look at receiving logs when deliveries are part of the operation.

Receiving Temperatures in the Food Code

Shellfish tags

Live oysters, clams, and mussels arrive with a tag that identifies where they were harvested. The tag stays on the container until it's empty, you write the date the last shellfish from it was sold or served, and you keep the tag for 90 days from that date (§3-203.12). Many kitchens staple tags to a calendar or file them by month. Reject shellstock that arrives without a tag.

When to Reject a Delivery

• Refrigerated food above 41°F (unless it's milk or shellfish within its own limit).
• Frozen food that has thawed or shows signs it was thawed and refrozen: large ice crystals inside the package, frozen liquid at the bottom of the case, or water stains on the box. FDA's inspection guidance gives large ice crystals as the classic sign of temperature abuse.
• Damaged packaging: tears, leaks, broken seals, swollen or leaking cans, or dents on a can's seam.
• Signs of pests or contamination in the truck or the cases.
• Missing shellfish tags, or food from a source that isn't approved (for example, home-canned or home-prepared food).

Set rejected items aside, away from accepted food, until the driver takes them back, and write the reason on the invoice and the log.

Thermometers for the Back Door

A slim, waterproof probe that slides between packages and into the center of a case. Pros: NSF certified, quick, easy to sanitize between products. Cons: short probe for deep containers. Best for: the person who signs for deliveries.

Point it at a case and get a surface reading instantly, which makes it a fast way to screen a whole delivery. Pros: no contact, no cleaning between products. Cons: surface only, so confirm any borderline reading with a probe before you accept or reject. Best for: busy delivery mornings, alongside a probe.

Our infrared vs. probe thermometers guide explains when each one is the right tool.

Frequently Asked Questions

What temperature should cold food be when it's delivered?

41°F or below for refrigerated TCS food under the FDA Food Code. Milk and live shellfish can arrive at the temperature their own federal-state rules allow, but they have to be cooled to 41°F within 4 hours.

What temperature should hot food be when it's delivered?

135°F or above, the same as hot holding.

How do you check the temperature of packaged food at delivery?

Put the probe between two packages, such as two cartons of milk, without puncturing them. For an accurate reading, or if the first one is borderline, open a package and probe the food itself.

How long do you keep shellfish tags?

90 days from the date the last shellfish from that container was sold or served, under Food Code §3-203.12.

Is a receiving log required?

The FDA Food Code doesn't generally require one, but it does require the person in charge to make sure deliveries are checked, and shellfish tags are a required record. Some health departments and many supplier audits expect a receiving log.

Bottom Line

Probe every cold, hot, and frozen item before you sign, look at every package, and write down what went back. Once the food is put away, the fridge and freezer log takes over.

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