THE FLOW OF FOOD THROUGH

THE OPERATIONS
MODULE 3 PART 2
THE FLOW OF FOOD: INTRODUCTION

[Link] Flow of Food

The path that food takes through your operation is
called the flow of food. It begins when you buy the food
and ends when you serve it.
FOOD FLOW

PURCHASING RECEIVING STORING PREPARATION COOLING

HOLDING COOLING REHEATING SERVING

HAZARDS IN THE FLOW OF FOOD

a. Cross-Contamination
 Here are some of the guidelines for doing this:
 Separating equipment
 Cleaning and Sanitizing
 Buying prepared food
HAZARDS IN THE FLOW OF FOOD

b. Time-Temperature Abuse
 Most foodborne illness happen because TCS (temperature
control for safety) food has been time-temperature abused.
 Remember food has been time-temperature abused any time it
remains at 41°F to 135°F (5°C to 57 °C).
 This is called the temperature danger zone, because pathogens
grow in this range. But they grow much faster at 70°F to 125°F
(21°C to 52°C).
HAZARDS IN THE FLOW OF FOOD

Avoiding Time-Temperature Abuse

 Employees should avoid time-temperature abuse by following good policies and
procedures. They should cover the following areas:
 Monitoring
 Tools
 Recording
 Time and temperature control
 Corrections
MONITORING AND TEMPERATURE

To keep food safe, you must control the amount of time it spends in the
temperature danger zone.
The most important tool you have to monitor temperature is the
THERMOMETER.
Three types are commonly used in the operations:

1. Bimetallic stemmed thermometers

2. Thermocouples

3. Thermistors
BIMETALLIC STEMMED THERMOMETER

 These thermometers are designed to

quickly measure the temperature and
cannot be left in the oven while the
food is cooking. About 15 to 20
seconds are required for the
temperature to be accurately
displayed on a dial. The thermometer
is inserted in the food only while
assessing the temperature.
THERMOCOUPLES

 Thermocouple thermometers are the

fastest reading of all thermometers.
They can show a final temperature in
seconds on a digital display. They
have very small tips and can
accurately measure the temperature
of very thin foods, depending on the
size of the probes.
THERMISTOR

 Thermistor-style thermometers use a

resistor to measure temperature. The
probe diameter is approximately 1/8″
thick and takes roughly 10 seconds to
register a temperature on a digital
display. Since the semiconductor is in
the tip, thermistors can measure
temperature in thin foods.
THE FLOW OF FOOD: PURCHASING,
RECEIVING AND STORAGE
GENERAL PURCHASING AND RECEIVING PRINCIPLES

 YOU CANT MAKE UNSAFE FOOD SAFE

a. Purchasing

Before accepting any deliveries, make sure that the food you purchase is safe. It
should come from approved, reputable suppliers.

b. Receiving and Inspecting

Make steps to ensure the receiving and inspection process goes smoothly and
keep the food safe. Make sure enough trained staff are available to promptly
receive, inspect and store food.
TEMPERATURE

Deliveries should also meet the following temperature criteria:

Cold Food Hot Food Frozen Food
Receive cold TCS Receive hot TCS food Receive frozen food
food at 41°F (5°C) or 135°F (57°C) or higher. frozen.
lower, unless
otherwise specified.
PACKAGING

Reject food and nonfood items if packaging has any of the following
problems
Damage Liquid Pests Date
Rejects items Reject items with Rejects items Reject items with
with tears, leaks, dampness with signs of expired code or
holes or or water stains. pests or pest use-by dates.
punctures in damage.
their
packaging.
PRODUCT QUALITY

Reject food if it has any of the following problems:

Color Texture Odor
Reject food with an Reject meat, fish or Reject food with
abnormal color. poultry that is slimy, abnormal or unpleasant
sticky or dry. odor.
STORING

1. General Storage Guidelines

 Labeling

 Rotation

 Temperature

 Product placement

 Cleaning
REFRIGERATED AND FROZEN STORAGE

Guidelines for refrigerated and frozen storage

 Schedule regular maintenance
Maintenance
 Defrost freezers to allow them to operate more efficiently
 Set the temperatures of coolers to keep the internal
Temperatures temperature of TCS food at 41°F (5°C) or lower.
 Set freezers to keep products frozen
 Monitor food temperatures regularly.
Monitoring
 Check cooler temperatures at least once during each shift.
 Do not overload coolers and freezers
 Be aware that frequent opening of the coolers lets the warm
Airflow
air inside.
 Use open shelving.
 Store food in ways that prevent cross-contamination,
Preventing Cross-
 Store raw meat, poultry and seafood in coolers in the
Contamination
following top-to-bottom order.
DRY STORAGE

 Keep dry-storage areas cool and dry.

 Store dry food away from walls and at

least six inches off the floor.
 Make sure dry-storage areas are well
ventilated to help keep temperature
and humidity constant throughout the
storage area.
THE FLOW OF FOOD: PREPARATION

 Cross-contamination and time-temperature abuse can

happen easily during this step in the food flow.
 But pathogens can be prevented from growing during
preparation by making good food-prep choices.
GENERAL PREPARATION PRACTICES

Equipment Quantity
Storage
Make sure  Remove from the cooler Return pre-prepared
workstations, cutting only as much food as food to the cooler or
boards and utensils you can prep in a short cook it as quickly as
are clean and period of time. possible.
sanitized.  Prep in small batches
THAWING

Refrigeration Running Water Microwave Cooking

Thaw food in  Submerge food Thaw food in the Thaw food as
a cooler at a under running microwave oven part of the
product water at 70°F if it will be cooking process.
temperature (21°C) or lower. cooked just like
of 41°F (5°C)  Make sure the after thawing.
water is potable.
PREPPING SPECIFIC FOOD

Produce
Cross- Make sure fruit and vegetables do NOT touch surfaces
Contamination exposed to raw meat or poultry.
Washing Wash under running water
Sanitizing Wash with water containing ozone
Soaking or Do NOT mix different items or multiple batches of the same
Storing item.
Fresh-cut Refrigerate and hold sliced melons, cut tomatoes and cut
produce leafy greens at 41°F (5°C) or lower
Raw seed
Do NOT serve raw seed sprouts to high-risk populations
sprouts
 Batter and Breading
Batch Size Prep in small batches
Create a plan to throw out any unused batter or
Discarding
breading after at set amount of time
Do NOT use the same batter or breading for different
Allergens types of food if one of the food items can cause an
allergic reaction.
Eggs and Egg Mixtures
Pooled Eggs Handle poled eggs carefully.
Consider using pasteurized shell eggs or egg products
Pasteurized Eggs when prepping egg dishes that need a little or no
coking.
 Use pasteurized eggs when serving dishes that are raw
High-Risk or undercooked if serving high-risk populations
Populations  Use unpasteurized shell eggs if the dish will be cooked all
the way through.
 Salads Containing TCS Food
Chicken, tuna, egg, pasta and potato salads all have been involved in foodborne-illness
outbreaks.
Make sure leftover TCS food that will be used to make
Using Leftovers
salads has been handled the right way.
Throw out leftover food held at 41F (5C) or lower after
Storing Leftovers
seven days.

Ice
Consumption Make ice from water that is safe to drink
NEVER use ice as an ingredient if it was used to keep food
Cooling Food
cold
Containers and Use clean, sanitized containers and ice scoops to transfer
Scoops ice from an ice machine to other containers
COOKING FOOD
COOKING REQUIREMENTS FOR SPECIFIC FOOD
Partial Cooking During Preparation
Some operations partially cook food during prep and finish cooking it just before
service. You must follow the steps below if you plan to partially cook meat,
seafood, poultry and or eggs or dishes containing them.
a. Do not cook the food for longer than 60 minutes during initial cooking.
b. Cool the food immediately after initial cooking.
c. Freeze or refrigerate the food after cooling it.
d. Heat the food to at least 165°F (74°C) before selling or serving it.
e. Cool the food if it will not be served immediately or held for service.
FLOW OF FOOD: SERVICE
GUIDELINES FOR HOLDING FOOD

Temperature Hold TCS Food at the right internal temperature

Use a thermometer to check a food’s internal temperature,
Thermometer NEVER use the temperature of the hot holding equipment to
do it.
Time Check food temperature every four hours
Hot-Holding NEVER use hot holding equipment to reheat food unless it is
Equipment built to do so.
Create policies about how long the operation will hold hot
Policies
food.
Food Covers and Cover food and install sneeze guards to protect from
Sneeze Guards contaminants.
A. Holding Food without Temperature Control

Here are some examples of when you might hold food without temperature control:
 When displaying food for a short time
 When electricity is not available to power holding equipment

1. Cold Food

You can hold cold food without temperature control for up to six hours if you meet these
conditions:
 Hold the food at 41F (5C) or lower before removing it from refrigeration.
 Label the food with the time you removed it from refrigeration and discard it after six hours
 Make sure that food does not exceed 70F (21C) while it is being served.
 Sell, serve or throw out the food within six hours
1. Hot Food

You can hold hot food without temperature control for up to four hours if you meet these
conditions.
 Hold the food at 135F (57C) or higher before removing it from temperature control.
 Label the food with the time you must throw it out.
 Sell, serve or throw bout the food within four hours.
SERVING FOOD

Kitchen Staff Guidelines

Bare-hand contact Handle ready-to-eat food with tongs, deli

with Food sheets or gloves.

Use separate utensils for each food item and

Clean and sanitized
clean and sanitize them after each serving
utensils
task
Store serving utensils in the food with the
Serving utensils handle extended above the rim of the
container.
SERVICE STAFF GUIDELINES
1. Preset Tableware
Do NOT re-serve food returned by one
 If your operations presets tableware on dining Menu Items
customer to another customer.
tables, you must take steps to prevent it from  NEVER re-serve uncovered condiments
becoming contaminated.  Do NOT combine leftover condiments with
Condiments fresh ones
 Table settings do not need to be wrapped or  Throw away opened portions or dishes of
covered if extra settings meet these requirements. condiments after serving them to customers
 Do NOT re-serve uneaten bread to
 They are removed when guests are seated customers
Bread or Rolls
 Change linens used in bread baskets after
 If they remain on the table, they are cleaned and each customer
sanitized after guests have left.
Garnishes NEVER re-serve plate garnishes
1. Re-serving Food In general, you may re-serve only unopened
 Prepackaged prepackaged food, this include condiment
Service and kitchen staff should also know
food packets, wrapped crackers or wrapped bread
the rules about re-serving food previously served to a sticks.
customer.
SELF-SERVICE AREAS

Protect food on display with sneeze guards or food shields,

Sneeze Guards they should be located 14 inches above the counter and
extended 7 inches beyond food.

Labels Label containers located on self-service areas

Temperature Keep hot food hot or higher and keep cold food cold or lower.

Raw and Ready-to- Keep raw meat, seafood and poultry separate from ready-to-eat food in
eat food self-service areas.

Do not let customers refill dirty plates or use dirty utensils at self-
Refills
service areas.
OFF-SITE SERVICE

 Pack food in insulated food containers that can keep

Food Containers food at 135°F (57°C) or higher at 41°F (5°C) or lower.
 Use only food grade containers

Clean the inside of the delivery vehicles regularly

Delivery Vehicles
 Check internal food temperatures.
 If containers or delivery vehicles are not hot holding food at
Internal Temperature the right temperature, reevaluate the length of the delivery
route or the right efficiency of the equipment being used.

Label food with a use-by date and time and reheating and
Labels service instructions for staff at off-site locations.

Make sure that service sites have the right utilities

Utilities
Store raw meat seafood and poultry and ready-to-eat items
Storage
separately.