Is 75°C a Legal Requirement for Cooking Food in Scotland?

No: 75°C is not written into Scottish law as a universal cooking requirement

This is one of the most widespread misconceptions in food safety training. 75°C is a broadly recognised benchmark for pathogen reduction in many high-risk foods, and it appears frequently in training materials and inspection discussions. But it is not a statutory cooking temperature prescribed in Schedule 4 of the Food Hygiene (Scotland) Regulations 2006 in the way that 63°C is for hot holding or 82°C is for reheating.

The legal obligation for cooking in Scotland is outcome-based: food must be cooked so that it does not present a risk to health. That is a different kind of obligation from a prescribed numeric threshold, and the distinction matters. 75°C functions as a practical reference point, not a figure with direct statutory force of its own. How that applies in practice is examined in the Temperature Control publication.

Where the figure sits

The figure of 75°C is widely referenced in national guidance and training materials as a recognised indicator of adequate heat treatment for many high-risk foods. It is a practical and well-established reference point, but in Scotland it does not arise from a threshold written directly into statute in the same way that some other temperature figures do.

What that means for how cooking is assessed in practice, and how the figure sits within the wider regulatory position, is examined in the Temperature Control publication.

Why the benchmark still matters

The guidance status of 75°C does not reduce its practical significance. It remains a widely applied reference point in cooking assessment. Understanding what it represents, and what sits behind it, is part of understanding how cooking is approached in Scotland.

Frequently asked questions