Kitchen Prep and Use-By Labels

Kitchen labelling runs on masking tape and marker pen in most places, and it works right up to an inspection. The problems are always the same: handwriting nobody can read, dates calculated wrong in a rush, and no record that anything was labelled at all.

Day dots without the arithmetic

Prep labels are date-driven, and the date is the part people get wrong at the end of a shift. Set the shelf life once per item — 3 days for a prepped sauce, 24 hours for defrosted product, 4 hours for a hot hold — and every label computes its own use-by from the print moment.

A tablet is the right terminal

Kitchens are wet, fast and short on counter space. A tablet on the wall with a Bluetooth thermal printer beside it beats a PC: staff tap the item, the label prints with today's date already correct.

What goes on a prep label

• Item name, in text large enough to read across a fridge
• Prep date and time, and the computed use-by
• Who prepped it — initials or a selected staff member
• Allergens, where the item carries them
• Optional barcode or QR for stock systems

Records an inspector will accept

Every label writes an audit entry, so "we always label" becomes a list with timestamps. For HACCP documentation that is the difference between a claim and evidence.

Choosing the label stock

For chilled and frozen use, thermal transfer with a resin or wax-resin ribbon holds up. Direct thermal is cheaper but fades with moisture and cold — fine for same-day labels, poor for a walk-in freezer.