Purchasing, Receiving, and Storage

How do you know if a supplier is reputable?

They have been inspected and meet all applicable local, state, and federal laws.

How should deliveries be arranged?

When staff has enough time to inspect them and they can be correctly received.

What are the general principles for receiving food?

Make specific staff responsible for receiving, have enough trained staff available to receive food promptly, and store them promptly after receiving.

How should you train staff to receive deliveries?

Train them on food safety guidelines and give them the right tools.

How do you receive food promptly?

Inspect deliveries immediately, inspect the delivery truck for signs of contamination, and visually check food items and temperatures.

key drop delivery

When the supplier is given after-hours access to an operation to make deliveries.

What is the standard for key drop deliveries?

Staff must inspect the deliveries upon arrival.

What is the criteria that the deliveries should meet?

They must be from an approved source, placed in the correct storage location to maintain the proper temperature, protected from contamination in storage, be uncontaminated, and presented honestly.

How do you reject items from deliveries?

Separate the rejected items from the accepted ones, tell the delivery person what’s wrong with it, get a signed adjustment or credit slip before giving it to them, and log the incident on an invoice.

How do you handle recalls?

Identify the recalled foods, remove the item from the inventory, store it separately, label it to prevent it from being placed back in the inventory, inform staff not to use the product, and refer to the vendor’s recall for what to do with it.

What does ROP stand for?

Reduced-oxygen package

How do you check the temperature of meat, poultry, or seafood?

Stick the stem or probe into the thickest part.

How do you check the temperature of ROP food?

Insert the stem or probe in between two packages or fold it around the stem or probe.

How do you check the temperature of other packaged foods?

Open the packaging and insert the stem or probe.

What temperature should you receive cold TCS food?

41F or lower unless otherwise specified.

What temperature should live shellfish be received at?

45F but no greater than 50F.

How cool should live shellfish be once received?

Must be cooled down to 41F or lower in four hours.

What temperature should shucked shellfish be received?

45F or lower

How cool must shucked shellfish be once received?

Must be cooled to 41F or lower in four hours.

What temperature should milk be received at?

45F or lower

How cool should milk be once received?

Cool to 41F or lower in four hours

What temperature should shell eggs be received?

At an air temperature of 45F or lower

What should hot TCS food be received at?

135F or higher

How should frozen food be received?

Frozen solid

What is the freezing point for food?

32F

What are signs that frozen food has been thawed and refreezed?

Fluids or water stains in case bottoms or on packaging or the food has ice crystals or frozen liquid on it.

What should you do if you suspect that frozen food has been thawed and refrozen?

Reject the delivery

What are traits of packages that should be rejected?

Tears, holes, or punctures in packaging and broken cartons or seals.

How do you know when cans should be rejected?

Severe dents in the seam or body, missing labels, swollen or bulging edges, holes, leaks, or rust.

How do you know when ROP food should be rejected?

When the package is bloating or leaking.

What are other reasons deliveries should be rejected?

Dirty/discolored packaging, leaks, dampness, water stains, signs of pest/pest damage, signs of tampering, missing/incorrect labels, and if it’s past by the use-by or expiration date.

What food do you need to keep documented?

Fish that will be eaten raw or partially cooked, farm-raised fish, and molluscan shellfish

How long should you keep documents on fish deliveries?

Keep documents for 90 days from the sale

What does documentation for raw/under cooked fish need to state?

Documentation must show that the fish were frozen correctly before being received.

What does documentation for farm-raised fish need to state?

That the fish have been raised to FDA standards

How should you document molluscan shellfish?

Store in it’s original container, do not remove tag or label until the last fish is sold, and keep the documentation for 90 days after the last fish is sold.

What order should you keep documents on molluscan fish?

Chronological

How should you store molluscan fish?

They must be kept in the same container until prepared or sold and do not mix shellfish from one container with another.

What are the exceptions to mixing molluscan shellfish?

You can mix shellfish if they have the same certification number or harvest date or if they’re from the same growing area.

What should you do if your delivery has mold or is discolored?

Reject the delivery

When should you reject meat, poultry, or fish?

If it’s slimy, sticky, or dry, and if it’s soft and leaves an imprint when touched.

What should you do if your delivery has an unpleasant or unnatural odor?

Reject it

When should you label items?

When you take them out of their original container.

What are some labeling guidelines you should follow?

Food labels should include the common name for that clearly identifies it and it’s not necessary to label a food if it clearly won’t be mistaken for another item.

What should a food label have?

The food’s common name, quantity, an ingredient list if the food contains more than two, a list of artificial colors, flavors, and chemical preservatives, the name and place of the business, and the source of each major food allergen in it.

What order should you put the list of ingredients and superintendents in your ingredient list?

They should be in descending order by weight.

When should you date TCS food?

It must be marked with a date if held for more than 24 hours.

What does a date mark indicate?

When food should be sold, eaten, or discarded

How long can ready-to-eat TCS food be stored?

They may be stored for 7 days if it’s held at 41F or lower.

What marks the first day of a RTE TCS food?

The day that it’s prepared or the container was opened.

What are the two types of systems for date marking?

You can either write the day you prepared the food or the use-by date.

What date should you go off of if you’re combining ingredients with different use-by dates?

Use the ingredient with the earliest use-by date

What should the internal temperature be of cold TCS food?

41F or lower

What should the internal temperature of hot TCS food be?

135F or higher

What temperature should frozen TCS food be?

Below 32F

What should food storage units have?

At least one air temperature measuring device that’s accurate to +/- 3F or +/-1.5F

How many air temperature measuring devices should your unit have according to the Sacramento County?

At least two

Where should the air temperature measuring device be in a refrigerated unit?

The warmest part

Where should the air temperature measuring device be in a hot-holding unit?

The coldest part

How can you find the warmest or coolest part of your storage unit?

Use an air probe or an infrared thermometer

What are some guidelines you should have for your coolers and freezers?

Don’t over stuff them, use open shelving, monitor temperatures regularly, and keep in mind that frequent opening of the unit lets warm air inside and it can affect food safety.

How should you monitor your cooler/freezer’s temperature?

Randomly sample food temperatures and throw out anything that isn’t at the correct temperature.

What should you never do to cool TCS food?

Never put it in a cooling unit to cool it down

What does FIFO stand for?

First In First Out

How should food be rotated?

Rotate it so you’re using the oldest inventory first.

What order should you store food?

Put food with the oldest expiration date first.

What should you do if food is past its expiration date?

Throw it out

How do you prevent cross contamination in food storage?

Put food in designated storage areas

How should your shelves be set up?

The lowest shelf should be at least 6 inches off the ground and away from walls.

How should single-use items be stored?

In their original packaging

What containers should you use to store food?

Containers that are intended for food and are durable, leak proof, and able to be sealed or covered.

Where should you never store food?

Never reuse single-use containers or empty chemical containers.

Where should you never store chemicals?

Never store chemicals in containers meant for food.

How should you upkeep storage areas?

Keep them clean and dry, clean up spills and leaks promptly, and clean dollies, transporters, and carts.

How should food storage containers be kept?

Clean and sanitize them before putting food in.

Where should dirty linens be stored?

In clean, nonabsorbent containers or laundry bags.

How can you prevent food from being contaminated during storage?

Wrap or cover it and make sure to store meat, poultry, and shellfish separate from RTE food.

How should you store food in the fridge?

RTE food goes on top, seafood below it, whole-cut meats below that, ground beef/fish next, and poultry goes on the last shelf.

What goes on the top shelf?

RTE food

What goes below RTE food?

Seafood

What goes below seafood?

Whole cut beef and pork

What goes below whole cut meat?

Ground beef and ground fish

Which shelf does poultry go?

The very bottom shelf

What is the storage method based on?

The internal cooking temperatures of each food.

Why do we store food by its internal cooking temperature?

Because if something drips liquid onto a lower shelf, it will be okay because the pathogens will be cooked out.

Why should you never store RTE food under raw food?

Because the raw food can drip liquid onto the RTE food and contaminate it.

Where should you never store food?

In locker rooms, dressing rooms, bathrooms, garbage rooms, mechanical rooms, under shielded sewer lines or leaking water lines, and under the staircase.

How should you handle damaged, spoiled, or incorrectly stored food?

Discard it.

What are the traits of food that needs to be discarded?

It’s expired, spoiled, or stored incorrectly, missing date mark, ready-to-eat TCS food that has past it’s date mark, and food that has exceeded time-temperature requirements.

What should you do if expired food will be returned to the vendor?

Store it away from other food and equipment and label the food so it won’t be used.