At 1:00 p.m. a cook pans hot fried rice into shallow pans and puts it in the walk-in. At 3:00 p.m. it reads 68°F, and at 6:30 p.m. it reads 40°F. Did this cooling meet the Food Code requirements?
a.No; the rice had to reach 41°F within a total of 4 hours after leaving the range
b.No; a walk-in cooler may not be used to cool hot food, just to store cold food
c.Yes, because cooked rice is a low-moisture starch that is exempt from the cooling limits
d.Yes; it reached 70°F or below within 2 hours and 41°F or below within the 6-hour total limit
Explanation
The rice dropped from 135°F to 68°F in 2 hours, satisfying the first stage, and reached 40°F at 5.5 hours total, inside the 6-hour overall limit. The overall window is 6 hours, not 4, and shallow panning in a walk-in is an approved combination of methods rather than a prohibited one. Cooked rice is a TCS food, so these limits absolutely apply.
Law Reference: FDA Food Code §3-501.14Practice all 500 questions free — no signup required.
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