Home / National Food Safety Month Week 4: Follow safe food procedures
Most foodborne illness happens because TCS food has been time-temperature abused.
When TCS food — food that must be time- and temperature-controlled for safety — remains in temperatures between 41°F and 135°F, it’s at risk for causing foodborne illness. This range is called the danger zone because pathogens thrive in those temperatures.
The longer food stays in the temperature danger zone, the more time pathogens have to grow. To keep food safe, you must keep it out of the temperature danger zone or limit the time it spends in this range.
Here are six tips to help make that happen:
If food isn’t safe when you receive it, there’s nothing you can do to make it safe afterward.
Train employees to check temperatures when food is delivered to ensure it’s within safe ranges. Look for signs of thawing/refreezing, and empower employees to decline supplies that are out of the right temperature range or seem questionable.
If food is not stored at the correct temperature, any pathogens in the food can grow to unsafe levels and cause foodborne illness.
To reduce pathogens in food to safe levels you need to cook it to its required minimum internal temperature. Once the temperature is reached, you must hold the food at that temperature for a specific amount of time.
Different foods need to be cooked to different temperatures:
165°F for <1 second (Instantaneous):
155°F for 17 seconds:
145°F for 15 seconds:
135°F (no minimum time):
Keep hot food hot and cold food cold to prevent bacteria from growing to unsafe levels.
Pathogens grow well at temperatures between 41°F and 135°F, but they will grow much faster between 125°F and 70°F. Food needs to pass through this temperature range quickly to reduce pathogen growth.
Never cool food at room temperature; instead, cool food from 135°F to 41°F or lower within six hours, as follows:
If food is not handled carefully during holding or cooling, any pathogens in the food can multiply to dangerous levels. Reheating food properly can reduce these pathogens to safe levels:
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