How to safely reheat foods in your hospitality business.

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

TLDR:

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  In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, food hygiene laws state that reheated foods must be reheated to temperatures to a minimum of 75°C. Reheating temperatures in Scotland differ under Scottish food hygiene laws reheated foods must reach a minimum temperature of 82°C. You should check the laws specific to your region. 

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  Foods must be reheated to the correct temperatures to ensure that bacteria do not survive and that they have been reduced to a safe level for humans to eat. You should check the internal temperature of all reheated foods before before serving.

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  You should record information about a selection of reheating foods every day using the pre-built Reheated Food Temperature Task Template. Create five of these Reheated Food Tasks per day so you can record up to five examples of reheated foods. If you don't end up reheating five things on a given day, you should select 'Nothing Reheated' in the Task. The Task will record all of the required information including the food item, the food temperature, the date/time and the person who recorded the reheated food.

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  If anything goes wrong, highlight the issue using the using 'Issue' button and follow the corrective actions below. Record everything that you do as a post inside the reheated food temperature task so you are create a full digital paper-trail of compliance.

Reheating food Frequency

Food must never be reheated more than once and it must never be cooled a second time, this is to ensure that the food does not pass through the danger zone of 5-63°c too many times as the risk of food poisoning will increase significantly.

Bacteria can produce toxins and spores; subsequent germination of spores can create greater risks as food is heated and cooled.

Reheating food equipment

Never use hot holding equipment to reheat foods up, only equipment adequate for reheating must be used.

Bacteria can multiply in foods if they are heated up too slowly, some will potentially form toxins whilst others can form spores which can subsequently germinate creating more hazards.

Reheating equipment must be pre-heated prior to reheating so that a high temperature can be achieved quickly, making multiplication of bacteria and spore formation less likely.

Serving time of reheated food

Reheated foods must be served immediately, unless it is being transferred into pre-heated hot holding equipment.

Corrective actions if things go wrong

• •Food that has not reached a safe reheating temperature must be cooked further until a minimum temperature of 75°c is achieved at the core of the food.
• •Use alternative equipment or divide food into smaller portions to speed up reheating.
• •Repair or replace faulty or broken equipment and ensure alternative equipment is used.
• •Call an engineer if equipment is faulty or has broken down.
• •Foods that may have been cross contaminated should be discarded if they cannot be safely reheated.
• •Retrain staff and increase supervision if reheating procedures are contravened.