SERVSAFE

1. SERVSAFE Chapter 8 Protecting Food in Serving

2. GOALS To Focus on: Holding Foods for Service Serving Foods Safely Off-Site Service Eight Rules of Safe Food Handling

3. OBJECTIVES After completing this chapter, you should be able to: Identify proper hot-holding and cold-holding temperatures. Prevent cross-contamination when serving foods. Safety set up buffets and food bars and replenish them. Identify foods that can be re-served. Explain the proper procedures for serving food off-site. List and apply the eight rules of safe food handling.

4. KEY TERMS Hot-holding equipment Personal hygiene Food bar Sneeze guard (food shield) Off-site service Single-use items Mobile unit Temporary unit Vending machine

5. Holding Foods For Service Hot Foods: Never use hot-holding equipment to reheat foods. Reheat foods first to 165 degrees F. Use only hot-holding equipment that can keep foods at 140 degrees F or higher. Stir foods at regular intervals. Keep food covered.

6. Measure internal food temperature at least every two hours. Discard hot foods after four hours if they have not been held at or above 140 degrees F. Never mix freshly prepared food with foods being held for service. Prepare food in small batches so it will be used faster.

7. Cold Foods: Use only cold-holding equipment that can keep foods at 41 degrees F. or lower. Most foods should not be stored directly on ice. Measure internal food temperatures at least every two hours. Protect food from contaminants with covers or food shields.

8. Serving Foods Safely Train Kitchen Staff to follow these procedures to serve food safely: Store utensils properly. Serving utensils should have long handles. Never touch cooked or ready-to-eat foods with bare hands. Practice good personal hygiene.

9. Train Food Servers in these safe serving procedures: Handle glassware and dishes properly. Never stack glassware or dishes when serving. Hold flatware and utensils by the handles. Never touch food with bare hands.

10. Serve milk from refrigerated bulk dispensers or in single-serve cartons. Use plastic or metal scoops or tongs to get ice. Practice good personal hygiene. Cloths used for cleaning food spills shouldn’t be used for anything else.

11. Schedule staff so that they are not assigned to do more than one job during a shift. Rules for Re-Serving Food: Only unopened, prepackaged foods. Never plate garnishes. Never uncovered condiments. Never combine leftovers with fresh food.

12. Self-Service Areas Buffets and food bars give patrons the chance to choose what they want to eat. Assign a trained staff member to monitor food bars. Rules for food bars: Protect food on display with sneeze guards or food shields. Sneeze guards must be between fourteen and forty-eight inches above the food, in a direct line between the food and the mouth or nose of an average customer. Identify all food items.

13. Maintain proper food temperatures. Replenish foods on a timely basis. Keep raw foods separate from cooked and ready-to-eat foods. Do not let customers use soiled plates or silverware for refills.

14. Off-Site Service Off-site services includes delivery, mobile and temporary kitchens, and vending. Delivery of food off-site: Equipment used to transport food must be designed to maintain safe food temperatures and must be easy to keep clean.

15. Safe procedures to follow when transporting food from a central kitchen. Use rigid, insulated food containers capable of maintaining food temperatures above 140 degrees F or below 41 degrees F. Clean and sanitize the inside of delivery vehicles regularly. Make sure employees practice good personal hygiene when distributing food.

16. Check internal food temperatures regularly. Label foods with storage, shelf life, and re-heating instructions for employees at off-site locations. Provide food-safety guidelines for consumers.

17. Catering Catering provides food for private parties and events, and public and corporate functions. Caterers may have to change their procedures and improvise. Deliver raw meats frozen and wrapped, on ice. Serve cold foods in containers on ice. Keep raw and ready-to-eat products separate.

18. Use only single-use items. Provide instructions for proper storage, shelf life, and re-heating if food is left with the customer after the event.

19. Mobile Units These portable facilities range from concession vans to elaborate field kitchens. Mobile units that serve frozen novelties, candy, packaged snacks, and soft drinks have to meet basic sanitation requirements.

20. Temporary Units Typically operate in one location for less than fourteen days. Temporary units usually serve prepackaged food or food that requires limited preparation, such as hot dogs. If food is prepared on-site, the unit must have adequate cold storage, cooking, and hot-holding equipment.

21. Vending Machines Replace foods with expired code dates and throw out foods if they aren’t used within seven days of preparation. They must also have automatic cutoff controls that prevent foods from being dispensed if the temperature stays in the danger zone for a certain amount of time.

22. Eight Rules of Safe Food Handling Practice strict personal hygiene. Monitor time and temperature and prevent cross-contamination. Separate raw foods from ready-to-eat-foods. Avoid cross-contamination by cleaning and sanitizing food contact surfaces.

23. Cook foods to their required minimum internal cooking temperature or higher. Hold hot foods at 140 degrees F or above and Cold foods at 41 degrees F or below. Chill cooked food to 41 degrees F within four hours. Reheat foods for service to an internal temperature of 165 degrees F for fifteen seconds within two hours.