Module 6: The Flow of Food: Preparation

When prepping food:
• Only remove as much food from the cooler as you can prep in a short period of time (this limits time-temperature abuse). Return prepped food to the cooler or cook it as quickly as possible. Make sure workstations, cutting boards, and utensils are clean and sanitized.
• Only use additives approved by your local regulatory authority. NEVER use more additives than are allowed by law. NEVER use additives to alter the appearance of food. Do NOT sell produce treated with sulfites before it was received in the operation. NEVER add sulfites to produce that will be eaten raw.
• Do NOT use the following to misrepresent the appearance of food: food additives or color additive, colored overwraps, lights. Food not represented honestly must be thrown out.
• Food must be thrown out: when it is handled by staff who have been restricted or excluded from the food operation due to illness; when it is contaminated by hands or bodily fluids from the nose or mouth; When it has exceeded the time and temperature requirements designed to keep food safe.

Four methods for thawing food:

1. Thaw food in a cooler, keeping its temperature at 41℉ or lower.
2. Submerge food under running water at 70℉ or lower. NEVER let the temperature of the food go above 41℉ or lower for longer than four hours.
3. Thaw food in a microwave, only if cooked immediately after thawing.
4. Thaw as part of the cooking process.

Produce:
• Make sure produce does not touch surfaces exposed to raw meat, seafood, or poultry. Wash it thoroughly under running water before cutting, cooking, or combining with other ingredients.
• Produce can be washed in water containing ozone to sanitize it but check with your local regulatory authority.
• When soaking or storing produce in standing water or an ice-water slurry, do not mix different items or multiple batches of the same item. Refrigerate and hold sliced melons, cut tomatoes, and cut leafy greens at 41℉ or lower. Do NOT serve raw seed sprout if primarily serving a high-risk population.
• Handle pooled eggs (if allowed) with care. Cook promptly after mixing or store at 41℉ or lower. Clean and sanitize containers between batches. Consider using pasteurized shell eggs or egg products when prepping dishes that need little or no cooking. When cooking eggs for high-risk populations use pasteurized shell eggs if eggs will be pooled and when serving raw or undercooked dishes. Unpasteurized shell eggs can be used if the dish will be cooked all the way through (i.e., omelets, cakes).
• For salads containing TCS food, make sure that the leftover TCS ingredients (i.e., pasta, chicken, potatoes, etc.) have been handled safely by ensuring that they were cooked, held, and cooled correctly. Store for less than seven days at 41℉ or lower.
• NEVER use ice as an ingredient if it was used to keep food cold. Transfer ice using clean and sanitized containers and scoops. NEVER hold ice in containers that held chemicals, raw meat, seafood, or poultry.

A Food Service Operation needs to obtain a variance if it prepares food in any of these ways:
1. Packaging fresh juice on-site for sale at a later time, unless the juice has a warning label
2. Smoking food to preserve it but not to enhance flavor
3. Using food additives or components to preserve or alter food so it no longer needs time and temperature control for safety
4. Curing food
5. Packaging food using a reduced-oxygen packaging (ROP) method
6. Sprouting seeds or beans
7. Offering live shellfish from a display tank
8. Custom-processing animals for personal use (i.e. dressing a deer)

Cooking Requirements for Specific Types of Food:
• Cook to 165℉ for 15 seconds: all poultry, whole or ground (i.e., chicken, turkey, or duck); stuffing made with fish and/or other meats; stuffed meats with seafood, poultry, and/or pasta; dishes that include previously cooked TCS ingredients.
• Cook to 155℉ for 15 seconds: ground meats; beef, pork, and other meats; injected meat including brined ham and flavor-injected roasts; mechanically tenderized meat; ratites including ostrich and emu; ground seafood including chopped or minced seafood. For eggs that will be hot held for service: Hold at 155℉ for 15 seconds.
• Cook to 145℉ for 15 seconds: seafood, including shellfish, fish and crustaceans; steaks and chops of pork, beef, veal, and lamb; and commercially raised game. For eggs that will be served immediately: serve at 145℉ for 15 seconds.
• Roasts of pork, beef, veal, and lamb: cook to 145℉ for 4 minutes.
• Fruits, vegetables, grains (rice, pasta), and legumes (beans, refried beans) that will be hot-held for service: 135℉. (No minimum time)

Cooking TCS Food in a Microwave: meat, seafood, poultry, and eggs: cook to 165℉ Guidelines for microwave cooking: cover food to prevent the surface from drying out; rotate or stir it halfway through cooking so heat reaches the food more evenly; let it stand for at least two minutes after cooking to let the food temperature even out; check the temperature in at least two places to make sure the food is cooked through evenly. Partial Cooking During Preparation If partially cooking meat, seafood, poultry, or eggs (or dishes containing any of these items): 1) NEVER cook the food for longer than 60 minutes during the initial cooking cycle. 2) Cool the food immediately after the initial cooking cycle 3) Freeze or refrigerate the food after cooling it properly 4) Reheat the food to at least 165℉ for 15 seconds before serving it; or 5) Cool the food properly if it will NOT be served immediately, or held for service.

Consumer Advisories
If a food service operation menu includes raw or undercooked TCS items, it must: note it on the menu next to the items; asterisk the items; place a footnote at the menu bottom indicating the item is raw, undercooked, or contains raw or undercooked ingredients; advise customers who order this food of the increased risk of foodborne illness; post a notice in the menu; and provide this information using brochures, table tents, or signs. The FDA advises against offering these items on a children's menu if they are raw or undercooked: Meat, poultry, seafood, and eggs.

Cooling Food

• Step 1: Cool food from 135℉ to 70℉ in less than two hours;
• Step 2: use the remaining time to cool it from 41℉ or lower, for a total cooling cycle which cannot be longer that six hours.
• Before cooling food, start by reducing its size: cut larger items into smaller pieces; divide large containers of food into smaller containers or shallow pans.
• Methods for cooling food safely and quickly: place food in an ice-water bath; stir it with an ice paddle; or place it in a blast chiller.
• When storing food for further cooling, loosely cover the food containers before storing them in a cooler. Food can be left uncovered if protected from contamination. Storing uncovered containers above other food, especially raw seafood, meat, and poultry, will help prevent cross-contamination.

Reheating Food

• Food "prepared in-house" for immediate service may be consumed at, or reheated to any temperature if it was cooked and cooled correctly.
• Food "prepared in-house" to be hot-held must be reheated within two hours to an internal temperature of 165℉ for 15 seconds. Then it must be held at 135℉.
• Ready to Eat (RTE) food commercially processed and packaged must be reheated to an internal temperature of at least 135℉.