Nutrition & Foodservice Edge Magazine - November/December 2023 - 34

ROUTINE FOOD SAFETY AUDITS
what time the item was prepared, and he didn't know. Kate
moved along and continued to take and record the hot
holding temperatures. When finished, she requested that
the cook reheat the dishes that were not to temperature.
She asked the cook if he knew the required temperature for
reheating; luckily, he knew the magic number (165˚F).
Continuing her journey, she walked over to the two-door
prep unit to get some cold-holding temperatures and slipped
on a puddle of water on the floor!
At the unit, she recorded the following temperatures: sliced
tomatoes 45˚F, cut peppers 46˚F, bean sprouts 41˚F, raw
chicken 39˚F, raw beef 40˚F, and
raw scallops 40˚F. In the bottom of
the prep unit, she found coleslaw
held at 48˚F. Kate asked one of the
prep cooks when they had sliced
the tomatoes and was informed
that they were just prepped. The
cook didn't know when the coleslaw
was made, but he thinks that it is
prepared in the evenings for the
next day. Kate noticed that nothing
held in the bottom of the cooler had
a date mark.
Next, Kate went to the walk-in cooler
and saw that the door wasn't closing
correctly. Inside, the condenser was
dripping a steady stream of water
onto the citrus fruits which were in
crates on the floor. She found a bucket of raw shrimp stored
in cold water, previously fried chicken stored at 40˚F, and an
uncovered container of cabbage soup with a time stamp on
it of 11 am that day. The soup's temperature was 72˚F. Kate
noted the time was 1:58 pm, so she asked one of the food
employees if they could put it in the freezer for a while to
speed up the cooling process.
the garbage can anymore. Asking where it went, she was
told it was soaking in buttermilk in a bus pan. She quickly
measured the internal temperature of the chicken; it was
75˚F. She asked how the chicken is made and was told
that it is held in the buttermilk on the counter, dipped in
breadcrumbs, and cooked to order in the deep fryer.
She went back to the dry storage area and noted several
boxes of dry food and #10 cans of pineapple on the floor.
One of the boxes was opened and some of the cans were
dented. She also noticed a bulk container of rice with a
plastic to-go cup in it. On another shelf, all the single service
items were taken out of their packaging and stored neatly in
a row.
KATE WENT TO THE
WALK-IN COOLER
and saw that the door was
not closing correctly. Inside,
the condenser was dripping a
steady stream of water onto
the citrus fruits which were in
crates on the floor.
The storage room appeared to have
white powder on the floor around
the water heater with an openbaited
mouse trap on top of it. Over
in the corner, she found commercial
bug spray, detergents, and plastic
bags stored with an immersion
blender and an old meat slicer.
Kate noticed two large floor freezers
with rusty lids, so she looked inside.
The cavity of the freezers had ice
build-up, and some of the bags
of frozen hamburgers in the first
freezer were opened and sheet pans
of semi-frozen raw chicken were
lying uncovered on top of the food
in the second freezer.
Next, Kate went outside and ran into an employee taking
out the garbage while wearing his apron. She did a scan of
the area and noticed five open buckets of grease waiting
to be dumped in the grease trap, a small garden out back
with herbs and vegetables growing, and there were two cats
roaming around.
On the shelves, which were lined with clean cardboard, a few
of the food storage pans were nesting on top of each other.
Taking a closer look, she saw that the top and bottom pan
were chopped vegetables. In the middle, Kate noticed a ziplock
bag of raw pork. She also noted that most of the food in
the cooler had date marks, but some of the dates were from
at least two weeks ago.
Kate left the cooler and walked over to the dry storage
area. On her way, she noticed that the chicken wasn't on
Kate asked the employee how long the buckets of grease had
been out there and was told " about two days. " They went
back inside; Kate washed her hands again and noted that the
employee did not follow her lead. She gently reminded the
employee to wash his hands too.
Next up was the dish-pit. The three-compartment sink was
still piled with dirty dishes and the pile was growing onto the
drain boards. Kate ran the dishwasher to check the sanitizer
levels with some chlorine test strips; the strips didn't change
34 NUTRITION & F OOD SER VICE EDGE | NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2023
Nutrition & Foodservice Edge Magazine - November/December 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Nutrition & Foodservice Edge Magazine - November/December 2023
