KEEPING FOOD SAFE IN STORAGE

Food Storage is both a traditional domestic skill and is important industrially. Food is stored by almost every human

society and by many animals.

In any HACCP-based or conventional system, proper storage is another line of defense from

microbial growth and contamination. While storage is necessary, the quality of most food

does not improve over time, and incorrect storage practices have the potential to cause serious and

costly problems. There is a direct relationship between cost control, food safety, and the need to

maintain good storage practices.

Storage principles Despite the wide variety of products found in a foodservice facility, a

few general principles can be successfully applied to most storage situations. The rules that follow cover storage of all types of food:

1. Follow the first rule First In, First Out (FIFO). Sticking to this principle means that goods should be used in the order in which they are delivered.

2. Keep potentially hazardous foods out of the temperature danger zone, which is 40 to 140 F (4.4 to 60 C)⁰ ⁰ ⁰ ⁰

3. Storage food only in areas designed for storage.

4. Keep all goods in clean, undamaged wrappers or packages.

5. Keep storage areas clean and dry.

6. Keep vehicles for transporting food within the establishment clean.

Storing of food has several main purposes:

Storage of harvested and processed plant and animal food products for distribution to consumers

Enabling a better balanced diet throughout the year

Reducing kitchen waste by preserving unused or uneaten food for later use

Preserving pantry food, such as spices or dry ingredients like rice and flour, for eventual use in cooking

Preparedness for catastrophes,

emergencies and periods of

food scarcity or famine

Religious reasons

Protection from animals or

theft.

Dry Food Storage Pertains to those foods not

likely to support bacterial growth in their normal state.

These foods include:

Flour

Sugar and salt

Cereals, rice, and otheer grains

Dried beans and peas

Ready-prepred cereals

Breads and crackers

Oils and shortenings

Canned and bottled foods(unopened)

• Store dry foods in a cool, dry place, off the floor, away from the wall, and not under a sewer line.

• Keep all continers tightly closed to proteect from inseects, rodents and dust. Dry foods can be contaminated, even if they don't need refrrigeration.

Important temperatures in sanitation and food protection

Food Handling and PreparationWe face 2 major sanitation problems when

handling and preparing food. The first is CROSS CONTAMINATION, which is the transfer of bacteria to food from another food or from

equipmnt or work surfaces.

The second problem is that, while we are working on it, food is usually at a temperature between 41ºF and 140ºF, or in the food danger zone.the lag phase of bacteria growth help us a little but,

to be safe, we must keep foods out of the danger zone whenever possible.

Cleaning and Sanitizing Equipment

• Cleaning- means removing visible soil.

• Sanitizing- means killing disease-causing bacteria.

• Two ways of killing bacteria are by: heat and by: chemicals.

Manual Dishwashing

*Procedure for manual dishwashing:

1.Scrape and Rinse.

2. Wash.

3. Rinse.

4. Sanitize

5. Drain and Air Dry.

Mechanical DishwashingThe steps in washing dishes by machine are the same aas in the

hand method, except that themachine does the washing, rinsing, and ssanitizing.

*Procedure for Mechanical Dishwahing:

1. Scrape and Rinse

2. Rack dishes so that dishwasher spray will strike all surfaces.

3. Run machine for a full cycle.

4. Sanitizing Temperatures:

- 180ºF for machines that sanitize by heat

- 140ºF for machines that sanitize by chemical disinfectant.

5. Air dry and inspect dishes. Do not touch food contact surfaces.

Rodent and Insect Control

Rats, mice, flies and cockroaches can spread disease by contaminating food and food contact surfaces. Any sign of rodent or insect infestation

is usually considered a serious violation of health codes.

*There arefour basic methods of pest control. • Build them out.• Eliminate harborage and breeding places.• Eliminate food supplies• Exterminate.

Ensures good-food handling procedures:

1. Do not breathe or blow into a bag,, lick your fingers or put the end of a piping bag near your mouth.

2. Do not use newspapers or other secondhand wrapping.

3. Paper serviettes and other single-use articles must be destroyed after they have been used once.

4. Keep all food on display wrapped or protected from guest's breath.

5. Keep cooked food apart from raw food.

6. Avoid handling cooked food - use clean serving spoon and tongs. Disposable gloves should be used for assembling cold dishes.

7. No food that has been served to a customer may be used again.

8. Watch for sigs of rodents and insect infestation. If either is found, take action to eradicate them imediately.

9. Follow these basic steps in cleaning dishes, utensils and equipment:

• -Soften baked-on food residue by pre-soaking.

• -Wash utensils in clean hot water, using a suitable detergent and brushes.

• -Rinse in very hot water.

• -Air dry.

• -Dismantle equipment and wash the parts in a sink, wipe down fixed parts with a clean cloth.

• -Put away food before starting to clean floors and walls.

10. Schedules tht summarises the law relating to cleanliness and food handling must be displayed where they maybbe easily read by employees.

*For good food handling

-Keep it clean

-Keep it covered

-Keep it hot

-Keep it cold

-but don't keep it long.

the four guidelines to keep food safe:

Clean—Wash hands and surfaces often. Separate—Don't cross-contaminate. Cook—Cook to proper temperatures, checking

with a food thermometer. Chill—Refrigerate promptly.

The safe storage of food for home use should strictly adhere to guidelines set out by reliable sources, such as the United

States Department of Agriculture. These guidelines have been thoroughly researched by scientists to determine the

best methods for reducing the real threat of  from unsafe food storage. It is also important to maintain proper kitchen

hygiene, to reduce risks of bacteria or virus growth and food poisoning. The common food poisoning illnesses

include , , , ,  and . There are many other organisms that can also cause food poisoning.

There are also safety guidelines available for the correct methods of  of food. For example, there are specific boiling times that apply depending upon whether pressure canning or waterbath canning is being used in the process. These

safety guidelines are intended to reduce the growth of mold and bacteria and the threat of potentially-fatal food poisoning.

Freezer temperature should be maintained at 0°F and below. Food should never be thawed at room temperature, this increases the risk of bacteria and virus growth and the risk of food poisoning. Once thawed, food should be used and never refrozen. Frozen food should be thawed using the following methods:

-Microwave oven

-During cooking

-In cold water (place food in watertight, plastic bag; change water every 30 minutes)

-In the refrigerator

Throw out foods that have been warmer than 40 °F for more than 2 hours. If there is any doubt at all about the length of time the food has been defrosted at room temperature, it should be thrown out. Freezing does not destroy microbes present in food. Freezing at 0 °F does inactivate microbes (bacteria, yeasts and molds). However, once food has been thawed, these microbes can again become active. Microbes in thawed food can multiply to levels that can lead to foodborne illness. Thawed food should be handled according to the same guidelines as perishable fresh food.

Food frozen at 0°F and below is preserved indefinitely. However, the quality of the food will deteriorate if it is frozen over a lengthy period. The United States Department of Agriculture, Food Safety and Inspection Service publishes a chart showing the suggested freezer storage time for common foods.

Freezers and thawing food

RefrigerationIt is important to note that safe food storage using refrigeration

requires adhering to temperature guidelines:For safety, it is important to verify the temperature of the

refrigerator. Refrigerators should be set to maintain a temperature of 40 °F or below. Some refrigerators have built-in thermometers to measure their internal temperature. For those

refrigerators without this feature, keep an appliance thermometer in the refrigerator to monitor the temperature.

This can be critical in the event of a power outage. When the power goes back on, if the refrigerator is still 40 °F, the food is safe. Foods held at temperatures above 40 °F for more than 2 hours should not be consumed. Appliance thermometers are

specifically designed to provide accuracy at cold temperatures. Be sure refrigerator/freezer doors are closed tightly at all times.

Don’t open refrigerator/freezer doors more often than necessary and close them as soon as possible.

Storing oils and fats

Oils and fats can begin to go rancid quickly when not stored safely. Rancid cooking oils and fats do not often smell rancid until well after they have spoiled. Oxygen, light and heat all

contribute to cooking oils becoming rancid. The higher the level of polyunsaturated fat that an oil contains, the faster it spoils.

The percentage of polyunsaturated fat in some common cooking oils is: safflower (74%); sunflower (66%); corn (60%);

soybean (37%); peanut (32%); canola (29%); olive (8%).

To help prevent oils from going rancid, they should be refrigerated once opened. Opened, refrigerated cooking oils

should be used within a few weeks, when some types begin to go rancid. Unopened oils can have a storage life of up to one

year, but some types have a shorter shelf-life even when unopened (such as sesame and flaxseed).

Food rotation

Food rotation is important to preserve freshness. When food is rotated, the food that has been in storage the

longest is used first. As food is used, new food is added to the  to replace it; the essential rationale is to

use the oldest food as soon as possible so that nothing is in storage too long and becomes unsafe to eat. Labelling food with paper labels on the storage

container, marking the date that the container is placed in storage, can make this practise simpler. The

best way to rotate food storage is to prepare  with stored food on a daily basis.