food safety receiving
Dry, Refrigerated, and Frozen Storage
Keep food cold enough, protected from contamination, separated by risk and used or discarded in time.
12 steps6 criticalLimit 10 minAlways tested
Steps
- 1Keep cold time/temperature control for safety (TCS) food at 41 F (5 C) or below
- 2Keep a thermometer in each refrigerator and freezer and check it regularly
- 3Critical stepKeep the freezer at 0 F (-18 C), per FDA consumer guidance (the Food Code text has no freezer number)
- 4Critical stepStore food in a clean, dry location where it is not exposed to splash, dust or other contamination
- 5Store food at least 6 inches (15 cm) above the floor
- 6Critical stepCover or wrap food in storage
- 7Separate raw animal foods from ready-to-eat food and from unwashed produce; in the refrigerator, store ready-to-eat food above raw animal food
- 8Critical stepSeparate different raw animal foods from each other; when shelving them, put the food with the higher final cooking temperature lower, so raw poultry goes below raw fish and pork and on the bottom shelf in state charts
- 9Date mark ready-to-eat TCS food made in-house and held more than 24 hours: use, sell or discard by day 7 when held at 41 F or below, counting the preparation day as day 1
- 10Critical stepDate mark opened commercial ready-to-eat TCS food held more than 24 hours, counting the day the container was opened as day 1 and using the same time and temperature limits; the date may not exceed a safety-based manufacturer use-by date
- 11Discard date-marked food that is past its date, has no date, or is marked with a date that is too long
- 12Clean the refrigerator regularly and wipe spills right away
What graders are watching for
Tips
- Raw animal food goes below ready-to-eat food so drips cannot land on food that will not be cooked.
- Day 1 is the day of preparation (or the day a commercial container is opened), so a food prepared Monday and held at 41 F or below must be used, sold or discarded by the following Sunday.
- Food can be unsafe without looking or smelling bad; do not rely on your nose for date-marked food.
Common mistakes
- Counting 7 days from the day after preparation.
- Leaving prepared food undated.
- Raw chicken above or beside salad or other ready-to-eat food.
- Boxes on the floor.
Practice this skill
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Sources and how we check them: How we verify.