Food Standards Australia requires businesses to prepare and sell food that is safe to eat. Food causes illness because there are high levels of food-poisoning bacteria and these poisons are called toxins. “A way of preventing or limiting bacteria from multiplying or producing toxins in food is to control the temperature of the food by either keeping it cold or very hot”. Food Standards Australia requires potentially hazardous foods to be kept at 5degC or colder and prescribes that it is “safe for food to be between 5degC and 60degC for a limited time only”. Health regulators and inspectors commonly refer to the range between 5degC and 60degC as the DANGER ZONEfor perishable foods. Food Standards Australia defines potentially hazardous foods as foods that might contain food-poisoning bacteria and which will allow food-poisoning bacteria to multiply. Examples of potentially hazardous foods are listed as raw and cooked meat, smallgoods, dairy products, seafood, processed fruit and vegetables, cooked rice and pasta, foods containing eggs, beans and nuts and foods that contain these foods for example sandwiches and rolls. Many of these food types are also the foods that are inclusions in a balanced and nutritious diet.  Food Standards Australia also requires that potentially hazardous frozen foods are kept frozen when they are stored, displayed or transported. Whilst no specific temperature is specified for frozen food it must be kept frozen to remain safe. Temperature abuse of frozen food can also have a detrimental impact on eating quality. It is commonly accepted that -18degC is a safe temperature at which frozen food should be stored. It is also generally agreed that infrequent but consistent temperature abuse can have a detrimental impact on the shelf-life of food and with some foods temperature abuse can also affect its nutrient value. Food Standards Australia prescribes food that has been temperature abused for a continuous period of greater than 4-hours should be discarded. The NSW Food Authority recommends perishable foods should not be left in the danger zone for longer than 2-hours!

http://www.foodauthority.nsw.gov.au/consumers/keeping-food-safe/#How-can-I-make-sure-my-food-is-safe

 Data Acquisition Networks (DAN) provides cost effective temperature data loggers that automate data collection thereby enabling trained and experienced people to make jusgments on the suitability of food for human consumption. 

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