The Flow of Food Prevent cross-Contamination
- False or true: Infrared thermometers work best to measure the flow of food internal temperature of food.
- True or false: Chicken kept at 125°F (52°C) was temperature abused
- True or false: A bimetallic stemmed thermometer is used to check the temperature of a roast. Only the tip of the thermometer stem flow of food needs to be inserted in the product.
- True or false: After being immersed in boiling water, a thermometer calibrated using the boiling-point method must be set at 135°F (57°C).
Prevent Time-Temperature abuse
Serving safe food in your establishment is something you must do long before you even serve food.
A product can go through many stages in its journey through an establishment. This includes purchasing and receiving it, as well as storing, preparing, cooking and cooling.
Your knowledge of food safety concepts will greatly impact the safety of the food that you serve. This includes the prevention of cross-contamination, temperature control, and time management. Your ability to create a system that prioritizes and monitors the most important food safety practices is also crucial.
- Preventing Cross-Contamination
- Put physical barriers between food products
- Each type of food should have its own equipment
- After each task, clean and sanitize all surfaces and equipment.
Cross-contamination is a major threat to food flow through your facility. Cross-contamination can be prevented by creating barriers between food products. Cross-contamination can easily be avoided by placing physical barriers between products.
You should assign specific equipment to each type. You can use one set of cutting boards and utensils for poultry, while another set is for meat. Manufacturers make colored cutting boards, utensils and containers with colored flow of food handles. Employees can use color-coding to identify which equipment is best matched with which products.
After each task, clean and sanitize all surfaces and equipment. After cutting raw chicken on a cuttingboard, wash it and rinse it.
Preventing Cross-Contamination
- Establish procedural barriers between food items
- If you use the same prep table, prepare raw meat, fish, poultry, and ready-to eat food at different times.
- Buy ingredients that only require minimal preparation
- Cross-contamination can easily be avoided by creating barriers between products.
You can prepare ready-to-eat and raw food at different times using the same prep table. Establishments with limited space may prepare lunch salads, clean and disinfect the surfaces and then debone the chicken to be prepared for dinner in the afternoon.
It is best to buy ingredients that only flow of food require minimal preparation. An example is switching from purchasing raw chicken breasts to precooked frozen breasts.