Keep hot food hot; keep cold food cold
In today’s busy world, take-out and delivered foods are experiencing runaway popularity. Some foods are hot and some are cold when purchased. Foods from fast food restaurants are most often consumed immediately. Take-out foods may be purchased in advance for eating at a later time, such as a party platter or a cooked holiday meal. No matter what the occasion, more and more people are relying on others to prepare their food.
Perishable foods can cause illness when mishandled. Proper handling of the food and the leftovers is essential to ensure the food is safe for you to eat.
Two-hour rule
To keep hot foods safe, keep them at 140 degrees Fahrenheit or above. Cold foods must be kept at 40 degrees or below. Bacteria grow rapidly between 40 and 140 degrees. Discard all perishable foods such as meat, poultry, eggs, and casseroles, left at room temperature longer than two hours; one hour in air temperatures above 90 degrees.
If you are not eating the take-out or delivered food immediately, keep hot food hot and keep cold food cold so that it remains safe for you to eat at a later time.
Hot take-out or delivered food
Once food is cooked, it should be held hot, at an internal temperature of 140 degrees or above. Just keeping food warm (between 40 and 140 degrees) is not safe. Use a food thermometer to monitor the internal temperature of the food. A preheated oven, chafing dishes, preheated warming trays, or slow cookers may be used.
If you plan to eat at a later time, take-out or delivered food should be divided into smaller portions or pieces, placed in shallow containers, and refrigerated.
Cold/refrigerated take-out or delivered food
Cold foods should be kept at 40 degrees or below.
Refrigerate perishable foods as soon as possible, always within two hours after purchase or delivery. If the food is in air temperatures above 90 degrees, refrigerate within one hour.
This article is from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. For more information, go to www.fsis.usda.gov, the web site for the USDA’s Food and Safety Inspection Service. If you have other health and safety questions, concerns and/or suggestions, contact the Health and Safety Committee at healthandsafety@temple.edu.