A salad bar pan of cut melon reads 45°F. The manager sees the pan is stacked well above the fill line of the cold well. What is the most likely cause and fix?
a.The melon was cut into pieces that are too small to hold their chill, so switching to larger chunks would let the cold well keep the whole pan below 41°F
b.Cut melon is not a TCS food because the rind protected the flesh before cutting, so the 45°F reading calls for nothing beyond a note on the daily log
c.The pan is overfilled above the chill line, so the top layer is not being kept cold; portion less product into the pan and check whether the exposed melon must be discarded
d.The cold well thermostat is set too cold, freezing the bottom layer and forcing the compressor to cycle off for long stretches; raise the setpoint to 45°F and restack the pan
Explanation
Cold wells only chill product below the fill line; overfilled pans leave the top layers at room temperature. Piece size does not change that, and the well is not too cold — it simply cannot reach product stacked above the line. Cut melon is a TCS food, so the manager must fix the fill level and evaluate the out-of-temperature product based on how long it was above 41°F.
Law Reference: FDA Food Code §3-501.16Practice all 500 questions free — no signup required.
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