A manager sets the policy for checking hot-held food temperatures. If temperatures are checked only every 4 hours, what must happen when a pan of chicken is found below 135°F?
a.Throw the chicken out, because there is no way to know how long it has been below 135°F
b.Reheat the chicken to 165°F in the steam table well itself and return the pan to the service line
c.Move the chicken to the walk-in, since chilling it back below 41°F stops any more growth of bacteria
d.Stir the chicken, turn the well dial up by two marks, and check the temperature again in 15 minutes
Explanation
With checks every 4 hours, food found out of temperature could have been in the danger zone for up to 4 hours, so it must be discarded. Reheating to 165°F is not permitted here, and hot-holding equipment such as a steam table may never be used to reheat food; re-chilling to 41°F does not undo growth that already happened. Only a shorter checking interval, such as every 2 hours, leaves time for corrective action like reheating.
Law Reference: FDA Food Code §3-501.16Practice all 500 questions free — no signup required.
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