Food safety starts the moment a delivery arrives. Checking deliveries and storing food correctly keeps it safe before anyone even begins cooking. Get this wrong and the rest of your good work can be undone.
Checking deliveries
Inspect deliveries promptly and do not accept food that is not safe. Check temperatures, packaging, dates and signs of pests or damage before signing for the order.
- Cold potentially hazardous food should arrive at 5°C or below; frozen food should be frozen hard
- Reject packaging that is torn, leaking, swollen, rusted or water-damaged
- Reject food that is past its use-by date or shows signs of pests
- Move accepted chilled and frozen food into storage straight away
Cold and frozen storage
Keep fridges at or below 5°C and freezers at or below -18°C, and check temperatures regularly. Do not overload a fridge — cold air needs to circulate. Keep all food covered, and store it off the floor.
Apply the cross-contamination storage order: ready-to-eat foods up high, raw poultry and mince on the bottom shelf.
Dry storage and stock rotation
Store dry goods in a cool, dry, well-ventilated area in sealed, food-grade containers, clearly labelled. Keep everything off the floor and away from chemicals.
Use FIFO — First In, First Out — so older stock is used before newer stock. Place new deliveries behind existing stock and check dates as you go.
Use-by versus best-before dates
These two dates mean different things. A use-by date is about safety; a best-before date is about quality.
- Use-by — never use or sell food after this date; it may be unsafe
- Best-before — the food may still be safe afterwards but quality may have dropped (it is illegal to sell some items past this date, so follow workplace rules)
Practical examples
- A delivery of chicken reading 9°C is rejected because it is above 5°C.
- New cartons of milk go behind the older ones so the older stock sells first (FIFO).
- Tinned tomatoes that are swollen or dented are not accepted or used.
Key points to remember
- Check temperatures, dates and packaging before accepting deliveries.
- Fridges ≤ 5°C, freezers ≤ -18°C; keep food covered and off the floor.
- Use FIFO so older stock is used first.
- Never use food past its use-by date.