Technical reference
Assembled chilled items may have no cooking step before they are eaten, so the only protection is keeping them cold and clean. Exposure in assembly adds to exposure in , and errors here reach a named person directly.
's mass catering code doesn't cover industrial production of complete meals, but it says it may give guidance on specific points. Sector guidelines and contracts usually fill the gap.
Food from and food from assembly share one history. The bacteria don't reset between steps, so what counts is the food's total .
Parameters
| Room handling chilled food | 15 °C or cooler (). If not achievable, as short as possible, ideally 30 minutes or less |
|---|---|
| Chilled limit | 4 °C in , 5 °C in the |
| Cumulative time | counts total time out of control under its |
| Clock | Per group of food, from leaving the cold to returning to it |
| Airline and contract limits | Set per customer or scheme. vary, so read the contract |
Records that prove it
- Order, group, item and quantity
- Time out, time back, start and finish readings
- Items assembled in the cold, marked as such
- Special and allergen meal check, with who checked
- Each breach: action, quantity and what happened to the food
- Review of each breach: who, when, and what stops it recurring
Maximum cumulative exposure
FDA guidance written for fish and fishery products, shown here as a worked example of how combine. * See the source's footnotes. Source: , Table A-2.
The 2-hour / 4-hour rule
Total time out of temperature control. Check whether your food law or plan uses this rule, and when its clock starts.
CCP or prerequisite?
That depends on the for your process. The number, if it has one, belongs to your plan.