A cook has one shelf left in a crowded cooler and must store raw chicken and a pan of ready-to-eat cooked rice. What is the correct arrangement?
a.Store the rice below the chicken, since the rice was cooked once and will be reheated to 165°F anyway
b.Store the raw chicken above the rice so the cold air falling off the evaporator reaches the chicken first
c.Set the pans side by side on one shelf, because the chicken is still sealed in its original bag
d.Store the cooked rice above the raw chicken so chicken juices cannot drip onto the ready-to-eat rice
Explanation
Ready-to-eat cooked rice must be stored above raw chicken so that chicken juices, which can carry Salmonella, cannot drip down onto food that will not be cooked again. Putting the rice underneath is exactly the wrong order: a later reheat is not guaranteed, and the rice is ready to eat as it sits. Chilling the chicken faster is not a reason to invert the order — the shelf order exists to control drips, not airflow. And side by side risks splash and drips from a bag that leaks at the seam, which raw chicken bags routinely do.
Law Reference: FDA Food Code §3-302.11Practice all 500 questions free — no signup required.
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