Chapter 7 The Flow of Food: Storage This chapter details specific guidelines for all food products. Most of these practices are things I have been trained on in my workplace too, but was good information to go over again. Also it definitely makes me examine the practices
I use in my own home.
*General Storage Guidelines -food must be labeled and date marked correctly, rotated, stored at the right temperature, all to prevent cross contamination. *Labeling -necessary to prevent allergic reactions -any item not stored in original container must be labeled -labels must include: *common name of the food to identify it *quantity of the food *list of ingredients in descending order of weight *name and place of manufacture, packer, distributor *source of each major allergen
*Date Marking -must be on all TCS food -must be marked if kept longer than 24 hours -must include date when item should be sold, eaten, or thrown out -TCS food can only be stored for 7 days at 41’ or lower -Commercially processed food will have a use-by-date -combining food with different date should be discarded by the earliest discard date *Rotation: -food must be rotated when stored to maintain quality and limit pathogens -FIFO is the best method to rotate *identify use-by-dates *store items w earliest dates in the front and the latest dates in the back *use items in front first *throw out food that has passed the manufactures use-by-date
*Temperature -food must be stored at correct temperatures with specific guidelines -TCS food must me stored at correct temps and in the correct areas of a refer -storage units must have an air temp device and cannot be overloaded or obstructed -food must be stored in clean and dry locations
*preventing Cross-Contamination -items must be stored in designated areas -food must be stored in containers designated for food storage -all storage areas must be clean and dry -storage order of TCS food is very important *ready-to-eat food, sea