Food preservation and pantry · HP-02

Food Storage and Date Record

A free printable food storage chart — what went in, when, the date from the pack and where it is, so the oldest gets used first.

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One page. Choose your paper size — both versions are laid out identically, so neither one gets shrunk to fit.

Print it and write on it

A4 44 kB US Letter 44 kB

Fill it in type and save

A4 106 kB US Letter 106 kB

The fillable versions have real form fields — open them in any PDF reader, type into them and save. Printing help.

What this sheet is for

Index a freezer or a store cupboard so that stock rotates properly and things are found before they are forgotten.

Who it is for

Households with a chest freezer, batch cookers, preservers, and small kitchens keeping their own stock records.

How to use it

Label the item as well as the sheet — the label is what you read at the freezer door.
Put new stock behind old; the sheet only works if the rotation does.
Cross items off as they are used.
Check the sheet against the shelf every few months and correct it.

What is on the sheet

One page, top to bottom:

Printed under the title: What went into the freezer, the pantry or the store cupboard, when, and the date from the pack — so the oldest gets used first.

Dates come from the pack, not from us. No shelf lives, storage times or safe-keeping periods are printed on this sheet, and none should be inferred from it. They depend on the food, how it was prepared, the packaging and the temperature it is held at. Use the date on the pack, the guidance from your own food safety authority, and your judgement.

How to use this sheet

Write the date in, and the date from the pack, on the label as well as here — the sheet is the index, the label is what you read at the freezer door.
Put new stock behind old. The sheet only works if the rotation does.
Cross off as things are used, and check the sheet against the shelf every few months.

Write-on lines: Household or premises · Store, freezer or shelf · Started

Table, 9 rows: Item · Batch or how prepared · Quantity · Date in · Date from pack · Where exactly · Used on · Notes

Write-on lines: Stock checked against shelf on · By

Questions

How long can I keep things?

This sheet does not say, on purpose. Storage times depend on the food, how it was prepared, the packaging and the temperature it is actually held at, and a printed figure is exactly the kind of guess that does harm here. Use the date on the pack and the guidance from your own food safety authority.