a. First, personnel should check the food items immediately upon receipt. This
will prevent the food from becoming contaminated.
b. Second, the inspection should be a brief but inclusive sampling of items in the
shipment. Personnel should check samples of each kind of food. They must not accept
food items that appear contaminated.
c. Third, adequate storage space should be prepared in advance for an
incoming shipment. This is especially true of freezer or refrigeration space. Again, this
is done to place potentially hazardous foods in proper storage conditions as quickly as
possible.
5-6.
PROCESSING RECEIVED FOODS
After food items have arrived at a full-service food facility and have been checked
and stored, there are still some precautions to take when preparing these foods. This
generally involves washing or processing the foods in order to further reduce the
possibility of contamination. For example, the leaves of even acceptable lettuce will
normally be contaminated with dirt and pesticides. This dirt may carry harmful bacteria.
In addition, the farm worker picking and packing the lettuce may have had poor hygiene
habits. In this case, the outer leaves could be contaminated with numerous bacteria as
well as pesticides. For these reasons, it is necessary to wash raw fruits and vegetables
before preparation and serving. Fruits and vegetables may also be contaminated with
pesticides. This is another reason for washing raw fruits and vegetables. In some
cases, fruits and vegetables may be peeled. In other cases, such as the possibility that
chicken may be contaminated with salmonella, it is necessary to cook poultry to 160 F.
The problem of temperature will be discussed In Lesson 7.
5-7.
SUMMARY
a. A full-service food facility must receive safe food items. Otherwise, all other
precautions would be of no use.
b. Certain government and military agencies are responsible for inspecting food
processing plants to ensure that high levels of sanitation are maintained. These
agencies also inspect food items for quality before the items arrive at a full-service food
facility. The major agencies performing this function are:
(1) The Veterinary Corps.
(2) The Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
(3) The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
c. The first precaution that a full-service food facility must follow is to obtain food
that has been inspected and approved by these agencies.
MD0181
5-4