The Product Has Been Removed from Proper Temperature Control
101 / Cold Time Temperature Control for Safety Foods (TCS) maintained at 41°F or below in walk-in coolers and all cold holding devices including reach‐in refrigerated units, and cold‐top storage devices. / Temperatures of products held in walk-in coolers and all reach‐in refrigerated cases and cold‐holding serving units must be 41°F or lower; unless time as a public health control is being utilized and procedures and logs are in place. Investigate and determine the root cause. Do not rely on built‐in thermometers for accurate temperatures, but rather take internal product temperatures and ambient air temperatures to verify using thermocouple or probe thermometer. Common shared refrigeration units will be assessed under admin. Comments in the report must record specific temperature issues by product, identify the walk-in cooler, display case, demo/sampling or cooler and any team member comments for the products under their responsibility.
The defrost cycles of display cases must be properly set (max temp and time) to prevent the internal temperature of the products from rising above 41°F
Refrigerated food bars do not need to maintain products at less than 41°F if the only products being displayed are non-Time Temperature Control for Safety Foods (TCS)i.e. olives in brine. If any items on the food bar are Time Temperature Control for Safety Foods (TCS) i.e. contains cream, cheese etc. they must be maintained at 41°F or lower. Request documentation if unsure whether products are potentially hazardous, requiring refrigeration. / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X
103 / Hot Time Temperature Control for Safety Foods (TCS) maintained at 140°F or above. / Temperatures of hot food on display must be above135°Funless regulations require 140°Fortime as a public health control is being utilized and procedures and logs are in place. Investigate and determine the root cause. Check temperatures of products in all hot‐holding units using a thermocouple or probe thermometer. Do not rely on built‐in thermometers for accurate temperatures. Common shared hot holding units will be assessed under admin. Comments in the report must record specific temperature issues by product, identify the display case or demo/sampling and any team member comments for the products under their responsibility. / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X
107 / Food from commercial suppliers; food and packaging in sound condition / Foods and ingredients should come from commercial suppliers and be in good condition. Ensure there are no homemade products, damaged cans, moldy food, etc. / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X
108 / Food from commercial suppliers; food and packaging in sound condition; source tags for Shellfishtags are available, dated and held at least 90 days after harvest. / Foods and ingredients should come from commercial suppliers and be in good condition. Ensure there are no homemade products, damaged cans, moldy food, etc.
Shellfish tags have to be in some order to allow for discard after 90 days. Complete chronological order is ideal. Check that they are at least separated by month. Shellfish tags must also be labeled with date the product was placed in case and the sell thru date (last piece sold).Shellfish tags must remain with products until the last piece is sold; photocopies can be used if shellfish is in multiple locations i.e. cooler and service case. / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X
109 / Date marking is applied at time of preparation to ready‐to‐eat Time Temperature Control for Safety Food (TCS) prepared on site and intended to be held cold more than 24 hours and does not exceed 7 days shelf life. / Food that is refrigerated, ready‐to‐eat, potentially hazardous and intended to be held for more than 24 hours must be dated. This applies to food prepared on site and to commercial containers opened on site. Items prepared on site are to be given a maximum shelf life of 7 days. Commercially processed foods are to be given a maximum shelf life of 7 days, but the date given on site cannot exceed any date placed on the original package by the manufacturer. For example, if the manufacturer's original expiration date is February 12th, but the product is opened on February 10th. The product can be given only 2 days shelf life, not 7 days. If the date marked is the day the container is opened (rather than the date it expires), a system must be in place to discard the food within at most 7 days.
Since it is WFM policy, that no products with today’s sell-by date be on display the following is an example for properly coding products;
Brie that is cut and wrapped on July 31st; should be given a 7 day code, Aug 7th; the product should be pulled at the end of the day on the 6th which would allow for 7 days on display. Products with today’s date are considered to be out of code, so on Aug 7th there should be no product on display with a sell-by date of Aug 7th.
Date Cut / Sell-By Date / Display time (7 days)
July 31st / August 7th / July 31, August 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
August 10th / August 17th / August 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16
This item does not apply to items intended to be used later the same dayorraw animal products (though dating them is a good practice), non-Time Temperature Control for Safety Foods (non-TCS) such as cookies or unopened canned products, hard and semi-soft cheeses such as cheddar, gruyere, parmesan and reggiano, romano, blue, edam, gorgonzola, gouda, and monterey jack, cultured dairy products such as yogurt, sour cream and buttermilk. Products must be date marked with the appropriate sell-by dates that were approved by the different teams;
Specialty -
Prepared Foods -
Seafood -
Bakery -
Scales should be programmed at the regional level to reflect these new shelf-life dating standards.
Raw animal products i.e. beef trim, ground beef, etc. must be date marked to assure proper rotation. / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X
110 / Food products not held or sold past expiration date. / Ready‐to‐eat, Time Temperature Control for Safety Foods (TCS) may not be held beyond the expiration dates marked on the package.
Products with today’s date are considered out of code and should not be on display for sale.
Packaged raw animal products and non-Time Temperature Control for Safety Foods (TCS) may not be sold on or beyond the sell-by date, however, they may be evaluated for quality and further processed into a ready to eat product if found acceptable.
It is illegal to sell baby formula and any pharmaceutical products beyond their sell‐by date. / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X
111 / Time Temperature Control for Safety Foods (TCS) received at proper temperatures (refrigerated foods at 41°F or below, frozen foods hard to the touch.) / Ensure received product is at the proper temperatures. Potential problems should be verified by taking internal product temperatures with a thermocouple or probe thermometer. / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X
113 / Time Temperature Control for Safety Foods (TCS) cooked and reheated to proper internal temperatures. Cook vegetables to 135°F 140°F. Beef fish and pork to 145°F, ground beef to 155°F and poultry to 165°F. Items reheated to 165°F within 2 hours. Exception for whole roast cooked per FDA Food Code.
Canadian temperature requirements vary from those in the US. / Time Temperature Control for Safety Foods (TCS) must be cooked or reheated to the correct temperature. Check temperatures to ensure it is done according to current FDA Food Code standards. Use only internal product temperatures to assess this item. Potential problems should be verified by taking internal product temperatures with a thermocouple or probe thermometer.
Due to the risks associated with raw alfalfa, clover, radish and mung bean sprouts these raw sprouts must not be available on salad bars or used in the preparation of sandwiches and other recipes unless they are thoroughly cooked; refer to theWFM Sprout policy.
Beef roasts must be properly cooked according to the FDA Food Code, see the guideline and requirements at the following link;
Canadian temperature requirements for cooking/cooling can be found at the following link; / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X
114 / Time Temperature Control for Safety Foods (TCS) properly handled for time/temperature control; foods at proper temperature before being displayed; foods not left out of temperature controlled environments for extended periods of time; foods held by time alone are time‐stamped and follow a written policy to be discarded after a maximum of four hours; Time Temperature Control for Safety Foods (TCS) in iced displays maintained at 41°F or below. / Time Temperature Control for Safety Foods (TCS) must be properly controlled, check if it is left out of temperature‐controlled environments for extended periods of time (30 minutes or more.) Use the thermocouple or probe thermometer to take internal product temperatures. HoldingTime Temperature Control for Safety Food by time alone (rather than by temperature) is allowed only if the following criteria are met;
- The product has been removed from proper temperature control
- Each separate unit (item, pan, etc.) is individually marked or identified on a log with a 4-hour discard timeand/orwiththe time it was removed from temperature control
- There is a written policy that all product is consumed or discarded within the 4 hour time frame ‐ no product may be reprocessed or returned to temperature control
The following list of cheeses are the only varieties of cheese that can be displayed at ambient temperature;
- Hard grating style cheeses such as Parmigiano Reggiano, Pecorino Romano, Parmesan and Asiago
- Atalanta - Lattebusche Piave Dop and Oro Montasio 20 Month
- Best Cheese - Uniekaas Vintage Gouda Aged 5 Years and Uniekaas Gouda Aged 3 Years
- Forever Cheese - Mitica Paski Sir and Mitica Mahon Aged
- Perenzin Montasio Extra Aged
Brie and soft ripened varieties of cheese must be kept refrigerated or follow the guidelines listed above for displaying TCS’s out of temperature control for no longer than 4 hours.
Iced displays for Time Temperature Control for Safety Foods (TCS) must be properly iced and merchandised to maintain products at 41°F or below.
Time Temperature Control for Safety Foods (TCS) must be properly merchandised (not exceeding load levels, blocking air flow etc.) in refrigerated display cases to maintain products at 41°F or below. / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X
115 / Time Temperature Control for Safety Foods (TCS) properly cooled. / Hot Time Temperature Control for Safety Foods (TCS) must be cooled from 140°F 135°F* to 70°F or below within two hours and from 140°F 135°F* to 41°F or below in a total of six hours. All items that become TCS’s when cut or opened, or prepared from ambient temperature ingredients, must be cooled from 70°F to 41°F within 4 hours. Note: when applying this rule, remember the timing does not start until the product has cooled to below 140°F 135°F*.
* Note: use 140°F, if the state or local jurisdiction requires a minimum hot holding temperature of 140°F. / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X
116 / Food and food contact surfaces protected from potential microbiological, physical and chemical hazards.
Foods protected from contamination during preparation and serving.
No condensation present above exposed food or food contact surfaces. / Examples of biological, physical and chemical hazards include but are not limited to;
Biological
- Raw animal products stored above or commingled with ready‐to-eat products. Raw animal products (raw meat, fish or eggs etc.) must be properly segregated by cooking temperature and not commingled. Sealed and unopened packages would not be a hazard as long as there is no evidence of leaking.
- Display case pins or tags must not be inserted directly into ready-to eat products because of the risk of contamination.
- Unwashed produce being stored above uncovered washed ready-to-eat produce
- Physical hazards that would present an imminent health hazard, such as push pins, thumb tacks, paper clips, bandages, etc.used directly above food prep surfaces.
- Cleaning products and other chemicals stored above food or food contact surfaces.
- Containers of chemicals must be covered or closed to prevent spillage.
Packaged items with package intact would not be included as long as there is no evidence of leaking.
Molluscan shellfish harvested on different days or from different growing areas as identified on the shellfish tags must not be commingled in the cooler or service case; use bowls or dividers to keep different lots and species of molluscan shellfish separated.
Juice and other food prep areas should be protected from contamination with a drop ceiling umbrella etc.
Sneeze guards, covers, bins, etc. are required to protect ready-to-eat foods from contamination; ready-to-eat foods can include oysters, bulk trail mix, bulk cereal, product demos/samples, etc. Although a best practice, sneeze guards, covers, bins, etc. are not required to protect non-ready-to-eat foods from contamination; non-ready-to-eat foods can include whole raw fish, bulk beans, bulk rice, etc.
Stand alone (without the physical presence of people in control) product demos/samplings require a sneeze guard or demo dome in addition to toothpicks, tongs or some other serving utensil.
Foods must be protected from receiving through serving to prevent contamination. Everything in the storage areas freezers and coolers should be covered unless in the process of cooling. Check for potential contamination from the environment, such as dripping condensation. All products on the large rolling tray racks used in walk‐in coolers and freezers should be completely covered. An inverted tray on top of the cart does not provide adequate protection from contamination. The entire cart may be bagged or each tray may be covered individually.
Check for non-edible garnish directly touching food in display cases. Verify edible garnish has not been re-used resulting in cross contamination(i.e. used for raw then cooked product, etc.) or cross contact of allergens.
Utensils, scoops etc. must be available for all ready-to-eat items on display on the salad bar, hot bar, bulk, product demos/samples etc. to prevent customers from contaminating the products with their bare hands. To maintain organic integrity if both organic and conventional products are available, the scoops must be appropriately labeled, tethered, color coded or a supply of clean scoops made available. / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X
117 / Fruits and vegetables must be properly washed prior to processing and serving.
Produce All teams must wash fruits and vegetables in a clean and sanitized sink using an approved produce sanitizing solution per manufacturer’s instructions prior to juicing, processing and serving. / Fruits and vegetables may be contaminated with hazardous microorganisms, chemicals, filth and pesticides. Observe food preparation practices involving fresh fruits and vegetables to ensure that each item is thoroughly washedprior to processing and serving.Produce Allteams must wash fruits and vegetables in a clean and sanitized sink using an approved produce sanitizing solution per manufacturer’s instructions prior to juicing, processing and serving. / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X
118 / Food contact surfaces properly cleaned and sanitized (at least every 4 hours during continuous use with Time Temperature Control for Safety Food (TCS) at room temperature). / Ice machines should be assessed under the admin department only. Surfaces (equipment, utensils, etc.) in contact with Time Temperature Control for Safety Food (TCS) at room temperature must be cleaned and sanitized at least every four hours during use; this would include any juicers located on the sales floor,the spoons, tongs, etc. at self-service bars (hot bar, salad bar, dessert bar, olive bar, soup bars, etc.), demo units and any hand contact surfaces (cooler door handles, scales, etc.) that may contaminate clean disposable gloves worn by food handlers. Times vary if the surface or room is refrigerated. If held <50°F to 55°F, clean at least every 10 hours; <45°F to 50°F, every 16 hours; <41°F to 45°F, every 20 hours; 41°F or below, every 24 hours.
Meat grinders must be cleaned and sanitized between each batch; if meat grinders are not properly cleaned and sanitized between batches mark item #152 as out of compliance.
All work surfaces, cutting boards, the parts of equipment and utensils which contact food or the interior of ice machines need to be properly cleaned and sanitized.