ServSafe Parts 4-6
Servsafe Part 4: The Safe Food Handler
Topic 4.1: Personal Hygiene and Contamination
Food Handlers can Contaminate food when they:
Have a foodborne illness or have symptoms of a foodborne illness (diarrhea, vomiting, jaundice, etc)
Have wounds or boils that contain the pathogen
Sneeze or cough
Have contact with a person who is sick
Use the restroom and do not wash hands
What are some diseases that cannot be spread through food?
When staff have HIV, AIDS, Tuberculosis or Hepatitis B or C, they are protected under HIPAA because those diseases do not spread through food
Topic 4.2: Good Personal Hygiene Program
Managers must focus on the following:
Create personal hygiene policies
HAND WASHING IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF PERSON HYGIENE
Wash your hands in a sink that is designated for hand washing
NEVER wash your hands in a sink that is designated for anything other than hand washing
Wash your hands for 20 seconds
Food handlers must wash their hands before:
Preparing foodWorking with clean equipment and utensils
Putting on single-use gloves
NEVER handle RTE food with bare hands if you are serving a high risk population
Exception: You can RTE food to other foods that need to be cooked with your bare hands
Training food handlers on policies
Modeling these policies
Adapting the policies as laws/science evolve
Keep fingernails short and clean
Do not wear false fingernails (except for single-use gloves)
Do not wear nail polish (except for single-use gloves)
Any infected wounds and cuts must be covered if they are open and draining
Even if it is not infected, it should still be covered
How it is covered depends on where it is located
Hand, finger, and/or wrist should be covered with impermeable cover (bandage or finger cot) the a single use glove
Arm should be covered with impermeable cover
Any other part of the body should be covered with a dry, durable, tight fitting bandage
How should I use single-use gloves?
They are designed for one task only
DO NOT reuse them
They are never in place of hand washing
They should be used when handling RTE food
Use appropriate gloves for appropriate person and task (provide sizes and non-latex options)
NEVER wash and reuse gloves
ONLY use gloves approved for foodservice
Change gloves when they become dirty on torn
Before the beginning of a new task
After handling meat, seafood, or poultry before handling RTE food
After an interruption, such as taking a phone call’
After four hours of continuous use
Managers must make sure that staff shower or bathe before work
Set up a dress code that is appropriate
Food handlers must use hair restraints, such as a hat or hair net
DO NOT wear hair accessories that could become physical contaminants
DO NOT wear false eyelashes
Food handlers must wear clean clothes and change if their clothes become soiled
Keep street clothes in a room AWAY from where the food is being prepped
Food handlers must remove their aprons when they leave the food area
NEVER wipe your hands on your apron
Food handlers must NOT wear jewelry
Remove any bracelets and rings, except for wedding rings
Medical bracelets also need to be removed
Watches should also be removed, but it depends on the operation
You may also need to remove earrings, necklaces, and any facial jewelry
Make sure that all employees agree to bathing and dress code
Staff need to be required to let management know when they are sick
You regulatory authority may ask for proof that you will do this
Staff must report illness:
Before they come to work
If they get sick while working
If they live with someone who is sick
Managers should watching for vomiting, constant bathroom use, jaundice, cold sweat or chills, persistent nasal discharge and sneezing
Work with your regulatory authority to determine which symptoms require an employee to be restricted or excluded from the operation
When should a staff member be restricted VS excluded?
You must work with your local authority to determine the guidelines for this
If a food handler has an exposed wound that cannot be properly covered, they are restricted - they can work, but not use utensils and equipment
If the food handler has a sore throat with a fever:
They can be restricted if they want to work, but they cannot handle equipment
They are excluded regardless if they work in a high risk population
The food handler can return to the operation once they have a written release from a medical practitioner
If the food handler has persistent sneezing, coughing, or runny nose with discharge
The are restricted and cannot work with food and equipment while at work
If the food handler has symptoms or vomiting, diarrhea, and/or jaundice, they are excluded
Vomiting and diarrhea - Before returning to work, food handlers must have either:
Had no symptoms for at least 24 hours
OR A written release from a medical practitioner
Jaundice - Report food handlers to the regulatory authority. Exclude food handlers who have had jaundice for seven days or less. Before returning to work, food handlers must have both:
A written release from a medical practitioner
AND Approval from the regulatory authority
ServSafe Part 5: The Flow of Food: An Introduction
Topic 5.1: Hazards in the Flow of Food
You are responsible for the food at every point in the flow of food
The Flow of Food is the path that food takes through your operation
Keep raw and RTE food away from each other throughout all of the operation to avoid contamination
Always prep RTE before raw food
Topic 5.2: Monitoring Time and Temperature
Bimetallic Stemmed Thermometer - can check temps from 0 degrees F to 220 degrees F
Measures temp through a metal stem
Has sensing area from the tip to the dimple - the entire sensing area must be inserted into the food
Useful for checking temp of larger foods, insert temp into the thickest part of the food
Thermocouples and Thermistors
Measure temp through a metal prove
Display temps digitally
Comes with interchangeable probes
Infrared (Laser) Thermometers
Very useful for measuring the temp of stove or cooktop
Maximum Registering Thermometer
Indicates the highest temperature reached during use
Time-Temperature Indicator
Monitor both time and temperature
Are attached to packages by supplier
A color change appears on device when time-temperature abuse has occurred
Calibrating Thermometers
Thermometers can lose their accuracy when they are bumped or dropped or when they go through severe temperature changes
Thermometers that cannot be calibrated should be replaced or sent back to the manufacturer for calibration
Ice-Point Method - happens at the temperature in which water freezes
Boiling-Point Method - happens at the temperature in which water boils
Always wash, rinse, sanitize and air dry thermometers before and after use
Make sure they are accurate:
If used to check food temp - must be accurate to +/- 2 degrees F
If used to check air temp - must be accurate to +/- 3 degree F
Only use glass thermometers if they are enclosed in a shatterproof casing
Insert the thermometer stem or probe into the thickest part of the food
Take more than one reading at different spots
ServSafe Part 6: The Flow of Food: Purchasing and Receiving
Topic 6.1: Purchasing Considerations
Food must be purchased from approved, reputable suppliers,
Includes growers, shippers, packers, manufacturers, distributors
Have been inspected and can show inspection reports
Reports can be from USDA, FDA or third party and should be based on Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) and Good Agricultural practices (GAP)
Topic 6.2: Receiving Considerations
Schedule deliveries at a time they can be received correctly so there is enough time to accept - INSPECT IMMEDIATELY THE SECOND IT IS DELIVERED
Make someone specific responsible for it
Plan ahead for shipments
Inspect the look of the vehicle and look for pests and contamination
Count the number of food delivered and see if food looks, damaged repacked, or mishandled
Take sample temps of all foods, especially TCS
Inspect and store each delivery before accepting a new shipment
You can refuse/reject any delivery that does not meet your standards
Separate the rejected items from the accepted items
Tell the delivery person what is wrong with them
Get a signed adjustment or credit slip
Log the incident
If a food has been recalled, most vendors will notify you, but also recall recall notifications from FDA and USDA
Identify and remove any recalled items from the inventory, label it and store it separately until the FDA or USDA tells you what to do with it - sometimes they will tell you to send it back or throw it out
DO NOT DO ANYTHING WITH IT UNTIL THEY TELL YOU TO
Topic 6.3: General Inspection Guidelines
How do I check temperatures?
Meat, poultry, and fish - stick the thermometer directly into the food
Reduced-oxygen packaging (ROP) food, vacuum packed, and sous wide - insert the thermometer stem or probe between two packages or fold around
Other packaged food - open the package and insert the stem or probe
Temperature Requirements
Cold TCS foods - 41 F or lower (5 C)
Live shellfish (oysters, mussels, clams, scallops) - receive at an air temperature of 45 F (7 C) and an internal temperature of no greater than 50 F (10 C)
Once received, shellfish must be cooled to 41 F or lower in 4 hours
Shucked shellfish - receive at 45 F (or 7 C) or lower
Cool to 41 F or lower in 4 hours
Milk - can receive at 45 or lower, but MUST bring it to 41 or lower within 4 hours
Shell Eggs - received at an air temperature of 45 degrees or lower
Hot TCS food - receive at a temperature of 135 F (57 C) or higher
Frozen food - receive frozen solid
Reject frozen food if there is evidence or thawing and refreezing (fluids or water stains; ice crystals or frozen liquids on the food or packaging → evidence of time-temperature abuse)
What should I look for in the packaging?
Reject packages with tears, holes, or punctures in packaging
Cans - severe dents in the body, missing labels, swollen or bulging ends, holes, leaks, rust
ROP food - bloating or leaking
What about documents and stamps
Shellfish must be received with a shellstock identification tags - indicate when and where the shellfish were harvested
DO NOT remove the shellstock tag until the last shellfish is used (and store shellfish in their original container)
Write the date the last shellfish was used on the shellstock tag
Keep the shellstock tag on the file for 90 days after the last shellfish was used
What about raw or farm raised fish?
Documentation must show the fish was correctly frozen before being received
Keep documents for 90 days from the sale of fish
Farm raised fish:
Must have documentation stating the fish was raised to FDA standards
Keep documentation for 90 days from the sale of the fish
What about inspection and grading stamps?
Meat, poultry, and eggs are required to have inspection stamps
Grading stamps are voluntary and paid for by processors and packers
What are the guidelines for food quality?
Appearance - reject food moldy or discolored
Texture - reject meat, fish, or poultry if it is slimy, sticky, dry, or if it has soft flesh that leaves an imprint when touched
Odor - reject food that smells
Topic 6.4: Inspecting Types of Food
Fish
Accept fish with bright red gills, reject fish if they smell like fish, they should smell like the ocean, reject if they have sunken eyes
Shellfish
MUST be accepted alive
REJECT if they are dead or if clams are broken
Crustaceans
Reject if dead or if it smells like fish
Beef/Pork
Reject if it is not red, or specifically brown
Pork should not be dark
Poultry
Should be surrounded by crushed, self-draining ice
Eggs
Reject if they smell like sulfur (smells like fart)
Dairy
Reject if it is moldy, smells, looks, or shaped weirdly
Fresh Produce
Reject mold, cuts, wilting, unpleasant odors, etc