To ensure and to protect food products from potential contamination and
damage, and to prevent the growth of pathogens, food transportation and storage
should be considered as per the standards requirements
FOOD TRANSPORTATION AND STORAGE
a. Food transportation, storage and
distribution units should be designed, constructed, maintained and used in a
manner that permit effective segregation of different foods and protects food
products from being contaminated.
b. Where both food and non-food products
are transported, stored
and distributed together, procedures should be in place
to ensure
that food products are not exposed to potential contamination from
non-food products.
c. Food transportation equipment that is
intended to be in direct contact with food products shall be constructed with
non-toxic materials, which are easy to maintain and clean.
Examples include stainless steel and food-grade plastic
containers.
d. When necessary, cleaning and
disinfection should be done between loading food stuff.
e. Food must be transported in vehicles
approved by the Food Control Department.
f.
Food
transportation and storage units/equipment must be of suitable capacity and
should be maintained at temperatures that are consistent with requirements of
this Code.
g. Equipment units must have accurate
and reliable monitoring devices. All such devices should be calibrated at a
pre-determined interval.
h. In transportation, storage and
distribution units, foods should be stored off the floor and away from walls.
TEMPERATURE CONTROL DURING STORAGE
AND TRANSPORTATION:
a. All high risk and perishable foods
requiring temperature controlled environments to extend their shelf life or
limit microbial growth shall be transported, stored or distributed in equipment
that consistently maintains those temperature controls.
·
At
or below 5ºC if cold or at or above 60ºC if hot
·
Frozen
at -18ºC if they are intended to be stored frozen
b. Areas used for the storage of dry food
commodities need to be cool, well ventilated with a relative humidity of
60-65%, to ensure that product quality and safety is not compromised.
Temperature of storage should meet the requirements of the manufacturer when
specified on the product label
HANDLING AND TRANSFER OF FOODS
a. Food establishment should take
necessary steps to inspect foods at the time of receiving to detect and avoid
foods that are unacceptable
b. Receipt of high risk foods should be
monitored to ensure that proper temperatures are maintained during their
transportation, storage and distribution. Products and records should be
checked at the time of receiving and nonconforming products should not be
accepted
c. Food should not be handled or
transferred in any way that may cause damage, contamination or adulteration of
the food. Food handlers responsible for loading foods into vehicles
d. While transferring chilled foods,
foods should be quickly moved into temperature controlled storage, to minimize
the time in which they are in the danger zone, between 5ºC and 60ºC. A
deviation of not more than 5ºC is allowed for not more than 20 minutes during
the transfer of chilled foods.
e.
While receiving
and transferring raw frozen foods, the temperature of the food shall not exceed
-10ºC
f.
Contaminated or
adulterated foods and foods that have been subject to temperature abuse shall be
discarded or disposed off.
g. Damaged food container systems must
be thoroughly examined and if the food is contaminated or adulterated, it shall
be discarded or effectively segregated until returned to the supplier or
otherwise disposed of.
STORAGE PROCEDURES
a.
Rotation
of food stocks in storage areas should occur frequently to ensure that the
“first-in-first-out” rule is followed. Food products removed from storage
should always be the oldest food stocks present
b.
Food
should be stored in suitable and safe containers and stored covered. If packaged,
suitability of packaging should be ensured.
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