Food safety

Food past its date, or kept too warm, is not safe to sell. With the Food safety rules, Kila refuses batches past their date at every till, asks why food is written off, keeps the cold room log and the dates of the licences and certificates a food business needs. This guide shows them in a butchery, Nyama Bora Butchery.

Butcheries, bakeries and fresh produce shops start with these rules, as do restaurants, bars, takeaways, caterers, hotels and food producers. Another business adds them on its business profile: the owner ticks Food safety under Administration › Business profile, in Rules that apply.

The law says, Kila does

The law says	Kila does
Food that is unfit to eat must not be sold. Food, Drugs and Chemical Substances Act (Cap. 254).	For a product tracked by batch with a date, the till refuses a batch past its date and says so; nothing in the sale can be charged until it is taken off. The till sells the batch that expires first.
Food is kept and handled so that it does not spoil or become contaminated. Food, Drugs and Chemical Substances Act (Cap. 254) and its Food Hygiene Regulations.	Branch operations has the Cold room log: each reading with who took it and when, and a reading out of range raised as an issue for the branch. Food thrown away is written off as waste with its reason.
Premises that handle food are inspected and hold a health certificate from the county. Public Health Act (Cap. 242) and your county’s public health laws.	The Compliance calendar keeps the Health certificate for the premises for each branch, every year, and shows it as Overdue once its date has passed.
People who handle food hold a medical certificate, usually renewed every six months. Public Health Act (Cap. 242) and the Food, Drugs and Chemical Substances (Food Hygiene) Regulations.	Compliance keeps Food handlers’ medical certificates, every six months, for the whole business.
A butchery holds the county’s butchery licence, and meat is inspected and stamped and carried in a licensed vehicle. Meat Control Act (Cap. 356) and your county’s laws.	For a butchery, Compliance keeps the Butchery licence for each branch and the Meat carrier permit for each vehicle, every year.

The law says

Kila cannot check what it is not told. It keeps one date for all the food handlers’ certificates, not one per person: keep each person’s certificate on file and current. Buy meat only from licensed slaughterhouses, inspected and stamped; Kila records a carcass’s tag, not its stamp. Read the thermometers yourself: the ranges in the cold room log are Kila’s guide (0 to 4°C for the cold room and display, -25 to -18°C for the freezer). Confirm the details with your county public health office.

For restaurants and bars

In a restaurant or bar, the kitchen’s records of how food is kept and handled (Food, Drugs and Chemical Substances Act (Cap. 254) and its Food Hygiene Regulations) are under Outlet operations: the Kitchen opening checks and Kitchen closing checks each day, the Temperature log for the fridges, the freezer and hot food, and the Food hygiene inspection, scored. The temperature log’s ranges are Kila’s guide too: 0 to 5°C for the fridges, -25 to -18°C for the freezer and 63 to 100°C for hot holding. The inspection is your own walk-through, not the county’s. See In the kitchen.

Set it up

Products

On a product, under Rules for this business, three fields come with these rules: Allergens (1), Shelf life in days (2) and Storage (3), Ambient, Chilled or Frozen. Kiambu Gold beef sausages at Nyama Bora Butchery have Wheat (rusk), soya, 21 days and Chilled.

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A product with a date is tracked by batch: each delivery is received with its batch number and expiry date, and the till works from those dates.

Waste reasons

Stock written off as Waste names a reason from the business’s list. In a shop the list is kept under Administration › Till and returns rules, in Waste reasons. A butchery starts with Trim and fat, Bone, Spoiled, Drip and chiller loss, Returned by customer and Left over, sold off cheaply. See Write off waste at closing.

For restaurants and bars

In the kitchen and at the bar, food and drink thrown away go in the Waste log, under Kitchen and floor: “What was thrown away and why, at cost: kitchen and bar waste, and items wasted from bills.” Tap Record waste: “Taken from stock at cost. A menu item made from a recipe takes its ingredients.” Find the item or dish, and give the quantity, Kitchen or Bar, and one of the reasons that come with these rules (1): Spoiled, Past its date, Dropped or spilt, Burnt or badly made, Sent back by the guest or Left over at closing. Then tap Record (2): Kila says Waste recorded, with what it cost. Items wasted from bills are in the same log, such as a dish Sent back by the guest.

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Stock written off as Waste under Stock adjustments names one of a shorter list: Spoiled, Past its date, Damaged in storage and Left over at closing.

The cold room log

Branch operations has the logs ready under Logs: the Cold room log for a butchery, and the Temperature log. See Record the cold room log.

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For restaurants and bars

A restaurant or bar does not start with a cold room log. Branch operations is Outlet operations there, and Logs starts with the Temperature log: Fridge 1 and Fridge 2 at 0 to 5°C, the Freezer at -25 to -18°C, and Hot holding, for food kept hot for serving, at 63 to 100°C; Fridge 2 and Hot holding are optional. With it come the Food hygiene inspection and the kitchen’s own checklists, the Kitchen opening checks and Kitchen closing checks. Managers see them all, with the Branch audit, under Checklists: “Your business started with those its profile suggests. Changes apply from the next run.” See In the kitchen.

Licences and certificates

The Compliance calendar keeps each one with its date, its reference and who is responsible, and reminds you before it is due. At Nyama Bora Butchery: the Ruaka health certificate, Overdue (1); the food handlers’ medical certificates (2); the Ruaka butchery licence (3); and the meat carrier permit for the van (4).

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At the till

Allergens

A product’s allergens show on the till, under its name, such as Contains Wheat (rusk), soya (1). Tell the customer when they ask.

For restaurants and bars

In the kitchen. A dish’s allergens show on its ticket on the kitchen display, in red under the item, such as ALLERGENS: Gluten on beef samosas at Jikoni Grill and Cafe. When a dish runs out, the cook taps 86 beside it in the display’s All day list: Kila says, for example, Peri peri chicken wings is off today, and “Waiters see it greyed on their phones.” See Work the kitchen display.

A batch past its date

When every pack in stock at the branch is from a batch past its date, the till shows, under the cart:

Kila shows:

Kiambu Gold beef sausages 500g batch OPEN-F500 expired on 2026-10-05. It cannot be sold. Write it off as expired stock.

Charge stays grey (2). Take the item off the sale and sell the rest. Tell the customer it is not available, and do not hand it over.

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Then the stock is written off. Stock adjustments lists the batches that have expired or expire within 30 days under Expiring soon (1), with Write off expired (2).

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Needs a manager

Before writing off, Kila asks “Write off expired stock at Kiambu town?” and says what leaves stock: “Above your limit it waits for approval.”

For restaurants and bars

In the kitchen

The kitchen’s checks are under Outlet operations, on Today; a cook finds it by typing operations in Kila’s search (Ctrl K). Opening and closing has the day’s checklists (1):

• Kitchen opening checks, ready before opening: Hand-wash stations stocked with soap and towels, the Fridge temperature (0 to 5°C) and Freezer temperature (-25 to -18°C), Surfaces and boards cleaned and sanitised, Gas and burners checked, Staff on shift fit to handle food (no illness) and Prepared food labelled and in date.
• Kitchen closing checks, ready at the closing warning: Food covered, labelled, dated and put away, Leftovers kept or recorded as waste, the fridge and freezer temperatures again, Gas and burners off, Floors and drains cleaned; bins out and Bar and store locked, which is optional.

A checklist shows To do until it is done. One still not done after closing shows Missed, and Kila tells the managers. Under Logs, Record (2) starts a reading of the Temperature log.

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The kitchen opening checks count for the till gate. It is off until the owner or the general manager turns on The till waits for the opening checklist, under Outlet operations, in Settings. With it on, the roles ticked there, Cashier to begin with, cannot open a till, or sell on one already open, until the kitchen opening checks are done: Kila tells them to finish the kitchen opening checks first, and Today shows that the till is waiting for them. Owners are never held back. At Jikoni Grill and Cafe the gate is off.

The temperature log. Read the fridges, the freezer and the hot food on each unit’s own thermometer, through the day. Tap Record and type each reading; answers save as you go. Hot holding (1) is for food kept hot for serving, such as stew in a bain-marie: it should be 63 to 100°C. A reading out of range says Not right, with Raise an issue. Do what the log says: “Out of range: move the food, tell a manager, read again in 30 minutes.” Type the new reading, write what you did in Action taken if any reading was out of range (2) and tap Complete (3). The log then shows who read it and when.

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Each step, on a phone, is in Fill in a checklist.

Registers and reports an inspector may ask for

• The cold room log: under Branch operations, every reading with who took it and when, and the issues raised.
• Licences and certificates: under Compliance, each with its documents.
• Food written off: under Inventory › Adjustments, each with its reason, its weight and what it cost.
• Expiring stock: under Money › Reports: “Batches that expire soon or have expired, with their value.”

For restaurants and bars

• The kitchen’s checklists and temperature log: under Outlet operations, on History, those of the last two weeks, each with who did it and when.
• The food hygiene inspections: under Outlet operations, on Audits, each with its score. The Food hygiene inspection is scored in percent, against a pass mark of 80% (1). It weighs six items (2): Raw and cooked food stored apart, No food past its date and No sign of pests count 3 each; Temperature log kept every day, Kitchen, stores and toilets clean and Food handler certificates current count 2 each. At Jikoni Grill and Cafe it is scheduled for David Otieno every 7 days: “Weekly hygiene walk-through before the county inspection.” See Do an audit.
• Food and drink thrown away: the Waste log, under Kitchen and floor, each with its reason, what it cost and who recorded it, and the total by reason.

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Common questions

The till shows the sausages in stock, so why can it not sell them? Every pack at the branch is from a batch past its date. Write the expired batch off, and receive the next delivery with its batch number and date.

Do we have to track fresh meat by batch? No. A product is tracked by batch when it is set up that way. At Nyama Bora Butchery the carcasses carry their tags as batches and packed goods their dates; the cuts are counted by weight.

Who reads the cold room? Anyone whose role completes checklists and logs: cashiers, butchers and managers. A storekeeper does not.

For restaurants and bars

Who does the kitchen’s checks and reads the temperatures? Anyone whose role completes checklists and logs: cooks, the head chef, bartenders, the floor supervisor, cashiers and managers. Waiters, hosts and the storekeeper do not.

Who does the food hygiene inspection? The owner and the general manager: their roles allow audits.

Related

• Butchery: how Kila works for a butchery.
• Record the cold room log: the readings and what to do out of range.
• Selling by weight: the other rules a butchery follows.
• Restaurants and bars: how Kila works for a restaurant, cafe, takeaway or bar.
• Deal with expiring stock: find batches near their date, and write off what has expired.
• Branch operations: checklists, logs, audits and the issues log.
• Fill in a checklist: the day’s opening and closing checks, and the logs.
• Do an audit: an audit such as the food hygiene inspection, scored against its pass mark.
• Compliance calendar: licences, permits and certificates, with reminders.
• Food processing: a food factory: HACCP, release and recall.
• QA officer: who releases batches at a plant.