A cook checks a stockpot of marinara sauce 2 hours into cooling and finds it is still at 90°F. What is the correct response?
a.Nothing is wrong; the second cooling stage permits 4 additional hours to reach 41°F, so continued refrigeration in the covered stockpot suffices
b.Stir the sauce vigorously, return it to refrigeration, and reassess the temperature 30 minutes later before intervening
c.Move the pot into the freezer and keep counting the original 6-hour window, since freezer air pulls heat from a deep stockpot faster than the walk-in
d.Take corrective action immediately, such as reheating the sauce to 165°F and restarting the cooling process with a better method, or discarding it
Explanation
The sauce failed the first cooling stage because it did not reach 70°F within 2 hours. Once that stage is missed the remaining 4 hours are no longer available, a 30-minute recheck is not an approved delay, and moving the pot to the freezer does not restart or extend the clock. The manager-approved corrective actions are to reheat the food to 165°F and re-cool it using a more effective method, or to throw it out.
Law Reference: FDA Food Code §3-501.14Practice all 500 questions free — no signup required.
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