How to manage ready to eat foods safely in your business.

This article has been written by Pilla Founder, Liam Jones, click to email Liam directly, he reads every email.

Ready to eat foods can be high risk and must be handled and stored appropriately to ensure contamination does not occur. These foods will not undergo any further processing to remove the hazard, so the prevention of hazards is essential.

Staff who handle high risk foods must undergo extra training to understand the hazards and risks so staff must follow the safety points in order to achieve a consistent level of safety.

Food handlers

Ready to eat foods will not undergo any further processing therefore they are extremely vulnerable to hazards such as contamination and multiplication of bacteria. The handling of these foods safely is critical to the safety of the product, therefore extreme care must be taken and extra supervision and training given to ensure compliance with safety procedures.

Temperature

The delivery temperature of ready to eat foods must be taken using a sanitized probe between packs of food or from a printout from the refrigerated vehicle. Do not pierce packaging to take a probe temperature under any circumstances. Temperatures must be recorded in the daily kitchen records.

Ideally chilled ready to eat foods must reach you at temperatures below 5°c but can be accepted up to the critical limit of 8°c, although this is not ideal if it occurs on a regular basis. If this occurs regularly review the supplier.

Frozen ready to eat food must reach you at -18°c or colder, although a critical limit of -15°c can be accepted, although this is not ideal if it occurs on a regular basis. If this occurs regularly review the supplier.

Packaging integrity

The integrity of packaging must be thoroughly checked prior to acceptance of items.

Damaged packaging during storage or transit can potentially allow contamination and multiplication hazards to occur. Physical, chemical, allergenic and microbiological hazards from contamination can take hold when the integrity of the packaging is compromised.

Staff must also check deliveries for potential pest activity and pest ingress.

Damaged, split or compromised packaged foods must be rejected and the supplier contacted.

Use by dates

Delivery checks must be made to all foods in regard to use by dates, foods should not be accepted if the use by date is very close or has been exceeded, as these foods will be unusable.

Food labels must be in place, intact and readable on all ready to eat foods accepted at delivery. Missing or damaged labels will not be able to give you necessary information required for the safe use and handling of these foods, including use by dates and allergen information regarding ingredients.

Storage

Ready to eat foods must be stored separately from raw foods including meats, poultry, fish, shell eggs, fruit and vegetables.

Ideally, they should be stored in separate fridges/freezers. When this is not possible because of space limitations then they should always be stored above raw foods.

Preparation

Prior to the preparation of ready to eat foods staff must ensure that surfaces to be worked on have been cleaned and disinfected immediately prior to use, even if they have been previously cleaned and disinfected the day before or earlier in the day.

Surfaces can become contaminated from the general environment and the air around us very quickly, therefore prior cleaning is always required.

Staff must ensure that all equipment and utensils to be used in the preparation of ready to eat foods must be clean and disinfected and needs to have been stored in a place that would protect the equipment from contamination, if in doubt, clean and disinfect any items that will be used before they come into contact with food.

Manufacturer’s instructions

Always follow the manufacturers guidance and instructions on safe storage and preparation of the product, this is because the manufacturers will have had the product and packaging tested. Preservation methods and shelf life will have been determined and based on solid scientific principles.

Fruit washing

Fruits (prior to peeling and portioning) should be rubbed vigorously in clean potable water, starting with the least soiled items first, then rinsing in cold running water.

Fresh fruit which is to be consumed whole including the skin e.g. Apples must be washed prior to display.

Ideally a separate sink should be used for washing ready to eat fruits, if this is not possible due to space constraints then another sink can be used which has undergone robust cleaning and disinfection first.

Once washed ensure the fruit is treated as ready to eat and if placed back into the chiller or ambient storage then it is kept separated from unwashed items.

Pre-packaged fruits should be washed as per the manufacturer’s instructions.

Salad washing

All salads must be washed in clean potable water, starting with the least soiled items first, then rinsing in cold running water.

Ideally a separate sink should be used for washing ready to eat salad, if this is not possible due to space constraints then another sink can be used which has undergone robust cleaning and disinfection first.

Once washed ensure the salad is treated as ready to eat and if placed back into the chiller or ambient storage then it is kept separated from unwashed items.

Pre-packaged salad should be washed as per the manufacturer’s instructions.

If pre-packaged salad is labelled as washed and ready to eat it is still advised to wash it anyway to ensure that there is no potential contamination from foreign bodies e.g. From the packaging.

Ready to eat vegetables

All raw vegetables which are prepared as ready to eat must be washed in clean potable water prior to peeling or cutting, starting with the least soiled items first, then rinsing in cold running water.

Ready to eat vegetables must be suitably trimmed, peeled and rinsed prior to serving at all times.

Ideally a separate sink should be used for washing vegetables, if this is not possible due to space constraints then another sink can be used which has undergone robust cleaning and disinfection first.

Ensure that no soil or dirt from vegetables, particularly from root vegetables and leafy vegetables, remains on surfaces, equipment and utensils.

Once washed ensure the vegetables is treated as ready to eat and if placed back into the chiller or ambient storage then it is kept separated from unwashed items.

Pre-packaged vegetables should be washed as per the manufacturer’s instructions.

If pre-packaged vegetables are labelled as washed and ready to eat it is still advised to wash it anyway to ensure that there is no potential contamination from foreign bodies e.g. From the packaging.

Staff should be trained suitably to understand that vegetables can carry and contain bacteria from soil, chemicals, pesticides and fertilisers, also insects, all of which can contaminate surfaces and other foods.

Prepared on premises

Foods that are cooked on the premises but cooled down for cold service are considered ready to eat foods and must be handled with all the same considerations given to bought in products which are also ready to eat.

These may include desserts and cooked sandwich meats you prepare yourselves rather than bought in.

Foods cooked and subsequently cooled down on the premises must have a use by date of three days inclusive of the day of cooking and cooling e.g. Cooked and cooled Monday, use by end of day on Wednesday.

Examples of ready to eat foods

• •All cooked meats that will not undergo any further processing.
• •Cheeses
• •Sandwich fillings, such as egg mayonnaise.
• •Most fish including smoked mackerel, smoked salmon and cooked tuna.
• • Pates
• •Desserts
• •Cream cakes
• •Buffet foods such as pork pies, vol au vents, scotch eggs and sausage rolls.
• •Quiche
• •Any other foods that are cooked on site, cooled and served cold.

Corrective actions if things go wrong

• •Re-organise storage space or arrange for extra or alternative storage facilities.
• •Reject foods that are not of good quality or if you suspect that safety has been compromised.
• •Change your methods or set up of the kitchen to ensure that separate areas are used.
• •Use alternative methods of preparation if cross contamination is an issue.
• •Foods that have been cross contaminated can be cooked or reheated immediately after potential contamination, otherwise they must be discarded.
• •If a supplier is not handling ready to eat foods safely, change suppliers.
• •Retrain staff and increase supervision until competency can be shown.