Ingredients – Goods in
The first challenge faced by a catering operation is to ensure that ingredients are delivered to their premises in good condition. This can require
- visual checks of product to ensure that packaging/containers are in good condition and show no sign of deterioration which would increase the risk that the product would be unsafe/unsuitable to use
- visual checks of product labeling to ensure that the product is within use by dates , contains correct ingredients etc
- visual checks on fresh vegetables, herbs and fruit for freshness and physical contaminants
- visual checks of delivery vehicle and driver to ensure correct conditions of vehicle in terms of hygiene and temperature if applicable
- temperature checks of chilled and frozen product e.g. minced beef temperature must be delivered at <5ºC
- When the delivery is accepted the ingredients must be moved to correct storage locations quickly to avoid temperature excursions. This is particularly important for chilled and frozen product which must be moved immediately to the Cold Room/Fridge/Freezer
Food Storage
Food Safety/HACCP guidelines specify required temperature ranges for the storage of
- Cooked
- Chilled
- Frozen Product.
These guidelines must be adhered to and temperature records must be kept to show that correct temperatures have been maintained.
Monitoring the temperature of chilled and frozen storage areas can be done by:
- Monitoring air temperature
- Monitoring product temperature
Air temperature is monitored using either a thermometer with an air probe, a data logger or a fully automatic temperature monitoring system.
Product Temperature is monitored using a Digital Thermometer with Between Pack Probe , data logger with a probe of sufficient length to reach the core (centre) of the product, non-contact surface temperatures using an infrared thermometer may be used as a quick check prior to use of probe measurement
Hot food temperature is monitored using a Digital Thermometer with a Penetration Probe , data logger with a probe of sufficient length to reach the core (centre) of the product
Serve over air temperature is monitored using either a thermometer with an air probe , a data logger or a fully automatic temperature monitoring system.
Goods In Checks must be performed on
Cooked food ,Raw Mince etc. using a Digital Thermometer or a Printing Thermometer with a Penetration Probe or a data logger with a probe of sufficient length to reach the core (centre) of the product
Chilled and frozen product is monitored using a Digital Thermometer with Between Pack Probe , non-contact surface temperatures using an infrared thermometer may be used as a quick check prior to use of probe measurement