Per site. Unlimited readings.

No. The FSA and environmental health officers don't approve food safety apps, so treat any “approved” claim with care. What officers look for is a food safety management system based on HACCP principles that you actually follow and record. Five Star Diary follows the FSA's own Safer Food, Better Business (SFBB) format in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and Food Standards Scotland's CookSafe in Scotland, so your officer sees the checks, diary, reviews and records they already know.

Yes, keep your completed safe methods: the written part of SFBB that says how you do things, or your own HACCP-based procedures (in Scotland, your CookSafe manual). During setup we give you a short summary of your procedures to check and edit, and it goes at the front of your inspection pack, but it doesn't replace the full safe methods. The diary, temperature logs, cleaning schedule, training record, suppliers' list and reviews all live in the app.

No. Each person gets a 4-digit PIN. They scan the QR sticker on a fridge with their phone camera, type the temperature, and it's logged against their name. On a shared tablet, wall mode asks for the PIN every time.

The reading turns red and the app asks what you did: moved the food, threw it away, called an engineer, or turned it down and re-checked. That goes straight into the day's “problems and what we did”, which is exactly what SFBB asks you to record.

Chilled food at 8°C or below (we aim for 5°C), freezers at -18°C, cooking to 75°C for 30 seconds or another FSA time and temperature, hot holding at 63°C or above, and reheating until steaming hot, once only (we check for 75°C in the centre). The FSA says cool cooked food and get it into the fridge within one to two hours; we use 90 minutes as our target. Scottish kitchens get CookSafe's figures instead, including reheating to 82°C. Each one is sourced on our temperatures page.

Yes. Kitchens in Scotland get Food Standards Scotland's CookSafe instead of SFBB: CookSafe's Weekly Record and six-monthly Review, starting-point House Rules, Scottish temperatures (reheating to at least 82°C, unless that would spoil the food, and hot holding above 63°C) and an inspection pack laid out like CookSafe's Records. Scotland uses the Food Hygiene Information Scheme, where businesses get a Pass or Improvement Required rather than a 0 to 5 rating. England, Wales and Northern Ireland use SFBB and the 0 to 5 scheme. Choose your nation when you set up (we suggest it from your postcode).

It needs a connection, but the pages are tiny so a weak mobile signal is fine. If you lose connection, note it down and add it as a problem when you're back online.

Yes. Every plan starts with a 14-day free trial of that plan, once per account. You add a card at checkout and nothing is taken for 14 days; we email you 3 days before the first payment, and if you cancel before the trial ends you aren't charged.

No. Plans can be cancelled any time from Plan & billing: cancelling stops the next payment and your plan runs to the end of the month or year you've paid for. Annual plans get two months free, and we email you before they renew.

Payments aren't refundable, which is why every plan starts with a free trial. If something doesn't work because of a fault on our side, tell us and we'll put it right, or refund you if we can't.

They're yours. Export everything as a spreadsheet any time. Even after a trial or plan ends, you can still see and export every record. Delete your account and the data goes with it.

No. The price you see is the price you pay, per site.

Your first payment is taken on the day it ends, and we email you three days before. Cancel before then from Plan & billing and nothing is charged. If a plan ends, new entries pause, but nothing is deleted, and you can still see and export every record. Choose a plan and your stickers and PINs work again straight away.