During a busy dinner service, a server drops a pair of tongs on the floor while plating. What is the correct action under California Retail Food Code?
Explanation
California Retail Food Code HSC §113976 and §114099.3 treat the floor as a contaminated surface. Any utensil or equipment that contacts the floor must be removed from service and put through full warewashing: pre-scrape, wash in detergent water at 110°F or hotter, rinse, and sanitize (50-100 ppm chlorine for 7 seconds, 200 ppm quat for 30 seconds, or 12.5-25 ppm iodine for 30 seconds, per §114099.6), then air-dry. The two-step shortcut of wiping (option B) or rinsing (option C) does not reach sanitization and leaves pathogens including E. coli, Salmonella, and Listeria on the food-contact surface. Option D omits the wash step — sanitizers do not work effectively on soiled surfaces because organic matter neutralizes the chemical, so a sanitize-only treatment after floor contact is non-compliant. The compliant practice is to maintain a backup set of utensils at every station so that swapping the dropped utensil out is operationally trivial.
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