Food Safety Practices

Introduction to Food Safety in Restaurants

  • Restaurants like Poetry aim to provide a special experience, emphasizing the importance of food safety.
  • Food safety begins well before serving, starting with purchasing, receiving, and storage.

The Flow of Food and Preventing Contamination

  • The flow of food includes purchasing, receiving, storing, preparing, cooking, holding, cooling, reheating, and serving.
  • Preventing cross-contamination and time-temperature abuse is crucial throughout this flow.
  • Cross-contamination is the transfer of microorganisms from one food or surface to another.

Preventing Cross-Contamination

  • Use specific cutting boards and utensils for raw and ready-to-eat foods.
  • Proper cleaning and sanitizing of surfaces, equipment, and utensils after each task is essential.
  • If using a single prep table, prepare raw meat, fish, poultry, and ready-to-eat food at different times.

Time and Temperature Abuse

  • Foodborne pathogens grow between 41°F and 135°F (5°C and 57°C), the temperature danger zone.
  • Minimize the time food spends in the temperature danger zone.
  • If food is held in the temperature danger zone for 4 hours or more, discard it.

Purchasing Food Products

  • Purchase from suppliers who get their products from approved sources (inspected and compliant with laws).
  • Reject products from unapproved sources.

Receiving Procedures

  • Employees should have enough time to thoroughly check deliveries.
  • Schedule deliveries during off-peak hours and receive one delivery at a time.
  • Receiving staff should have the authority to accept, reject, and sign for deliveries.
  • Inspect deliveries immediately and put items away quickly, especially refrigerated and frozen products.

Rejecting Products

  • Set aside rejected items and inform the delivery person of the issue.
  • Obtain a signed adjustment or credit slip from the delivery person.
  • Log the incident on the invoice or receiving document.

General Receiving Criteria

  • Cold TCS (Time/Temperature Control for Safety) food: Receive at 41°F (5°C) or lower, unless specified otherwise.
  • Hot TCS food: Receive at 135°F (57°C) or higher.
  • Frozen food: Ensure it is frozen upon receipt. Check for thawing and refreezing (fluids, ice crystals, water stains).

Packaging Criteria

  • Packaging should be intact, clean, and protect food from contamination.
  • Reject items with tears, holes, punctures, dirty wrappers, broken cartons, or seals.
  • Reject damp or leaking packages or those with water stains.
  • Check and reject expired products.
  • Reject items showing signs of pests or pest damage.

Canned Goods

  • Reject cans with swollen ends, rust, or dents.

Food Quality

  • Poor food quality indicates time-temperature abuse.
  • Define safety and quality criteria with suppliers.
  • Check color, texture, and smell.
  • Reject food with abnormal color or odor.
  • Reject slimy, sticky, or dry meat, fish, and poultry, or if the flesh is soft and leaves an imprint.

Inspection Stamps

  • Meat and poultry must have a USDA or State Department of Agriculture inspection stamp.
  • Egg products must have an inspection stamp.
  • Reject items not meeting company quality standards.

Storage Guidelines

  • Poor storage ruins operations.
  • Clear space for new products and ensure proper labeling.

Labeling

  • All TCS ready-to-eat food prepped in-house and held for over 24 hours must be labeled with the food name and discard date.

First In, First Out (FIFO)

  • Use the FIFO method in refrigerated, frozen, and dry storage.
  • Discard food items past their use-by or expiration dates.
  • TCS food prepared on-site can be stored for a maximum of 7 days at 41°F (5°C) or lower.

Containers

  • Store food in durable, leak-proof containers that can be sealed or covered.
  • Clean and sanitize containers before storing food.
  • Never store food in empty chemical containers or chemicals in food containers.

Storing TCS Food

  • Store refrigerated and frozen food promptly after inspection to keep it out of the temperature danger zone.
  • Store food only in designated storage areas.

Cleanliness

  • Regularly clean floors, walls, and shelving in refrigerators, freezers, dry storerooms, and heated holding cabinets.
  • Clean up leaks and spills immediately.
  • Regularly check the temperature of stored foods to ensure it is 41°F (5°C) or lower.
  • Ensure frozen products remain frozen.

Refrigerator and Freezer Practices

  • Avoid overloading refrigerators and freezers to ensure good airflow.
  • Keep doors closed as much as possible.
  • Store cooked and ready-to-eat food above raw meat, poultry, and fish to prevent cross-contamination.
  • Store raw meat, poultry, and fish in the following top-to-bottom order:
    1. Whole fish
    2. Whole cuts of beef and pork
    3. Ground meats and fish
    4. Whole and ground poultry
  • This order is based on minimum internal cooking temperatures.

Dry Storage

  • Keep dry storerooms cool and dry (between 50°F and 70°F (10°C and 21°C)).
  • Ensure good ventilation to maintain constant temperature and humidity.
  • Store dry food away from walls and at least 6 inches (15 cm) off the floor.
  • Never store dry food near chemicals or cleaning supplies.
  • Keep dry food out of direct sunlight and keep the area clean.

Conclusion

  • Good purchasing, receiving, and storage practices are essential for preventing foodborne illnesses.
  • These practices help maintain the quality and safety of food, ensuring a positive dining experience.