A cook at a taquería assembles cold chicken tacos, placing shredded chicken, cilantro, and onion directly onto tortillas that will be served without further cooking. How should the cook handle this ready-to-eat food?
Explanation
Food handlers may not touch ready-to-eat food with their bare hands; they must use suitable utensils such as single-use gloves, tongs, spatulas, or deli tissue. The rule turns on the food being ready to eat: it applies to these tacos precisely because they will not be cooked again, so it is backwards to say it covers only food that will be cooked. A full 20-second scrub, rinse, and dry does not buy back bare-hand contact either, because even clean, recently washed hands can transfer pathogens like Norovirus and Staphylococcus aureus. Rinsing hands in chlorine sanitizer is not a substitute for the barrier, and the rule applies whether the food is hot or cold.
Law Reference: FDA Food Code §3-301.11Practice all 500 questions free — no signup required.
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