STORING OF FOOD

STORAGE-is an action or method or storing of food for future use.

STORING FOOD-it will help to stay fresher for longer and reducing the chance of going into waste.

Types of food storage

Dry storage-for dry foods that have a long shelf life and can be kept at room temperature.

Ex: of each food are flour, tea, coffee, dried pasta, canned food biscuits and other uncooked grains.

Cold Storage-for foods that must be kept in the refrigerator or cool room below 5C.

Frozen Storage-for foods that need to be kept frozen solid at 15C are colder.

Incorrect storage of food can caused spoilage and food poisoning. High risk food should be kept 5C or
below and above 60C to avoid the temperature danger zone where bacteria multiply faster. Do not refreeze
food that has been frozen and thawed once. Store raw food separately from cooked food.

THE DO’S AND DONT’S OF FOOD STORAGE

◘ When store food make sure that cooked food is store above raw food.

◘ Make sure that the refrigerator and freezer are cleaned and defrosted on a regular basis and
that the temperature is checked regularly.

◘ Make sure that you do not overload or over-stock the refrigerator, the cold air won’t be able
to circulate properly and keep the opening/closing of the fridge to a minimum.

◘ Checked food in a particular package food items, regularly for signs damages, use dates,
rusty cans and holes in packaging.

◘ Upon the delivery you should cover, label and date the food. Also remember to rotate the
food stocked by using the FIFO RULE.

FIFO RULE

♣ Under no circumstances should use store food on the floor.

♣ You need to immediately notify your manager if you identify pest problem in the storage
area.

♣ You should never store food with an items like chemicals, cleaning equipment, clothing and
personal belongings.

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MAINTAINING A FOOD QUALITY DEPENDS ON SEVERAL FACTORS :

☻The quality of the raw product

☻The procedures use during processing

☻The way the food is stored

☻The length of storage

2 TYPES OF FOOD STORAGE

1. Long term food storage/One month (freezer)

2. Short term food storage/Three month supply/One week (chiller)

Long Term Food Storage- Consists of items such as wheat, powder milk, rice, beans, sugar, salt and
dehydrated/freeze dried fruits and vegetables properly stored which have the main characteristics of
being able to be stored for 20+ years.

NOTE: There is no good excuse for waiting to learn how to use your food storage everyday (
especially with countless benefits like it will save your money, keep good health, buying your family in
the kitchen which is were the most important prevention happen).

REFRIGERATION AND FREEZING are the most popular food prevention use today.

Refrigeration- Slow the bacterial action

Freezing- Stop the bacterial action

Food That Goes In the Fridge:

Some foods need to be kept on the fridge to help stop bacteria from going on it, such as food with a
“use by” date, cooked food and ready to eat food such as deserts and cook meats.

Make sure that the fridge is cold enough:

You need to make sure that the fridge is cold enough otherwise food poisoning bacteria will still able
to grow. Your fridge should be between 0C to 5C.

The temperature of the fridge should be operating at is 18C. you may consider that a thermometer
wpuld be useful in your freezer as well.

It is advisable to have fridge thermometer which should show that the temperature inside the fridge is
below 5C.this will n he most cases stop the growth of the bacteria and certainly slow it down so they
will not multiply to dangerous numbers.

Never put hot food in the fridge. This will cause the temperature of the fridge to rise, and the
refrigerated food already in there will begin to warm up.

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Never put open tins into the fridge, any contents left should be put into suitable container, covered
and then refrigerated- the reason being that it is a possibly that the food could become contaminated
by the aluminum in the can.

Clean the fridge often, paying particular attention to the handle. Use an odorless cleaner—
bicarbonate of soda is highly recommended even though this is seen as old fashioned—anything
strong smelling will linger in the fridge and possibly taint foods which are stored there.

When thawing food, follow manufacturer advice if there is any. Produce like raw meat and poultry
should be placed in a container and placed in the fridge. You could defrost in the microwave, but if so
cook it straight away.

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