5. Flow of Food

Policy: Food is purchased only from approved vendors to assure the safety of food served to customers.

Procedure: Employees purchasing food must:

1. Understand regulations for specific foods
2. Observe the delivery vehicles to ensure that they are clean,and temperatures are controlled.
3. Request photo ID badge of delivery person when receiving foods
4. Use written product specifications to ensure that the vendor knows what is to be delivered and what are approved substitutions.

The restaurant manager will:

1. 1.Develop and implement written product specifications to ensure products purchased consistently meet restaurant expectations
2. .2.Coordinate delivery times with vendors/suppliers to ensure that deliveries are made when they can be stored immediately.
3. Schedule receiving times when product quantity and quality can be checked, including product temperatures.

Policy: All food should be checked to ensure the purchased quality and quantity are delivered andreceived in the facility, and that packaging to protect integrity of food is intact. Temperature Controlled for Safety (TCS) Foods should be received at specified temperatures to ensure safety.

Procedure: Employees receiving food should:General Principles:

1. Receive only one delivery at a time from approved suppliers.Verify credentials of delivery person.
2. Check to make sure frozen food is solid anddoes not show evidence of thawing and re-freezing.
3. Check to ensure that refrigerated foods are received at or below 41ºF.4.Record the date received on the outside of each package, and a use-by date if applicable.
4. Place TCS foods in storage as quickly as possible.
5. Reject TCS Foods that are not at acceptable temperatures.
6. Reject foods with damaged packaging such as torn bags orcans with swelled tops or bottoms, leakage, incomplete labels, flawed seals, rust,or dents.
7. Evaluate quality of products by odor, sight,and touch. Reject unacceptable products. Products must meet order specifications and quality requirements. If any foods are deemed unacceptable, they should be rejected and put in a designated area for credit.
8. Assess quantity of delivered foods meets purchase order information.
9. If foods must be delivered during non-operating hours, the vendor should be an approved sources and product inspected as soon as possible. Check that required temperatures have been maintained and product is unadulterated, is quality and quantity ordered, and is protected from contamination. 

Policy: All food, chemicals, and supplies should be stored in a manner that protects quality and safety of food that will be served..

Procedure: Employees who receive and store food maintain the storage areas, including dry, refrigerated,and freezer storage, by following these steps:

• Storage Upon Receiving:

1. Place Temperature Controlled for Safety (TCS) foods in the proper storage area immediately after receiving to avoid bacterial growth:

• 41ºF or lower –refrigerator temperatures
• 26ºF to 32ºF–deep chill storage temperatures
• 0ºF or below –freezer temperatures(some raw fish stored below 0F)
• 50ºF to 70ºFat 50% to 60% humidity –dry storage temperatures

      2. Place TCS foods into appropriate storage areas in the following order:

• Refrigerated foods - Store foods in designated refrigerators. If food products are stored together in a refrigerator, they should be placed on shelves in the following order:

• Frozen food

• Dry goods

      3. Keep all food items on shelves at least 6” above the floor to facilitate air circulation and proper cleaning.

      4. Store food out of direct sunlight.

      5. Place chemicals and supplies in appropriate storage areas, away from food.

      6. Rotate goods when placing them in storage by placing the new items behind the old items to ensure that the older       items are used first (First In, First Out).

      7. Make sure all packages (i.e. each can in the case)are dated with receiving date and use-by date.

      8. Store food in the original container if the container is clean, dry, and intact. If necessary, repackage food in clean,       date marked and well-labeled, airtight containers. This also can be done after a package is opened.

      9. Store time/temperature controlled foods no more than 7 days at 41ºF from date of preparation, which counts as       “day 1.”

      10. Store pesticides and chemicals away from food handling and storage areas. They must be stored in original,       labeled containers.

Policy: All foods will be thawed using appropriate practices to ensure food safety.

Procedure: Steps for thawing food include:

1. Use one of the three acceptable methods for thawing food:

• Thaw food in the refrigerator at 41°F or below. NEVER thaw food at room temperature.
• Thaw food needed for immediate service under potable running water at 70°F or lower. Prepare the product within 4 hours of thawing.
• Thaw the product in the microwave if the product will be cooked immediately.

      2. Use the lowest shelf in the cooler for thawing raw meat to prevent cross-contamination and separate raw products       from cooked and ready-to-eat products.

      3. Do not refreeze thawed food, unless they are first cooked or processed.

The restaurant manager will:

1. Review procedures to assure they are done correctly.
2. Take corrective action as necessary.
3. Follow-up as necessary.

Policy: Temperatures of all Temperature Controlled for Safety (TCS) cold foods will be monitored during preparation to ensure quality and safety of food. All food will be prepared using SOPs based on best practices to ensure safety and sanitation.

Procedure: Employees preparing cold food should:

• Take temperatures:

1. Wash hands.
2. Ensure TCS foods are at or below 41 F when removed from refrigeration.

• Use a clean and sanitize calibrated thermometer to take temperatures.
• Note time TCS cold foods are removed from refrigeration.

   Prepare cold foods:

1. Pre-chill ingredients for food served cold (sandwiches and salads) to below 41°F before combining.
2. Work in small batches of TCS foods to minimize time exposed to temperatures above 41 F. Return to cold holding after preparation.
3. Follow SOP for cleaning and sanitizing food contact surfaces.
4. If TCS foods have been above 41°F for more than two hours, return to cold holding.
5. Discard cold TCS foods after six hours if they have not been held below 41F.

Maintain food contact surfaces:

1. When possible use color-coded cutting boards for all products. Red for raw meat, green for vegetables or fruits, and yellow for raw poultry.
2. Food contact surfaces should be smooth, easily cleaned and sanitized, and appropriate material.
3. Clean and sanitize all food contact surfaces prior to and after use following the SOP. Cleaning and sanitizing steps need to be done separately in order to be effective.

The restaurant manager will:

1. Monitor preparation procedures daily
2. Take corrective action as necessary.
3. Followup as needed.
4. File logs in HACCP records

Policy: All foods will be cooked to at least the required minimum internal temperatureas specified on recipes to ensure safety. It is expected temperatures of cooked foods are taken and recorded to provide documentation of practices.

Procedure: Employees involved in the production of food must complete the following steps:

Prepare hot foods:

1. Cook hot foods to these minimum end-point temperatures or recipe directions.
2. Avoid over-cooking.
3. Use a calibrated thermometer to check product temperature in thickest part of the item.
4. Take readings in at least two locations of the food.

1. TCS foods must be cooked to these minimum internal temperatures unless the customer requests otherwise. Disclosures regarding under cooked TCS foods and a reminder of potential risk should be communicated in writing to customers, either on menu or table tents.
2. Take end-point cooking temperatures using a calibrated thermometer with a probe the appropriate size for the thickness of the food, and record in cooking log.
3. Reduce holding time of foods before serving by using batch cooking. Prepare batches of product to improve quality and safety.
4. Allow temperature of cooking equipment to return to required temperatures between batches.
5. Do not use hot holding equipment to cook or reheat foods.

      6. Prepare productsthat will not be cooked or heated away from other products.

Partial Cooking or Non-Continuous Cookingof Foods **must follow written procedures approved by local regulatory authority that address monitoring and corrective action procedures. 

The following steps must be included.

1. Do not cook food for longer than 60 minutes during initial cooking.
2. Cool food immediately after initial cooking using the two-stage cooling process: product is cooled to below 70°within 2 hours and to below 41 F within the next four hours.
3. Freeze or refrigerate the food after cooling it. If refrigerating the food, make sure it is held at 41ºF or lower.Store the partially cooked food away from ready-to-eat foods.
4. Heat the food to required minimum internal temperature before selling or serving it..
5. Cool the food if it will not be served immediately for held for service. Use the two-stagecooling process. ** Partial or Non-continuous cooking is defined as the cooking of food in a food establishment using a process in which the initial heating of the food is intentionally halted so that it may be cooled and held for complete cooking at a later time prior to sale or service.

Take temperatures:

1. Wash hands.
2. Use a calibratedthermometer to take the temperatures of all menu items that contain TCS food ingredients.
3. Clean the thermometer stem by wiping with alcohol wipes prior to and after taking temperatures of each food or washing, rinsing, and sanitizing stem.Open the alcohol sanitizer package with clean hands.
4. Take temperatures in the thickest part of a food item (usually the center). Two readings should also be taken in different locations to assure thorough cooking to minimum end-pointtemperatures.
5. Record the end-point cooking temperature on the Cooked Food Temperature Log.

The restaurant managerwill:

1. Review logs daily to ensure that temperatures and corrective actions are being met.
2. Take corrective action as necessary.
3. Follow up as necessary.
4. File logs with HACCP records