---
id: KB-AL-019
url: https://app.codecontract.io/help/food-and-beverage/frozen-food-the-date-nobody-records
idioma: en
categoria: sector-alimentacion
subcategoria: congelados
audiencia: usuario
nivel: intermedio
actualizado: 2026-08-13
tambienEn: [es]
relacionados: [KB-AL-017, KB-CS-031]
citadoPor: [KB-AL-021]
---

# Frozen food: the date nobody records

_The freezer preserves the product, not its history. What was not recorded on the way in is not in there._

**Responde a:** date of freezing requirement · how long can i keep a product frozen · freezer temperature records · defrosted product what do i do

A well-run freezer has one deceptive virtue: **the product looks exactly the same six months later**. That makes the chamber the place where undecided things end up, and means the question «when is this from?» has no answer by the time somebody finally asks it.

## The three details you must be able to give

| Detail | When it is recorded |
| --- | --- |
| What it is and which delivery it came from | On the way in, never later |
| **When it was frozen** | **On the way in. The one always missing** |
| Until when it can be used | On the way in, derived from the above |

> [!IMPORTANT]
> **With no freezing date nothing can be calculated, and that detail cannot be reconstructed afterwards.** Not by looking at the product, not from its appearance, not by asking: either it was recorded that day or it is gone. A hand-written label on the way in solves in full a problem that otherwise forces a choice between throwing away good product or using product you know nothing about.

## What is worth having in place

1. **A label on everything that goes in, without exception** — What it is, which delivery, which day. Thirty seconds a tray.
2. **A temperature record for the chamber** — And keep it: it earns its place the day someone asks about a specific period.
3. **A periodic review of what is inside** — Freezers accumulate, and what accumulates unwatched expires in there.
4. **And what happens to defrosted product** — Written beforehand, not decided with the door open.

> [!WARNING]
> The two delicate moments are not storage, which is the easy part: **they are the way in and the way out**. On the way in, product arriving at a doubtful temperature and put in «to save it» — that saves nothing, it freezes the problem. On the way out, defrosted product refrozen because it ended up unused: the decision most often taken in a hurry and least defensible afterwards. Both are solved by deciding beforehand, not in the moment.

> [!NOTE]
> Which temperatures and records each type of frozen product requires, what must be indicated to the consumer, and what may or may not be refrozen is set by food rules. **Your quality manager or adviser settles that**; here we cover the organisational failure no regulation fixes: not writing down the date.

**Is the freezing date mandatory?**

It depends on the product and destination. Even where it is not, without it you can calculate nothing.

**Can I refreeze something defrosted?**

It is the least defensible decision afterwards. Have it written down in advance.

**How long do I keep temperature records?**

Long enough to cover the life of the product despatched in that period.

## Ejemplos

**An unlabelled tray turns up at the back of the chamber and nobody knows when it is from.**

- Labels everything going in with what, which delivery and which day

→ The choice between binning good product and using unknown product disappears.

**Goods arrive at a doubtful temperature and go into the freezer «to save them».**

- Decides beforehand what happens in that case and writes it down

→ The problem does not get frozen along with the product to reappear months later.

**You are asked about temperatures for a specific period and the records were not kept.**

- Keeps the chamber's record for as long as the product despatched then lasts

→ The question is answered with data instead of recollections.

**Something is frozen and the intake date is not recorded.**

- Records the date when it goes in

→ Time inside is a fact rather than an impression.

**There are old pallets and nobody knows their date.**

- Shows what has been stored longest

→ Rotation is decided on data.

**A client asks about the freezing date.**

- Checks what was recorded at intake

→ You answer with a date.